Commentary

Is Anyone Really Working Today?

It’s the day before Thanksgiving. 

The bags are packed, there’s last-minute grocery shopping to be done, and Black Friday sales are around the corner. Work is the last thing on anybody’s mind—I’m not naïve enough to believe otherwise. So what can I do to alleviate the stress of the dreaded day before Thanksgiving? The easy answer would be to eliminate the day altogether. Though, with that, you leave a couple of potentially valuable hours on the table. Instead, I ask a simple question that has become somewhat of a tradition here at RedPeg. Deal or no deal? 

Never seen the show? It’s a simple game of chance. The banker holds a briefcase with an undisclosed amount of money inside, from one dollar to one million dollars. There are several other briefcases with different undisclosed dollar amounts. The goal: eliminate the low amounts and be left with the one million dollars. After each eliminated briefcase, the banker assesses the remaining value in the briefcases and offers you a deal. The game continues until a deal is made or there is one briefcase remaining. 

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Now I’m not giving away one million dollars, but what I am giving away holds value to each and every person in the office. That is the gift of time. 

In our version of the game, I’m the banker, the staff is the contestant, and the briefcases hold times of the day ranging from 11AM to 5PM. The deal ends with an early start to vacation.  It’s a tradition I’ve long enjoyed with the RedPeg team, and not just before Thanksgiving, but Christmas Eve and Labor Day too (among others). 

This is one tradition I’ve noticed that has a disproportionately positive effect on our culture. It’s an immediate pick-me-up to start the day, and one that transforms the way people view the day. I’ve been there myself as an employee, closely watching the seconds tick off the clock, and it’s one of those times that a small gesture can go a long way. You don’t need to be a hero to your employees; you just need to let them have some fun. This is my unique way of rewarding everyone for those last few hours of hard work before a much-deserved break. And to be fair, we never actually spent a full day in the office. 

Now, it’s only a small gesture I’m making here, but it’s something everyone can take part in and everyone can appreciate. I’m just as eager as everyone else to get out of here and back to my family. Let’s hope the banker is feeling generous this time around…

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