No doubt you’ve spent time in the malls or online this month in a gift buying spree. Experience has taught me that the best part of holiday shopping is being able to check the last item off on the list and to say, “I’m done.”
I wasn’t even close to “I’m done” while shopping in Home Depot this week. My hand was test driving a work glove intended for a stocking stuffer for my son. The gloves were cotton and had a rubber waterproof palm – ideal for working in cold and wet conditions.
I tossed a pair into my shopping cart and as I reached for another pair from the rack, another shopper began to pull pair after pair from the display rack. He smiled and said, “These gloves are great. I’m a contractor. I give them to my guys to use on the job outside. They keep hands warm and dry. You know, as a boss, it pays to keep them happy with little things.”
Later, I thought about that contractor’s “random employee kindness.” A $ 4.00 pair of gloves for a pair of cold, wet hands on a dismal day has value a hundred times its cost. As you know so well as one who has done plenty of outside jobs, cold hands make for a miserable day. This was not only a kind gesture on the employer’s part, but also a good business philosophy.
I’ll grant you that employees work for money, and a gift of a $4.00 pair of gloves won’t make a difference in an employee’s personal budget. But, the occasional dose of kindness and thoughtfulness carries a value in an employee’s head that often goes unrecognized by the boss.
A dozen donuts for the coffee break or a surprise of company hats and tee shirts leave lasting impressions. And as more evidence, put yourself in the mind set of the employees in the true story following.
A restaurant owner, learning that three teenaged employees (bus boys and kitchen helper) were off on a weekend trip to visit a friend at college, hands over a hundred dollar bill and says, “Have a good time guys, and please have dinner on me.”
An act of kindness not only makes your employee’s day, it might make a difference in yours, too.