Here we are, the week before Thanksgiving 2020. Not to beat a dead horse, but 2020 has been an extremely challenging year. I won’t belabor the details; we all know them. We’ve had to maneuver personal and professional challenges. Some of us have continued to thrive, while others have had great losses. So much has been out of our control and for the first time, some of us have experienced having to do without – not necessarily luxury items,  but everyday things that we before took for granted (toilet paper for example). In a year such as this, how do we find and express gratitude?

Every year there are articles about showing appreciation to your teams and staff at work. This year especially, it’s important to find a way to show appreciation for your people. Normally, you may have a holiday luncheon or party but it’s likely that this won’t be happening, at least in the traditional sense. There are a multitude of ideas popping up about how to have your holiday party virtually or do something different this year in light of so many working remotely, and that may be a good fit for some businesses, but not for all. There are a lot of good ideas out there, but as usual I would suggest that if you have it in your budget this year to do something nice for employees, make it meaningful to them. If your budget is tight, understandable. That’s why it’s so important for whatever you do to be heartfelt and meaningful. A suggestion, the gift of time.

You might be thinking I’m crazy about now. You may be a smaller company that doesn’t offer any paid time off at all or very little as it is, much less add to that. I’m not suggesting that you give them a week off, I’m suggesting a day or a half day and perhaps meted out in hourly increments. Yes, this requires more time tracking, but spread out can make it seem much more affordable and manageable as far as productivity is concerned. It may seem like a hassle at first, but you likely have a procedure for asking for time off already that you can roll this right into – same rules. You can also put parameters around it that require the time be used by a certain point in time, or off limits for use during peak periods, etc.  You already have the money in your budget for paying them for working these hours, so you won’t need more funds to pay for this.

The gift of time is something that all workers, whether they work in an office, from home, on a job site, etc. can take advantage of and appreciate. Keep in mind though that a gift that you’re never allowed to use, is not a good one. If you really don’t have the bandwidth to do this, don’t. There are other things that may be really appreciated by your team just as much, but you have to figure out what that is. It’s difficult as an employer because there are tax implications that go along with almost anything you do for your employees.

What about you? How are you going to show gratitude to yourself this year as a business owner or leader? The stress levels have been off the charts for you. Make sure to include yourself in some appreciation this season. Do something nice for yourself – doesn’t have to be anything major again, just something that makes your feel appreciated and cared for.  Not only have you worried about your business, you’ve worried about the well-being of your employees too. You’ve had to make some tough decisions, heartbreaking ones at times. I can honestly say that the generosity and genuine concern that my clients have undertaken with and for their teams has been amazing. I hope that those employees really understand how much they are cared for as people – with families and lives outside of working hours. Treated more like family than employees – almost to their own detriment! It is a beautiful thing to witness though, even if it isn’t the healthiest thing at times for the business…

As rough as 2020 has been, I do think most can say that we’ve found a new gratitude for the simple things. Things that were taken for granted have now become so precious to us. Being able to have the big family holiday gatherings without worry, being able to smile at someone and they actually can see it, going to school, etc. My sister in law’s mother, who’s in an assisted living facility, hasn’t seen her children (except through a window) or been able to get a hug from them for months now. It really has put things into perspective in some ways. What’s really important to us at our core. Being able to really connect with other people, face to face. How important it is to have physical closeness, give and receive hugs from people we love.

As 2020 draws to a close, we can reflect back not only on  who what we are grateful for, but what we’ve learned to carry us forward in years to come. Ideally, businesses that survived will have solid emergency plans in place that will leave them better prepared for the future, and businesses that are planning a comeback will do so as well. Individuals and families will set aside more for the future maybe than they did prior to 2020 as well – I’m trying to do that for sure. Most importantly, appreciating the time that I have with the people I spend my time with – family, friends and people that I work with and work for. 

With gratitude and much appreciation for you,

J