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This week's thank you: the head honcho



I have a reminder that goes off each Monday at 8:30 am. The reminder says, "Write a Thank You Note".

The company I work for was a start-up in its day. A couple guys looked at an old process in a staid industry and thought, "Why not?" I've been told the culture back then was pretty awesome. Tight-knit work family. Innovative processes and ideas. Book Olympics and races in the warehouse. Maybe not the safest, but this was the '80s. We didn't wear bike helmets or seat belts then, either.

Forty years and a thousand employees later, and it's hard to scale that culture. In the four years I've been at this company, I know many layers of administration have tried different things to keep the gray clouds from settling over the cubicles, with varying levels of success.

This past weekend, our leadership tried to resurrect some of that camaraderie and goofiness that comes from not taking yourself quite so seriously. And because it came from the top, I think it worked to some degree. We had an "Epic Bash" as it was dubbed. Free food, fishing and bounce houses for the kids (and kids at heart), prizes and a return of some of the Book Olympics from the good old days.

Events like this aren't cheap. They aren't easy. But to build trust and relationships among a group of employees, they are necessary. Warehouse people sitting with accounting people. Putting faces to names that only show up in emails. Shared stories we can reminisce about at the coffee station for months or years to come.

And from what I understand, the push to do this and do it well came from our CEO. He took an active role in deciding how this event was going to go. I doubt it would have happened without his support and advocacy. And despite the tornado warnings, which prompted families to get an impromptu tour of our basement level, it seemed like everyone had a great time.

This was an interesting thank you because it was to someone I've talked with only a handful of times, and I'm not sure he even knows me by name. However, I do feel that oftentime the people at the top aren't recognized for decisions to boost employee morale. And so often it's those people who make or break the company culture.

So even though I'm sure he'll have to look me up on the intranet to place me, I wanted him to know that I very much appreciate the gesture and recognize the importance of it. And that's why I wanted to thank him.
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