I was watching the show Undercover Boss last night and it made me a little emotional. The show has a wonderful concept, the CEO of the company goes undercover and becomes a worker in 2 or 3 different areas of the company to find out how the company is really functioning...and to see how the employees function in their positions. Last night 3 exceptional employees of the company, 7 eleven, were highlighted and awarded for their excellent service.
What struck me about these employees was their true love of the job...they brought their A game every day and they didnt bitch and moan while performing their job. These people did not have cushy positions with a window overlooking the ocean!! These people had the menial jobs that make companies run smoothly...an elderly woman who works the coffee machines...She knew every customers name and served them with a smile...a night delivery man, who is an immigrant~ smiling and so happy to have a job that supports his family and an ex military man who works on a dessert assembly line...who was smiling and encouraging to the "new" guy. All of these people were given this "new" guy to train. Not one of them bemoaned their job or their employer...they were encouraging to him and didnt make him feel like he was bothering them...
This brings me to the thought....What would the CEO of my company see if he went undercover in the ER??? The nurses, techs, secretaries, docs and lab techs that work in our ER do an amazing job everyday!! We serve anywhere from 60-120 people and their families in a 24 hour period. We work 12 hour shifts and sometimes do not get a break. Our environment is noisy, smelly and oddly lite with bright lights. At times we work short staffed and sick. We work with patients that are at times hard to please and critically ill...we see things that most people would never know or believe existed! We see death. We also get sworn at on a daily basis! BUT we also have patients that are sweet, caring and thank us for a job well done.
What I gleaned from last nights show was this...I know that I go to work and give 100% to my patients and their families...BUT do I always have a good attitude about what Im doing (away from the patients of course)??? NO. Im going to watch myself this weekend when I work and see just how grateful I am for my job and for the service I provide. Do I hold pride in being a nurse??? I think Ive lost some of that...Do my co-workers like working with me??? I hope so, I think so...But Im sure I could improve with my attitude....
LOVE IT!
ReplyDeleteI believe you have an excellent goal set before you that you will never exhaust trying to measure to perfection. As i read your words, my mind drifts to what influences attitude. Is is something that we can bring with ourselves and put on like an article of clothing, or is it our conscious and sometimes reflexive reactions to our environment. If I am honest with myself, likely a mixture of both. We can influence our reactions to stimuli, but we are also so complex that we cannot always understand what is going on at a particular moment. The stress of an ER experience certainly adds to the exhaustion level; you simply do not alway have time to reflect or evaluate. You need to react and respond. At some level, we can only carry so much pride, esteem, etc into a situation. These are experiences that demand feedback from others. I know for myself, if I am not affirmed at some level on a regular basis, or recognized for the unique individual I am instead of one cog in a very large machine, I often find it difficult to have a legitimate perspective on myself, even at prayer.
ReplyDeleteYour so right Phil, everyone needs to be recognized for who they are, for the effort they put into their job, family, friends, etc...otherwise we get complacent and feel taken for granted...or worse. If left in that state for long, we humans get sad, depressed and apathetic..burnt out...and then we are of no good use to whom we serve or to ourselves!
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