In addition to showing appreciation one-on-one, engage in group celebrations to mark personal and professional achievements. In every organization, some accomplishments receive company-sponsored celebrations and others are left to informal celebrations not on company time. Don't worry about whether something is company sponsored. The important thing is to celebrate.

Significant occasions often involve ceremony. One purpose of ceremony is to convey that something important is happening. The more important the event, the more ceremony is involved. Think about the ceremony around weddings, inaugurations, and graduations. We encourage you to think about the significance of what you are celebrating. The more significant the event, the more ceremony you create.

As a manager, what is your obligation? You work in an established culture in which certain achievements and milestones are always the occasion for a company-sanctioned celebration, with well-established norms for the degree of ceremony considered appropriate. We advise you to comply with those cultural norms.

For those achievements and milestones that do not merit officially sanctioned celebrations, you, the manager, should ensure that some informal celebration occurs. The type of celebration is less important than the fact that the achievement or milestone is sincerely acknowledged. It can be milk and cookies. A round of applause. Flowers. Singing, “Happy Birthday.” Gathering after work. It does not have to be expensive or time consuming. But it does have to be sincere.