Promote Core Practices and Behaviors
Culture change starts with highlighting and amplifying the behaviors that matter most.
When you assessed your culture, you identified practices that support your goals—and those that undermine them. The next step is to build awareness around the core behaviors you want to see more of, emphasizing that even small, consistent actions can signal meaningful cultural progress.
Take, for example, Chicago’s food inspectors, who have reduced food-borne illness by using data to prioritize inspections of high-risk restaurants. Internally celebrating their success has not only reinforced data-driven decision-making but also sparked healthy competition within the health department. This kind of internal storytelling sends a powerful message: these behaviors matter and they get rewarded.
To sustain momentum:
Spotlight employees and programs already modeling the desired behaviors. These individuals are your culture carriers—leverage them to lead by example and to coach others on what success looks like.
Focus on middle managers, who often shape the everyday employee experience. Provide them with direct, constructive feedback on how they can more intentionally model and reinforce the right behaviors.
Recognize that culture is changed more by employees than by executives. Leaders should be transparent about their own learning journey—acknowledging where they fall short and showing a willingness to change. This kind of humility and openness sets the tone for an organization-wide shift.
Communicating Success to Employees
Even though employers and employees may differ in their personal definitions of success, there is general agreement that success is an important organizational value. The first step in getting on the same page about success is determining what success looks like to each group. Organizations commonly measure success by how well they have achieved their objectives or accomplished their mission. How do employees know if they are on the right path to the right destinations? How do they know their approaches are achieving results? This is where and when communication becomes important to engage employees, accelerating progress and productivity. A great organization will inform its employees about the progress it is making towards its goals. It will recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of its workers, and create opportunities to promote future success of its employees. If employers communicate with employees regularly and in an effective manner, employees are much more engaged and are incentivized to approach work with positive spirits and attitudes. This is true for all employees regardless of where they work and their type of work. Whether they are working for private companies, government entities, or not-for-profit organizations, they care about success, incentives, and recognition. Cities can communicate successes to their employees in a variety of ways:
Recognizing Achievements
Rewarding Accomplishments
Documenting Success Stories
Acknowledging Contributions
Saying Thank You and Offering Praise for Excellent Service
Providing Opportunities for Advancement
Recognizing Achievements
Invariably, employees everywhere respond positively to sincere recognition for a job well done. Let city employees know what they are doing well. Let them know their contributions are valued and recognize the important role they play in the city’s administration. Genuinely acknowledge employees’ extraordinary achievements by recognizing and celebrating their accomplishments. For instance, Denver has an employee recognition program that recognizes individuals and teams that exemplify “STARS” (Service, Teamwork, Accountability, Respect and Safety) values. This program celebrates employees who supported practices that deliver a world class city by achieving one or more of the city's goals.
Instead of remarking “well done” or “good job,” communicate specifically what employees have accomplished to merit the recognitions. For example, the human resources department of City of Daly, California initiated the “You are a star award” that recognizes employees for:
performances that enhance efficiency and effectiveness of their departments
going above and beyond their job descriptions to contribute to community service and development
providing outstanding achievements over time
exceptional participation in teams, special projects, and committees
A committee made up of employees representing various departments reviews nominations from coworkers and selects deserving awardees for public recognition. Awards range from a plaque, or write-up in the city’s employee newsletter (the Foghorn), to recognition at the city council meeting.
Rewarding Accomplishments
Practitioners of performance management believe that “what gets measured gets done,” similarly, “what gets rewarded gets repeated.” This means that people are likely to do more of what they can accomplish if they are rewarded for it. This motivates others to replicate behaviors that lead to rewards. In essence, you get more of the behavior you reward. When building a rewards program, think about the various stakeholder groups you are targeting and what could best motivate them. Reward employees who surpass expectations with meaningful benefits and incentive packages.
People are motivated by different things: money, career improvement opportunities, time off, promotions. A reward can be “free” or cost a city a few dollars depending on the city’s budget and any legal constraints. The important part is connecting the reward to the employee’s motivations and celebrating accomplishments. The city of Flagstaff, Arizona has multiple award systems that reward hardworking employees with the following:
Unique name tag
Engraved award
Monetary award
Day off and paid vacation
Promotion
One-time bonus up to $500 or a quality step increase for group awards
Choosing item from a catalogue for 10-35 years every five years.
Documenting Success Stories
Documenting success stories shows how the city is making a difference in the lives of its residents. Not only does telling stories about the positive changes the city is making reinforce public trust and confidence, but also it is an important way of communicating to employees that their efforts are making a positive difference. It is a powerful way to demonstrate to the public and stakeholders the value of the city administration to residents. There are a variety of ways to document success stories that could inspire both current and future employees to give off their best, including internal publication platforms such as magazines, newsletters, city’s website, videos, podcasts, etc. Pick the method that most suitably tells the city’s success stories to the public and employees as well.
One of the ways Louisville, KY tells its success stories is by sharing the testimonials of their clients on its website. This provides a meaningful feedback to employees that their work are making impact and residents are appreciative.
Acknowledging Coworkers’ Contributions
Coworkers are likely to identify the outstanding contributions of their peers which could otherwise be missed by managers. Coworkers spend more time with each other, know each other’s strengths, work products, and accomplishments. Celebrating the accomplishments of their peers is one meaningful way to inspire coworkers and help create a thriving, innovative. and productive work environment.
The city of Murfreesboro, TN, STARS Employee Recognition Program allows employees to nominate their peers for awards. Research has shown that recognition from peers promotes respect, boost morale and improves productivity.
Saying Thank You and Offering Praise for Excellent Service
Saying “thank you” to employees for work done well is a powerful validation of their efforts and an effective reward and recognition tool. Verbally and publicly praise employees for their contributions to achieving the goals of their departments. As part of its employee recognition program, the city of Modesto, CA verbally recognizes the achievements of employees in front of the Mayor and other staff. Praising employees publicly in the full view of their colleagues not only makes them feel proud about their achievements, but it also demonstrates to other people that hard work and good performance are both visible and appreciated.
Providing Opportunities for Advancement
Professional advancement is one of the most important elements for employee satisfaction. Recognizing the employees’ achievements by providing them with opportunities to advance their careers is a great way of motivating them. Advancement opportunities may include promotions, educational opportunities, tuition reimbursement, training courses, professional development programs, etc.
Employees want to know what they are doing right,recognizing their work is an effective way of communicating success. An effective recognition is specific, sincere, immediate, and meaningful. For instance, the city of Oak Point immediate recognition award as part of its employee recognition program rewards employees based upon their exceptional contribution to exceptional customer service, increased morale in workplace, job performance and community development.
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