Expressions of gratitude

As I write this Nickelback is on and loud, ‘If today was your last day’ is playing at the moment, I love Nickelback, one of my all-time favourite bands however I'm not going to get into living in the moment today, or what I’m wearing at the moment -totally unrelated and unimportant I know- do pardon my banter.

I had encounters today that just blew me away, all centered on appreciation.  There I am going about my work which basically revolves around staff and their insurmountable needs –welcome to the world of Human Resources. Is it interesting you might ask? I’ll give it that, when you're dealing with people you're in for different pleasant or not so pleasant experiences every time, depending on the kind of mood the said persons are in. I'm amazed at how different yet seemingly alike we all are as human beings; one thing might be common sense to you but to another it might as well be one of those insolvable calculus problems. Our thought processes are something of an enigma, and so are our perspectives, but all that diversity is what keeps life interesting. Now where was I? Right, now once you’re well acquainted with what it is that you do, things tend to become mechanical over time, you simply just go through the motions knowing what is expected of you and meeting those expectations, period. Now your hard work might or might not get the recognition you know it well deserves but that doesn’t stop you from giving your tasks your all. My advice: You just keep doing what you do, best as you can and soon enough respect and recognition are sure to follow, remember they are earned not demanded.

So in my daily arduous task of trying to attend to quite a number of staff and their just as many needs, and someone stops me with a “thank you miss, you’ve been very gracious” or a hug I swear this one just got me, she came to the office wanting to meet the boss and I was in the middle of politely explaining how she’d need to wait out a while and she just reaches out and hugs me saying she can’t but she’ll be back later, are we close? Nope. I was stumped. Or when am held up in the office not having as much as 10 minutes to grab a snack and some kind soul brings by some pastries, or delightful Turkish delights, sweet. Or when my boss offers to make coffee; now I find that very kind, rare but kind.  It’s so gratifying when one is appreciated. It could be a gesture, kind words or a gift, in whatever form it motivates you to keep at it. Much as most of us would appreciate a pay rise rather than a “you’re doing a commendable job” at the workplace we can’t ignore how uplifting such praise is. And when you stop concerning yourself with the money and titles for a minute and focus on your job and actually doing it well, you’ll be surprised at how far that’ll propel you. As you do so, you build a good reputation first for yourself due to your good work ethic and eventually for your work. At that point if and when you approach the boss for that pay rise or promotion you won’t come off as a whining disgruntled employee, you’ll have earned the right to ask for it, having proved yourself an asset over time. Notice how everything takes time? Trust me cutting corners will cut you short at some point. You have to go through the process.

In the hustle and bustle that is our days let us not forget to appreciate those that go out of their way to offer assistance or service to us. It might be their job to do so but they are human. Touch a heart, put a smile on someone’s face, make their day, the replicate effect on oneself is amazing.

Be good. Stay inspired.