By: Val Trotter, Director of Service Excellence & Resident Experience
I was recently reflecting on our Service Excellence standard: “We respect and nurture spirit and spirituality as part of our holistic approach to care.” It reminded me of an article I read that spoke to purpose and meaning in your work. As an employee, I share the responsibility in the creation of purpose of work with the organization that I work for. Employees that feel that their work has meaning and purpose actively take on the responsibility for creating how they experience their work. In turn, the organization helps employees connect the work they do to the impact that it has.
There is a story about President Kennedy who, while visiting NASA, saw a man in the hallway with a mop and bucket. The President walked over, shook his hand and introduced himself and then asked the man what he did at NASA. To which the man replied, “Sir, I help put a man on the moon.”
Purpose may seem like a mysterious thing. When we have many responsibilities all seemingly happening at once, it can seem short-lived and perhaps even obscure because it becomes easier to focus on all the tasks that we have to do and harder to focus on the big picture. But, when you hear the outcomes of that work, the stories of successes and the smiles of happy residents, tenants, families and staff, purpose suddenly becomes obvious and even invigorating. We can all make the choice to engage with all you’ve got and make the connection between the work that you do and its impact. We may not be sending the man to the moon, but no matter what job we have within Bethany, each one of us has an impact on the experience of the residents and tenants that we serve. Most importantly, each one of us is, “Creating Caring Communities”.
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