We live in a world where 40 hours a week sometimes doesn’t cut it anymore. The advent of email, texts, and phone messages means that you’re reachable by your superiors or clients at nearly any time of day. Challenges or opportunities can come up at any time and you’d better be able to answer them.
In a large corporation this doesn’t matter as much. You have multiple teams of people to work on a problem or project and if you don’t do it then someone else will. Either way the company prospers. But if you’re in a small business then more often than not you have to burn the midnight oil.
I’ve had to do this on several occasions in order to write up proposals for clients that waited till the last second to request a quotation or to finish up projects by a particular deadline. In particular I once did a 72 hour marathon session that other than for food or bathroom breaks I never left the computer. Not something that I’m eager to repeat.
As an employer you do this because this is your company, your trade, your passion. In essence this is you. You are working on the embodiment of your ideas and your dreams made manifest in stone or on paper or in electronic files. This business represents all that you are and hope you will become. So you better be willing to put in that extra time.
So as an employee why do this? I mean if you’ve signed a contract as an hourly or salaried employee and you put in your honest 40 hours a week then why go that extra mile? Basically it’s all comes down to keeping the company going. When you’re in a small business every contract is crucial no matter what the size is. Not only are you worried about completing contracts and getting paid but you also worry about your reputation as a reliable source of products and services. This indirectly impacts whether your next paycheck will be valid or will even come at all.
Just as a side note it doesn’t look good on a resume to note that the last company you worked at failed. May not be your fault but it still looks bad.
Bosses should take note. Specially when it comes to salaried employees that are putting in that extra time and effort to keep your small business going. Note the cheerleaders that try and boost your co-workers spirits. Note the go-getters that have the passion for the work and are always asking for more responsibility. Note the supporting cast that do their work quietly and behind the scenes and are always quietly there for you.
Show appreciation. Doesn’t always have to take a monetary form, though I would be lying if I said that workers don’t like more money. But after a project is done (and I mean right after, I don’t mean 2 weeks later or at the end of the year) let them know you appreciate the extra work. It’s a small company. Walk around to their desks, cubicles, or whatever. A 5 or less minute talk with each of them won’t take too much out of your busy schedule. Ask if the project was too much to handle or if something could have been done better.
If they do something wrong you’re going to let them know about it, right? Then let them know when they do something right.
Employees, realize that the small business owner has a lot at stake in this little company. They not only have to keep an eye on your performance but on everyone else and they have to take care of a myriad of other details that you don’t even notice but take for granted. They never get a 40 hour work week. You can always walk away and find a new job, they can’t. They’re there for every up and down.
They feel each failure deeper than you do. Reach out to them when they need it. Listen to what they have to say and do it their way. Cut them some slack.
To both sides, reach out, talk, understand. You’re in this together.
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