It’s Employee Appreciation Day! I do a lot of thinking and reading and talking about what makes a great workplace for my job. And my workplace isn’t perfect, but we try and succeed in a lot of areas. This morning I logged in to find a $100 gift card to Etsy from my boss in appreciation of my hard work, commenting on how she knew I’d want to support one of the Black or LGBTQ-owned businesses on there.
And that right there . . . acknowledgment, personalization, knowing who I am . . . it matters a lot.
I had an employee work a conference last week and I had preemptively told her to take two days off in the middle of the week after the conference since she’d be working Saturday and Sunday. She was so surprised. And then today thanked me for the opportunity to attend the conference and for the time off to recover after the busy days.
Earning trust and loyalty in a work environment isn’t rocket science. You trust people, treat them like individuals, and be as generous as you can. You manage the exceptions (the people who might abuse that trust) but never treat those as the rule. At least in my work, I’ve been lucky to work around people who care about what they do and their coworkers and want to succeed. The trick is supporting them however then need to be supported as humans and getting out of their way.
All to say . . . I felt appreciated and appreciative today.
With Love,
Natalie