Quick answer: Leaders who take time to genuinely know their team members, not just their job performance, create workplaces where people feel safe, valued, and motivated to stay. The return on that investment goes far beyond retention metrics. It shows up in communication, empathy, conflict resolution, and the kind of culture that people actually want to be part of.
Do you know your employees because of their output, or because of their story?
Recognizing someone’s work matters. But recognizing who they are as a person shows a level of care that goes much deeper.
Team members want to stay in places where they feel safe and seen. That means noticing the whole person, not just the deliverable. There’s an important distinction between recognition (what someone does) and appreciation (who someone is). Both matter. Leaders who practice both create workplaces where people genuinely want to stay.
Learn More: Managers Affect Your Mental Health More Than Your Doctor
Why Employee Experience (EX) Deserves the Same Attention as UX
We spend enormous time optimizing user experience. But are leaders giving the same care to the experience of the people doing the work every day?
Most companies know their employees’ job titles, performance reviews, and PTO balances. Far fewer know who just became a foster parent, who’s quietly caring for an aging parent at home, or who coaches little league every Tuesday evening after logging off.
Why does this matter?
Employee experience (EX) shapes how people show up, how long they stay, and how much of themselves they bring to their roles. When it’s good, everything runs better. When it’s overlooked, even competitive salaries and great benefits can’t keep people around.
Why You Can’t Delegate Getting to Know Your Team
As a leader, you can’t hand off the “getting to know you” part to HR, a buddy system, or a company newsletter. Every interaction is an opportunity to understand who your team members are and how you can support them.
For example, almost every week for the last five years, I’ve joined a team meeting where we always start with a new get-to-know-you question. Here have been a few of my favorites (or the most unhinged) over the last few years:
- Your elementary school personality
- Favorite Trader Joe’s treats
- Where you are in the birth order & do you have the personality to match
- Hot takes and controversial opinions (people on this team hate milk)
- Most atrocious outfit you ever wore in childhood
- If you were a chair, what kind would you be? (You wouldn’t believe the soul-searching responses we got from this one!)
- Irrational fears and paranormal encounters
- Which coworkers you would want to survive a zombie apocalypse with and why
- What’s something outside of work you’re really proud of right now?
Because of questions like these, I know that my coworkers—the people that I spend almost 2,000 hours a year working and collaborating with—would be a ergonomic desk chair, have an irrational fear of frogs, loves the blood orange mochi from Trader Joe’s, and that they perfectly fit the youngest child stereotypes (as a certified middle child, I’m very jealous).
I learn something new every single week and I love it! We work remotely, but I know things about these coworkers—and they know things about me—that I’ve only shared with friends I’ve had for decades. This is important because it builds trust. If I can trust them with personal stories and things that are important to me, I can trust them to get a report out on time.
And questions like these open doors. They signal that this is a place where your personal life doesn’t have to stay hidden, and that your leader actually wants to know you beyond your job description.
Service Is the Key to Human Connection
Taking this all a step beyond the fun get-to-know-you questions, we can use these connections to build genuine relationships through service. Since I know my coworker loves Cheesecake Factory and has her birthday coming up, why not send her a gift card or deliver some cheesecake right to her door?
If I know that another team member will be on maternity leave, what’s stopping me from putting together a quick dinner and doing a no-contact drop off (or Door dashing dinner if that’s more your style)?
I spend a lot of time with these people, a third of life really, so why not support each other in every aspect of life? Here are a few more ideas for serving and connecting with team members:
Offer to help a team member prepare for an upcoming move. Collaborate with a colleague to find a meaningful way to support someone who’s going through a hard season. Zoom a remote employee just to ask what you, specifically, could do to make their job easier.
This is the heart of the Build Then Bless philosophy: build a culture of kindness and genuine connection inside your organization, then let it extend outward into your community.
The ROI of Employee Experience
From a data perspective, here’s what we know:
Only 20% of employees are defined as “engaged at work” and in 2025, this low engagement cost the global economy $10 trillion in lost productivity. That’s quite the price to pay to keep treating employees like cogs in a machine.
Gallup also found something that connects strongly with the Build Then Bless philosophy: “Wellbeing increases when employees see their work as intrinsically rewarding and good for others.”
Internal reports paint the picture, too. Lemonade Stand, the first Build Then Bless company, reports a 52% close rate. This is 32 percentage points higher than the industry average. Their main differentiator? A culture of service and high employee engagement within that culture.
The Unmeasurable ROI of Being Known
Lower turnover, better engagement, and higher morale are all real benefits of a healthy culture. But sometimes the ROI that arguably matters most is harder to put on a spreadsheet.
When people genuinely know each other, here’s what you start to see:
- Better communication, because people understand how each other thinks
- More empathy during stressful seasons, because there’s actual relationship to draw from
- Faster conflict resolution, because trust is already there
- Better mental health across the team
- Greater willingness to step in without being asked
- More meaningful client interactions, because care is contagious
- Families getting involved in workplace culture, through giving, service, and shared purpose
The numbers make the case, but the day-to-day experience is what people actually feel.
Start Building a Culture Where People Feel Known
If you want a workplace where people are genuinely connected, start small. Ask a non-work question at the start of your next one-on-one. Remember something personal someone shared and follow up on it next week. Create space where it’s okay to talk about life outside of work.
And if you’re ready to take that culture further, Build Then Bless is a platform built to help leaders and teams do exactly that. From peer recognition and community giving to tools that make service a measurable part of your culture, Build Then Bless helps organizations turn good intentions into lasting habits.
Schedule a demo today and see what it looks like in action.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Difference Between Recognizing Employees’ Work and Appreciating Who They Are?
Recognizing work means acknowledging what someone accomplishes, hitting a goal, completing a project, or performing well. Appreciating who they are means valuing them as a person, knowing their story, caring about their wellbeing, and showing genuine interest in their life beyond their job title. Both matter, but appreciation tends to create deeper loyalty and a stronger sense of belonging.
Why Can’t Leaders Delegate Getting to Know Their Team Members?
The “getting to know you” aspect of leadership is personal by nature. When a team member feels seen by their direct leader, it carries a different weight than an onboarding program or a culture survey. Even leaders who aren’t involved in day-to-day work can create meaningful moments through intentional, personal conversations.
How Do You Build Real Belonging Without Forced Team-Building Activities?
Focus on service and personal connection over structured fun. Help a team member with something they’re facing outside of work. Ask specific, caring questions. Reach out to remote employees to ask what would genuinely make their job easier. These small acts of intentional leadership build belonging in ways that a team lunch simply can’t.
What Is the Business ROI of Investing in Employee Experience?
The measurable ROI includes lower turnover, higher engagement, and better performance. Beyond the numbers, the return also shows up in stronger communication, faster conflict resolution, better mental health, and a culture where people step up without being asked.
What Is Build Then Bless and How Does It Support Employee Experience?
Build Then Bless is an employee development platform designed to help organizations build cultures of kindness, service, and genuine connection. It includes tools for peer recognition, community giving, milestone celebrations, and more. The platform was developed by Lemonade Stand, a digital marketing agency that uses it as part of its own culture, and now makes it available to other organizations.
