Thanks for the Gift Card (but not really…)

When you grow up in the Boston area, there are certain responsibilities and expectations that come with the territory. You support the local sports teams unconditionally, you never take a parking spot that someone else has shoveled out, and you always buy your coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts. As a proud Bostonian, my coworker honored these expectations throughout the years and throughout the many places she lived, including a Dunkin’ Donuts in South Korea that microwaved its bagels.

In an office setting, discussions around coffee are as commonplace as conversations about the weather and complaints about who was supposed to refill the copy paper. At my coworker’s previous office, these all held true. The office joke became her devotion to Dunkin’ Donuts as she walked in each morning with her Dunkin’ Donuts mug filled with a regular coffee (which, by the way, means something specific in Boston. Look it up.) Yet when it came time for the annual office gift exchange, she received a gift card to Starbucks. Not one to be ungrateful or whiny, she was mostly confused.

Her boss certainly did not need to get her anything at all, and it’s likely the cost came out of a personal budget rather than an organizational one. At the same time, it was a telling moment in her tenure at that organization, because it was such a clear example of how she and her boss never really got to know one another, even in the most basic of senses. I write about this a lot, and it is worth repeating here- relationships are not just the core of any organization, they are the organization. If we treat our staff as cogs in a machine, they will mirror that same level of loyalty.

When you work in a small non-profit, days are often frantic, pay is often low and benefits are often hard to come by (if they exist at all.) Staff tend to look past these things because they are driven by the mission and they care about what they do. It is a shame that this passion is not more valued and compensated, but that is a post for another day. The point is, in a generally thankless line of work, it is important that management is sincere and intentional about recognizing and rewarding its staff. They are the lifeblood of any nonprofit and despite their dedication, everyone wants to feel appreciated and important.

Knowing that money is hard to come by, nonprofit management needs to be creative about how it recognizes its staff, but recognize them they must. And what speaks to people- especially people who dedicate their lives to helping others- is knowing that their work matters and that someone recognizes it. When people feel like just another number, when their rewards feel generic and impersonal, there are any number of other places they can go. But when they feel appreciated and known, there is a far greater likelihood that they stay and remain dedicated to not only the mission but to the organization. So, get to know your staff. Reward them in ways that are personal and salient. And for crying out loud, don’t buy Starbucks for someone from Boston.