313. The Rites Of Passage That Matter

In the Hamer tribe of Ethiopia, when a boy reaches a certain age, they have to run naked across the backs of castrated bulls in order to be considered a man. It’s like a Bar Mitzvah. And, at the same time, it’s nothing like it at all.

There’s a tribe in Brazil that forces boys to wear gloves filled with bullet ants as a rite of passage to be considered an adult. Bullet ants, in case you don’t know, have the most painful sting of any insect in the world. It seems a little excessive to me, but hey, I’m not from Brazil. And I don’t wear gloves.

Every culture has its rites of passage that mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. Some are culturally mandated, and some are legally mandated.

But there’s a problem with this.

As it so happens, the problem is directly related to your happiness at work.

The Magical Milestones Of Youth

Reaching the age of 13 is a special milestone in the US. Not only do you officially become a teenager and further frustrate your family, but you are legally allowed to create accounts and share your data online.

Reaching 16 is a special rite of passage too. At that age, you’re legally allowed to have a driver’s license and break from the shackles of Uber Mom or UberDad.

When you get to 18 years old, you are legally allowed to vote. And when you turn 21 you can legally go into casinos and bars. You can finally purchase that alcohol and cannabis without the lame fake ID you bought online.

These federally mandated milestones are celebrated rites of passage in American society. They are the carrots hanging from the stick of youth for every generation of kids.

In a funny way, childhood is like a video game, where just by reaching a certain age you get to unlock new levels of freedom that bring you continuously closer to adulthood.

But then it’s over.

The magical milestones magically disappear.

Turning 21 is the last legally mandated, age-based milestone in life. Or, rather, the next one doesn’t happen until you’re 59 1/2 years old. That’s the point when you can legally withdraw money from your IRA without a penalty, which is not nearly as fun as turning 16.

We, as humans, are motivated by milestones. They are aspirational. We are excited to achieve them. We feel special. We throw parties to celebrate them.

This is not new news.

So why the heck aren’t companies doing the same thing with their employees?

How To Motivate And Reward Employees With Rites of Passage

Those rites of passage that made our childhood full of excitement provide an important lesson on how to motivate and reward employees.

I often ask people if they know how their boss defines their success. In most cases, people have never been told very clearly what it looks like to be successful at work. In fact, according to a study by Gallup, 50% of employees say they don’t know what is expected of them at work.

I’m not surprised. Because according to workplace guru, Ann Loehr, 85% of managers aren’t clear with their employees on defining the top priorities.

If you don’t know your priorities, you don’t know if you’re going in the right direction. And if you don’t know where you’re going, you can’t measure how far you have left to get there.

That’s bad.

Every employee needs to know how success is measured in their role. They need to understand, in clear and concise terms, what they need to accomplish, when they need to accomplish it, and how it will be measured.

Then - and this is a super important “then” - you need to make their progress visible.

People react more positively when they see how far they’ve progressed towards their goal. That’s the very lesson we learned from our childhood at the top of this rant.

Create charts, trackers, leaderboards… I really don’t care how you do it, as long as you do it.

That’s the way rites of passage work.

The Rites of Passage In Company Loyalty

One of the simplest ways to instill rites of passage in the office is to create an employee recognition program. In fact, it’s not just simple, it’s also critical for the success of your business.

According to Deloitte, companies with employee recognition programs are 12x more likely to have better business outcomes. They also have a 31% lower employee turnover rate.

In fact, companies that celebrate work anniversaries extend their employee retention rates by almost two years.

So tell me, what did your company do for your first job anniversary?

How about your fifth? Your tenth?

Has it been worth sticking around for all these years?

Make Your Milestones Matter

From childhood to adulthood, we thrive on achieving milestones as rites of passage. They keep us motivated, they give us something to work toward, and they remind us that what we do has meaning.

But somewhere along the way, leaders forgot how important it is to create the milestones and celebrate achieving them.

If you want a motivated, engaged, and loyal workforce, you have to give them something to run toward.

So, here’s my challenge to you:

• If you’re a leader, create some rites of passage. Make work anniversaries meaningful. Celebrate people’s performance, not just results. And create systems to define success and transparently measure their progress.
• If you’re an employee, don’t wait for your leader to read the bullet point above. Track your own progress and set your own milestones. Define what success looks like to you and, gosh darnnit, celebrate when you get there.

Because whether it’s running naked across the backs of some angry bulls, buying your first legal beer, or finally getting that promotion you’ve wanted, milestones aren’t just marking your progress, they’re fuel that keeps you going.

So, what’s the next milestone you’re working toward? And how are you going to celebrate when you get there?

Do you feel like you’re not moving forward in your goal of being an executive? Let’s fix that.

Book a free consultation now.

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