When recognizing staff we may miss some people because what they do falls below the radar.
This observation is an unanticipated consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has made us aware of the contributions of those whose efforts have gone unnoticed in the past.
They have always contributed to our well-being, but what they have done has occurred in the background of our lives—until now.
I’m not referring to first responders and health-care workers, about whose contributions we were already generally aware. We may not have given much thought to what they do but we always believed they would be there when required.
During this pandemic, this pre-existing awareness has come into sharper focus. We appreciate them because we know many health-care workers are putting their own safety at risk to respond to what threatens us all.
There are others of whose contributions we should have been more aware. They no longer labour below our radar.
These are the people who clean the places we visit, prepare food in restaurants for takeout or deliver all of our online purchases.
And of course, there are the truck drivers who deliver our food and other supplies to retailers who stock the shelves so we can shop for all that is essential to our daily lives.
As a society, we were slow to realize how much we depend on these essential workers. The needs of truckers were not considered by governments who locked roadside rest stops which drivers use, to prevent vandals from removing toilet paper and hand sanitizers.
Fast food restaurants along major highways closed their dining rooms and then chased away drivers who attempted to place orders by walking up to drive-through windows.
Politicians and restaurant owners eventually reversed course after drivers made them aware of the impact of these decisions.
Hearing about the plight of truckers was a wakeup call for the rest of us. Today, we better understand the value of the contributions of these unsung heroes of the pandemic—truckers, grocery store clerks, cleaners and others upon whom we have discovered how much we depend.
People have found different ways to express their appreciation, from saying thank you more frequently and with greater sincerity to those who serve us in grocery stores to providing meals for truck drivers.
Hopefully, this appreciation of those whose contributions have largely gone unnoticed in the past will not end when this health crisis passes.
We can prepare now to improve how we express appreciation by thinking about those within our organizations whose efforts can go unseen. These could be custodians whose workday begins only as ours end. Or colleagues on whom we depend but who we don’t thank often enough. Or people from other departments or organizations who contribute to our success.
Let’s resolve to do more to let them know we appreciate them for what they do, because in some way everyone performs an “essential service.”
No job is unimportant, because if it was, it wouldn’t exist.
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