I admit that I wasn’t expecting much of a celebration because most companies ignore anniversaries that aren’t a milestone (5, 10, 15 and so on.) I guess that’s why the recognition I got came as such a surprise; I was presented with a company-wide award times closely to my anniversary. The recognition was due to my recent "above & beyond" efforts, which included 6 weeks in Virginia updating the Bilingual branch of our business; Management felt it merited some back-patting. This particular pat came in the disguise of a message cross-company message, a shiny new desk award and a check. (It’s like a second tax return, which either speaks kindly of the award or speaks poorly of my return. You choose.) Falling completely for it, I warmed up at the prospect of praise and grinned my happy ass all the way out of the building. A lot can be said about feeling valuable because someone took the time to tell you. It’s curious how the sense of belonging can become such a motivator; A few things make me value where I work: The folks I work closely with, the sense that I’m helping people learn new business skills or soft skills and the stories that some of these co-workers inspire.
The face of this business has changed a million times over in the past six years and there are only 10 of us left from the original 36+ (that started up the Florida location) can remember what that original face looked like. I couldn’t tell you which is the unmasked face of the business because, quite honestly, I think all corporations are in the practice of removing one mask just to replace it with another. Hell, I wear a mask when I’m here for a better part of my day. I’m in a classroom training people that might push me to my patience limits were we out in public; But, instead of that I get told on a regular basis how incredibly patient a person I am. I guess that mask is placed firmly on my face from 8 to 5. I don’t consider myself a patient man; but I know that my job requires it and I do what I need to do. I’ve been training for over five years now and I enjoy what I do; Even moreso, those individuals that have done this longer (and on a much broader scale) tell me that I do a phenomenal job. That’s some wow-worthy recognition when you consider who says it. Obstacles will come and go and corporate drama will play itself out around me, but I’ve learned that I can still love my job as long as I’m triggering lightbulbs to spark in the minds of my students. That’s a pretty damn good feeling and I’d say it’s just about parallel of a reward as any shiny new desk award or a check... yeah.
The face of this business has changed a million times over in the past six years and there are only 10 of us left from the original 36+ (that started up the Florida location) can remember what that original face looked like. I couldn’t tell you which is the unmasked face of the business because, quite honestly, I think all corporations are in the practice of removing one mask just to replace it with another. Hell, I wear a mask when I’m here for a better part of my day. I’m in a classroom training people that might push me to my patience limits were we out in public; But, instead of that I get told on a regular basis how incredibly patient a person I am. I guess that mask is placed firmly on my face from 8 to 5. I don’t consider myself a patient man; but I know that my job requires it and I do what I need to do. I’ve been training for over five years now and I enjoy what I do; Even moreso, those individuals that have done this longer (and on a much broader scale) tell me that I do a phenomenal job. That’s some wow-worthy recognition when you consider who says it. Obstacles will come and go and corporate drama will play itself out around me, but I’ve learned that I can still love my job as long as I’m triggering lightbulbs to spark in the minds of my students. That’s a pretty damn good feeling and I’d say it’s just about parallel of a reward as any shiny new desk award or a check... yeah.
Where did this come from? Someone I've had the pleasure of working with for about 8 years (I worked with her at a previous job) retired. She'll be missed.
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