Since the beginning of Rapidparts time, the first Friday of every month has been better known as “Cake Day”. The concept is quite simple – we celebrate and recognize the employees that have a birthday that month by having cake. Through the years, the cake has gotten quite bigger as we have grown (in some cases, literally!), but the process has always remained the same. Our world gets a bit rocked when we have to defer from the normal schedule, for instance when we close for the 4^th of July that happens to fall on a Friday. Apparently, cake tastes different on Thursday?! Cake Day has become an integral part of our culture at Rapidparts!

Recently, I was strongly reminded of this. In the spirit of expense control, I decided to rank a few of our benefits and perks along with their corresponding annual cost to Rapidparts. Starting at the bottom of the list (where one could find “one cake per month for all employees”), I polled a group of colleagues and asked for their thoughts on what would happen if we potentially scaled back on a few of those little things. The response that I received was an astonishing, unanimous “there is no way you can take the cake out of Rapidparts!” I heard similar responses for the remainder of the little things on my list.

The point was well taken that little things make a huge impact! With that said, I challenge everyone to take a step back to become aware of all the little things you do in life and the corresponding impact they have on other people. The behavioral choices that you make every day have a critical impact on other people. Having this conscious awareness, the next step is challenging yourself in how to make better choices in each little thing you do.

And yes, we will continue to have our cake and eat it too!

I had the opportunity to attend the Rapidparts Softball team's double-header this evening.  While the scoreboard unfortunately suggested that we weren't the winning team in either game tonight, we were definitely winners in my book.  The teamwork and dedication presented by our employees was phenomenal.  The fun, competitive spirit displayed at work was proudly carried out onto the field. 

Notice that the rest of the Rapidparts family was there in spirit captured by all the orbs in the photo! 

Great job Team Rapidparts and we look forward to a true win next week! 

I was reminded of the power of applause and cheering this past weekend as I attended my daughter Morgan's annual dance recital.  The evening was filled with makeup, tutus, and tap shoes...along with bundles of nerves as the girls paraded across the stage.

The MC for the evening (who happened to be Dick Richards aka Bozo the Clown from WZZM 13 - anyone else have the pleasure of playing Bucket Bonanza on TV back in the day or am I really aging myself??) encouraged us to clap, cheer, and make lots of noise when we saw something we liked.  You can imagine the cheers when the 3 and 4 year olds stepped onto that stage for the first time.  You could feel the energy swell and see the sweet little dancers beaming whenever the audience cheered for them.

When was the last time someone clapped and cheered for you?  Was it during a sporting event or program?  Or were you at work?

We all like to know in some shape or form that we are noticed and valued for doing something good.  Sincere and meaningful feedback doesn't take a lot of time to produce.  If you can't remember the last time you said something positive about a co-worker's performance, do it now! 

Just because we've grown up and our stage looks a bit different now, we haven't outgrown the tendency to shine when we're appreciated.

At some level, most of us have participated in an Employee Opinion Survey. A typical question might read something along the lines of this: “Check yes or no - At work, I have someone I consider a friend.”  Anyway, most people check yes and move on to the next question without really thinking about what was asked. 

According to Gallup research, people who have a best buddy at work are seven times more likely to be engaged in their job (eager to come to work and bring with them their hearts, minds, creativity and passion) than those worker bees without that special friend.  Those without a BFF have a one in three chance of being actively disengaged. Those "disengaged" folks may become argumentative, sabotage or otherwise become a serious downer to the success of an organization.

This whole friend thing was brought to my attention while on a recent family camping trip. While sitting around the campfire, we were sharing random stories. Apparently, I kept referring to several different people as “so and so, one of my friends at work, blah, blah, blah….”. One of the fellow campers happened to recognize that I refer to people I work with as friends and not co-workers, employees, applicants that I’ve hired, or subordinates.  I guess I didn’t realize that my reference to co-workers as friends to be odd.  

When I returned to work the next week, I started to pay more attention to this friend thing.  Here's what I see....co-workers willingly planning their free time outside of work together.  I'm recognizing much more than simple commonalities and companionships.  We've got pretty much all the sports covered with co-workers from various departments playing softball, soccer, tennis, bowling, golfing, working out, biking together in their free time.  We've graduated from complaining about the Tigers while grabbing a cup of coffee to planning a road trip to Detroit to see it happen in person.  We have Guitar Hero and Mario Kart tournaments happening on the weekends.  Employees are scheduling playdates amongst their kids.  We have employees that have filled their wedding party and guest lists with their Rapidparts friends.  We have employees lending helping hands to their co-worker friends during times of need.  Employees are planning vacations together.  

I'm confident that when Rapidparts employees check that "yes = friend @ work" box on the survey, they truly mean it.  Next time I get caught referring to a co-worker as a friend, I'm excited to know that I'm contributing to the overall success of our company!