Ever had a really hard time feeling grateful for something? If so, you're not alone!
Recently, at work, we had a video call with one of the higher-ups in the company. It was this higher-up talking to (I think) all the facilities under her leadership. In the course of this call, this person revealed that (for reasons that may become very clear in a moment), they were having trouble retaining employees, and that they wanted to express their thanks and appreciation to all of us. As a gesture of appreciation, they were giving us a small gift meant to signify the company "taking a step in the right direction"...
They had gotten a pair of crazy socks for each of us.
To be specific, we had our choice of either an argyle or a striped pattern in bright colors that some people might say clashed with each other. The company name was prominently interspersed with the pattern. The socks are of a dress sock weight, with a distinctly casual look. Which I'm realizing as I write might be unfair to the entire concept of "casual."
So far, only one of my coworkers has claimed a pair. The rest of them are creating clutter in our shared office.
The higher-up in question assured us at the time that the company wasn't thanking us with socks. But honestly, the fact that she felt the need to clarify that point makes me think that that is exactly what they are doing.
There are far worse problems to have, of course. I am grateful to have a job. But truthfully, I would have gladly taken whatever minimal cash value those socks had over the socks themselves. Really, when you think about what employees would like at work, I don't think crazy socks make the list for many people. More money and more time off are probably the most popular perks for everyone. But mentorship, training, and educational opportunities are also welcome, and not all of those have to cost much money or time. When all else fails, food is probably a more popular perk than socks.
Starting a new career during the pandemic has been an interesting journey. I've been fortunate to find work, but none of the jobs I've had since graduating from Grad School 2.0 have been a dream job, to say the least. As a result, I always have a wish list of things I'd like to have in a job in an ideal world, as well as ideas of how to make the next job incrementally better than the current job. Short of a dream job, maybe I could shoot for moving up from free socks to free t-shirts.
My husband just became the head of his department at work this year. He gave the department's administrative assistants a percentage of their salaries as a holiday bonus. One of them, surprised and grateful, came to him and commented that it was a lot of money; the previous department head had only ever given them a can of mixed nuts and a mug.
ReplyDeleteIt was very thoughtful of Don to give the administrative assistants something they could truly use!
Delete