“Employee of the Month”
by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist
Next time you go to check into a hotel or order at a restaurant look at the wall. Chances are there will be a plaque there with someone’s face and name on it being recognized as “Employee of the Month”. That someone most likely changed your sheets, or cleaned your toilet, or changed out the busted tile or shower spigot, or took your order and smiled.
I’ve seen the plaques and asked myself, “For what special traits is this person being rewarded?” Did they change the most sheets in October? Did they clean toilets the fastest? Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s ever that simple. Is that the only trait you value in your workplace culture: time efficiency? I doubt it.
We know how grinding the ag workplace can be, especially during certain seasons: calving, spring planting, branding, fall harvest, weaning, repeat. If all that mattered to us or our employees was the ability to do a single task, do it well, and do it expediently, they would have left a long time ago. Certainly, we value time management and efficiency, but what about loyalty, work ethic, and team work? Most likely your personal employee of this month is the person who will stay a few minutes longer to make sure the widget is welded securely to the whatever; greases the zerks one more time; volunteers to walk the weaned calves for sicks so somebody can go to Junior’s ball game this weekend. I’m getting misty just thinking about it.
Each one of us has a different “appetite” or “tolerance” for personal or public recognition. But I’d have to guess that everybody likes to know that they are truly appreciated, in some way or other—maybe publicly like the “Employee of the Month” plaque, or just one-on-one, when nobody’s around for either of you to blush in front of.
All your people have something special to offer (I hope); your job as a manager is to determine the best way to regularly acknowledge their contributions. If not, your silence may speak volumes to the contrary.
