I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
Are Good Work(ers) Hard to Find?
If you're on TikTok like me, then perhaps you've viewed the viral video of Kevin Ford.
Kevin has been a loyal Burger King employee for 27 years. He's never missed a single day/shift of work in all that time.
To celebrate this achievement he received a thank-you gift, which he proudly and grateful shared in real-time on his video.
Kevin felt blessed to receive this acknowledgement, but the internet had other ideas.
What was in the clear plastic gift bag Kevin received?
Well, there in lies the rub.
The bag contained a movie ticket, a Starbucks cup, a bag of Reese’s Pieces, two packs of Life Savers, two pens, a lanyard and two keychains.
Yeah, you read that correctly.
After 27 years of loyal service, Kevin received a bag of trinkets and some candy from a global corporation whose 2022 revenue hit almost 2 billion dollars.
TikTok nation was having none of it and called out BK in a big way.
But, here's the kicker. It wasn't the corporation that Kevin dedicated his life to that, in the end, rewarded him for his service. It was regular folks like you and me.
As Kevin's story began to gain attention, his daughter set up a GoFundMe page to help her dad purchase a ticket to go and see his grandkids. He lives in Nevada, they live in Texas.
She was hoping to raise $2,400. She ended up raising $400,000.
No doubt, a life-impacting amount for her dad that affords him not only a plane ticket but probably some well-deserved time off from work, too.
Now, on the one hand, this is a lovely, uplifting story of a regular, working joe who has dedicated his life to serving others and providing for his family being rewarded by the generosity of his fellow humans.
On the other hand, it supports the current climate of tone deaf organizations earning records profits while everyday workers suffer.
See the strikes in Hollywood, the union-busting of mega-businesses like Amazon and Starbucks, the en masse lay-offs in tech and other industries for examples of corporate behavior and popular sentiment.
You might as well throw in some quiet quitting and The Great Resignation while you're at it, too.
Let's face it, the employer/employee relationship right now feels particularly adversarial.
But it doesn't need to be.
One thing I really love about Kevin Ford's story beyond how it reconfirms my faith in humanity and the kindness of strangers, is that Kevin himself was happy and grateful for the paltry recognition he received.
He wasn't looking for sympathy or anything more.
It's further testament to the fact that for many people small acts of recognition have huge impact and meaning.
To me, the biggest shame in what Kevin received isn't in the size or relative worth of the gift but in its utter lack of any real thoughtfulness.
Listen, employing and managing people, whether employees or contractors, takes a lot of thought, processes, systems, and a bit of good old fashioned common sense.
If you need some help mapping out your hiring process, employee search, or recognition program or you have questions about how to run a smooth operation, why not schedule a session with me.
Until next week,
PS - In case you missed it, last week I shared some Perfect 10s.
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I help entrepreneurs leapfrog over the typical potholes that derail most small businesses with inspiration, motivation, education, and support across a wide range of business topics drawn from over a decade of running my own business, teaching entrepreneurship for the City of New York, and coaching and consulting privately with dozens of women and minority small business owners. Honestly, why go it alone when help is an email away?
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