The housekeeper with a predictable routine of mopping floors, cleaning windows and mirrors, dusting shelves and furnishings and keeping a facility clean, following a prescribed routine to ensue the entire facility is continually cleaned. Often these individuals are taken for granted as they blend in with the walls, floors and furnishings of the facility. Members, volunteers and staff often pass them without even an acknowledgement of a simple “Hello.” as they go about their business keeping our facilities as unsoiled despite the heavy wear and tear they face daily. Ironically, the moment something is found to have been missed or unclean, everyone all the sudden swarms the poor housekeeper to alert them of the item needing immediate attention. All of the sudden they become the most valuable player for Team YMCA, and not necessarily in the most popular way. Once the situation is remedied, the housekeeper retreats back to their unsung hero status and continue making their routine rounds without much fanfare.
Now back to my position as the payroll administrator… The moment someone’s pay is involved and is not what they expected, my phone rings off the hook and e-mails pop-up non-stop and supervisors charging into my office expecting answers of what went wrong in their employee’s pay. All of the sudden I am on stage and the main center ring, all eyes are on me today’s circus performance. Some staff will tell you I perform magic, feats of wonder and can pacify the wildest and loudest staff. Though I never claim to have any of these traits, I am pleased staff believe I do have these abilities. I was taught by my own mentors, honest mistakes, an error or even oversight are part of the human condition and are excellent teaching moments when developing staff. It takes a lot to upset me or make me stray from my calm and even-keel demeanor. Once the problem has been deescalated and resolved, I too, retreat back to my introverted self, going about my daily tasks. I am fortunate, I can retreat to my office and out of sight until the next show.
The first payroll of summer programs is always filled with dynamic energy. More than half the workforce of the association changes a combination of family centers, departments and jobs from the Friday after school ends to the immediate following Monday when summer programs begin. All program directors scurrying to make final changes to staffing structures, daily schedules and setting up for the first day of their programs and feverishly checking with human resources and payroll their staff are properly set up for proper positions, pay rates and program sites. Behind the sanity of their offices, the payroll and the human resource staff equally hurry to make final preparations of ensuring all the behind the scenes setups are seamlessly completed. At the blink of an eye, time is up and everyone is on stage for the first day of summer programs; families asking questions and dropping off participants, participants aimlessly wandering to their respective groups and staff familiarizing themselves with their names and new schedules.
On an ideally good year, the first pay day of the summer programs is the second Friday after the programs began. Supervisors have a full two weeks to complete their payroll timely and accurately and afforded the opportunity to make sure all positions, pay rates and program sites are all correct prior to approving their payroll. As a previous supervisor shared a career t-shirt’s slogan with me “my job as payroll administrator is to do precision guess work based on unreliable data provided by those of questionable knowledge.” I tend to agree with this, as my job relies heavily on other staff to process information presented to them by the staff and then process people’s pay based on the aforementioned premise.
Now that I have given you a visual of comparing my role as payroll administrator to a housekeeper, you are undoubtedly wondering what the comparison of these positions has to do about anything related to the YMCA or my journey. Even more so, when you look at the the title; cash, return on investment and dividend, I hope it stirs your thought process just a tad. The foundation of the analogy between the housekeeper and the payroll administrator brings to a point of a YMCA mission moment I encountered several years ago. My YMCA has been a recipient of a grant from a specifically designated taxing district to generate dollars for children’s programs. The grant, STEP (Supported Training and Employment Program) provides community based employment opportunities for high school students with disabilities as interns.
With the support of a job coach, the students are able to gain practical pre-employment skills such as interviewing, proper dress and hygiene and completing paperwork and ultimately being placed in an entry level job during a summer internship to learn specific job skills. As payroll administrator, I’ve seen many of these high students become interns every summer, as they come through the corporate office coming in to receive their pre-employment background and drug screens, complete on-boarding paperwork and finding out their job placement. While I work in my office, I hear the humming and chattering as they fill the office with their eagerness, excitement and enthusiasm. I always took a special note of these interns’ names and their job location.
Ok, ok, ok … back to my STEP interns…
Finally, pay day Friday has arrived. Current staff’s funds are direct deposited into their chosen bank accounts while new staff get checks. Checks received are mailed out to staff; however, this one occasion I held on to the checks of the STEP interns. I shared with my supervisor and their job coaches the importance to me, to have the ability to deliver their first pay check to their job sites to present it to them. For the majority of these students, this is their first job and I wanted to share and be part of the excitement and be able to present them their first pay check.
Each of the interns were excited to receive their first pay check; however, one in particular will always be one that will be unforgettable, engraved permanently to my heart. The student intern as described by his job coach,
“Jonathan was emotionally charged with ecstatic enthusiasm when he received his acceptance to the STEP Intern program for the summer.”
As the job coach went to get Jonathan from his task of impeccably lining up canned goods, with the labels ever so perfectly facing forward, I could hear him stomping down the grocery store’s aisle with excited anticipation of receiving his first paycheck. I felt I was seeing an animated character coming into reality, Jonathan, was filled with “can-do” attitude filled with enjoyment of pleasing both his job coach, employer and himself.
His job coach’s vivid, accurate description came to life once I met Jonathan. I was introduced to Jonathan as “the man who made sure you got paid for the work you do.” As I was preparing to present to his first paycheck he asked if he could do FACETIME™ with his Dad. I couldn’t refuse, as I didn’t want to diminish his spirits. Dad, unfortunately was not receiving the call and he proceeded to ask if he could try his Mom. His mom answered within two rings and Jonathan’s elation escalated to euphoria surpassing his excitement from a few moments ago. Mom spurred and added to the excitement of the moment. Before I knew it, I was fully entangled into this emotional milestone and celebrating along with Jonathan’s moment to shine for the next few minutes.
Walking away from the moment, I look over my shoulder only to see Jonathan, his Mother and his job coach continue their FACETIME™ as their faces become shadows, I fade away into the distance. This time, I didn’t have my office to retreat to but left Jonathan to savor his moment to be in the center ring. I was able to gracefully exit stage right and today’s paycheck may pay my bills but reinvesting the dividends will make me rich in ways wealth cannot measure.
Well, as to why compare it to a housekeeper? … because of lessons my parents imparted on to me as I began entering adulthood. While growing up and contemplating what I want to be, I was always pushed to do my best and take pride in all that I do. Take time to acknowledge and treat everyone with respect, irregardless of who they are. With a whispering reminder that even the housekeeper, working behind the scenes, is an important contributor to the greater good, as they go about their daily routine.
No comments:
Post a Comment