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Marketing to young people can teach you valuable lessons about managing Millennials.
Which Wich, a quick casual sandwich concept has a very cool offer here in Colorado. If you take a picture of yourself and a Which Wich bag on top of one of Colorado’s 54 peaks that is 14,000 feet or higher and bring that picture into Which Wich, you get a free sandwich.
Now, in addition to being a very cool word-of-mouth marketing tactic (I heard about the plan from a couple of climbers on the top of Torrey’s Peak), I think that this could be a very effective model for managers looking to build relationships with their Generation Y employees.
Imagine that you put up an “Employee Achievement” bulletin board in back. Each period (week, month, quarter, etc.), your employees can bring in a picture of themselves accomplishing something impressive, and you can hook them up with something cool and post the picture.
Off hand, four things I would consider impressive:
- Climbing a mountain
- Swimming with a dolphin
- Accepting a scholarship
- Building a house for Habitat for Humanity
Now, not only are you celebrating what your employees do, you’re getting to know who they are. You’re learning about their interests, their hobbies, and their passions. You’ll be tapping into the same impulse that drives employees to post pictures on Facebook, and you don’t even need an internet connection to do it.
(I’ve seen something like this in the back of my local REI, and that’s a company that for 12 years running has been rated as one of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.)
To really take it to the next level, once per period, snap and print a photo of an employee doing something awesome at work and put that on the Achievement Board to recognize their performance at work.
If you ask me, that beats the hell out of “Employee of the Month.”
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Comments
09.04.09
What an innovative way to get to know the people you work with! At my office we have a notice board which is full of group photographs of everyone I work with. I will put this idea across to my team...I'm sure they will appreciate it the way I do.
http://www.savvysponds.co.uk
09.04.09
Each of us wants our co-workers to appreciate what we do. But it's a problem if you have to bring in pictures of you doing something outside of work. The most exciting thing about work is having a hard goal and meeting it. If you cannot do that at work, and feel recognized for it, then the job is probably not going to go well for you.
Penelope
09.04.09
Sidenote: I absolutely love the title of this post: Smart and fun.
09.04.09
Jessica: Thanks! I hope they enjoy it.
Penelope: By itself this would never be enough to win my heart & mind - but as a part of an environment in which we do get recognized for the tough stuff we do at work, it would definitely be a cool touch. Thanks for the love on the title!
09.04.09
I think this goes along the lines of company moral. If an employee is recognized for an achievement, in or out of workplace, is appreciated. If employees are never recognized for anything then they will be unmotivated, which will lead to average work performance. Postive reinforcement works wonders.
09.16.09
Great post! That's a brilliant WOM strategy by Which Wich and I love how you applied it to real life. Great tips... thanks!
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