How To Build a Culture of Winning at Your Chamber

Everyone loves to win. We love seeing chambers recognized as winners in their space every year, and we’re proud to sponsor the ACCE Chamber of the Year Awards for 2022. We also know that winning isn’t just about being recognized by a third party.

Making your employees and members feel like winners is reflected in the culture you create, how you tackle projects and build connections among teammates.

Why winning changes everything

A study from the Harvard Business Review shows that celebrating wins gives your brain a boost of dopamine, boosting creativity, confidence and many other positive emotions. So, not only does winning feel good, but it also positively affects future projects.

Now is the time to get your chamber and staff in on these celebrations.

Why you should focus on winning

As a chamber, focusing on wins:

Provides a deeper feeling of purpose for your employees
Creates a culture of fun, celebration and connection between you and your members
Builds momentum to achieve larger goals
Can make your chamber more appealing to potential members

How do you build a culture of winning?

Creating a space to win and celebrate takes time. Here are our tips to get started.

Reframe what winning means to you

The best way to build a culture of winning is to make it possible to actually win. Having achievable goals can be a huge motivator to continue to work towards future goals.

Next time you’re planning your goals, think about how possible they are.

Diversify what you celebrate

As a chamber, many of your goals revolve around numbers like revenue, event attendees and member retention. To really build a winning culture that goes deeper, get creative with what you celebrate.

Actively seek out opportunities to cheer for your members and team by creating new wins specifically to build engagement with your organization. We have two tips to make this possible.

Tip 1: Show up for your members’ milestones

Be proactive in celebrating the wins of your members after they join. From new location openings to business milestones, celebrate them! Being a cheerleader for your members helps to build their connection to your chamber, too. Building an online community helps you keep tabs on what’s going on in your members’ world.

Tip 2: Recognizing the smaller projects that lead up to the bigger wins

Did an employee run a Facebook ad for the first time? Or launch a new email campaign? What about the first time they make a cold call? These seemingly small tasks all contribute to the larger success of your organization. Celebrate them all.

Actually celebrate wins

While setting achievable goals and encouraging your members and employees to win is great, the key is in celebrating. Celebrating wins strengthens the ties your team and your members have with your chamber and encourages people to keep striving to win.

Celebrate wins with gift cards and prize entries, or with a 30-second dance party or a simple message of a job well done. In fact, a study from the Journal of Human Performance shows that people perform better when working towards a non-cash incentive. Don’t underestimate the power of a very sincere job-well-done.

A culture of winning: Get started today

Making your members and employees feel like winners doesn’t take much. By creating a culture that highlights wins, you turn your people into winners. And – like we said – everyone loves to win.

Personify partners with associations, chambers of commerce, charities, event organizers, health and wellness facilities, educational institutions, and other purpose-driven organizations to help them manage and grow their communities. Personify’s Community Experience Platform combined with their professional service offerings benefit organizations of any size and at any stage of growth.