Our business area at work had a celebration today. This month marked the initial release of a major, long-term development project that involves about 300 people over several years across multiple business and IT departments. It happens to be led primarily my my current director and my former director from the IT team I left a year ago.
It is no small task to get a large number of people to attend an event for several reasons, not the least of which is coordination of schedules and the fact that they aren’t doing their normal work for those two hours. But the leadership knew that many people had worked very hard and long to make the December deadline, and they wanted to express appreciation, give a summary of what was accomplished, and let everyone know what was coming next. I even got to see my former director dressed up in a Godzilla costume. That doesn’t happen every day.
Then, to top it off, they surprised us with lots of good food and time to chill out together for part of the afternoon after the gathering. Nice touch, and much appreciated.
Businesses have a right to demand much from employees. Ours demands a lot from us and, frankly, we deliver. But employees can’t just give and give and give without ever getting a little more than a paycheck in return. A simple “thank you” can go a long way at times to energize someone. Perks don’t always have to be tangible – in fact, they shouldn’t always be tangible.
So, even though our small team had little to do with this particular success, I tip my hat to the leadership for choosing to take the time to include everyone in the respective areas in a time of thanks and appreciation. That goes a long way.
Leap year lesson #354 is Celebrate success.
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