Vera Whole Health employees know they’re not cogs in a big machine. They’re much more. We’ve built our culture around three key components: recognition, transparency, and feedback. We know each other as complete human beings, we strive to communicate openly and truthfully, and we always seek ways to improve our work — collectively and individually.

We know that supporting whole health, including emotional well-being, belongs in the workplace just like everywhere else. It’s a lofty goal, made more challenging by social distancing and remote work in the COVID-19 era. And the need is made only more evident with new Vera care centers opening up across the nation and a totally remote field support team. That means staying creative and finding ways to keep everyone connected and feeling supported.

But how do you keep a workplace philosophy from turning into empty catchphrases and criticism?

By fostering a celebration mindset. 

Grappling with the pandemic makes us realize the importance of recognition to help employees be at their best. Since we can't acknowledge everyone in person, it's more important than ever that we recognize team members for the hard work they do that keeps us going.

Even the smallest accomplishments add up. At Vera, our weekly “Bam Report” provides a running total of successes deemed noteworthy by team members. “Featured Employee” and Vera’s quarterly “Values in Action Recognition Program” acknowledge team members nominated by their peers for work demonstrating the principles that guide our daily activities and interactions. A new program, “Make It Count,” provides a forum for employees to submit innovative ideas, large and small, and to be recognized for them. 

1. Viva la “Bam Report” 

Asking teammates to share success stories can help inspire and motivate others. Just look at Vera’s weekly “Bam Report,” our employee blog posted on our team site for documenting successes, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, and reminding us to pause, reflect, and celebrate teammates. All of the report’s content comes from employee submissions. 

Even the report’s name celebrates a long-time team member's response to achievements of every kind and size. A sales team member would pound her fist on the table and shout, "Bam!" whenever she accomplished something big or small. It could be as simple as finding missing office supplies or as big as closing a contract.

Her celebratory shouts morphed into an employee-driven blog where anyone can submit anything to recognize their colleagues — birthdays, anniversaries, or events like heart health month. It's one of our steadfast ways of recognizing one another and it has been with us from the start.

Now, we send out weekly email reminders for people to nominate colleagues for acknowledgement. Even our email notifying staff of a new Bam Report ignites a bit of acknowledgement.

2. Monthly featured employees

Public recognition can be even more impactful than praise shared privately. At Vera, we celebrate the people who make us great in our monthly “Featured Employee” program, featuring them on our website, in our People Strategy eNews program, and in our internal newsletter. Employees are invited to share their story, what inspires them, and why they chose to work with Vera.

Some of the things they have shared include: 

• The values they and Vera have in common 
• Their personal mission and vision in life 
• What goals and values inform what they do at Vera 
• The activities and experiences that bring them joy
• How their experience at Vera supports their life more broadly 
• How and why Vera Whole Health is a viable expression of who they are and what they love to do

It’s a great way to take recognition one step further.

3. Quarterly “Values in Action Recognition Program”

Award-based recognition is another great way to boost employee morale. Vera’s quarterly “Values in Action Recognition Program” celebrates and rewards peer-nominated employees who go above and beyond in demonstrating our values, vision, and mission: 

• Doing well and doing good — They display excellence in their area of expertise or specialty and they go above and beyond to meet a critical project milestone
• Displaying personal and corporate authenticity — They put mindfulness in action at work and engage coworkers in respectful and objective feedback
• Loving those they serve — They demonstrate unconditional, positive regard with patients and colleagues, and they demonstrate excellence putting Vera’s 5 coaching competencies into action
• Pursuing innovation — They suggest new ways to gain efficiencies or improve workflows and have audaciously tried something new, even if it failed miserably 

Winning nominees are selected in a drawing, then celebrated in a special edition “Bam Report” each quarter. Individuals and teams selected from each category receive special recognition and prizes.

4. “Make It Count” — not your typical workplace suggestion box

Our new "Make It Count" campaign recognizes and rewards team members who submit suggestions for small, innovative efforts to help make Vera more efficient and effective. It’s a forum where people can submit novel ideas for continuous improvement that are filtered through business operations for review.

If selected, a suggestion then goes through Vera’s innovation funnel to determine if it should become a strategic solution for the organization. Anyone who submits an idea, selected for implementation or not, is entered into a quarterly raffle for an award.

Shared values, shared mission

Vera’s mission is to help people change behaviors through empathetic listening and celebrating one another. Continually recognizing and acknowledging one another is at the core of our coach approach — both for patients and employees. It enables you to see what others experience and what they celebrate.

The hope is that we're treating one another in the same way that we strive to treat our patients and our clients. We want to do the same thing for ourselves as we do for everyone that we come in contact with, even in our personal lives.

If this sounds like the kind of team you’d like to join, check out our open positions and apply today!