MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2023 - LABOR DAY

 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2023 LABOR DAY

HAPPY LABOR DAY FRIENDS.

I’m going to be working today. One of my coworkers has two children who don’t have school today, so I am taking her place today so she can be with her family.

I got fired from my job last week (that might be too strong). All of us in my department got fired. The department for hospice, home health, and personal care got cut, with the plan to outsource our jobs. (There are, of course, some financial considerations for the organization).  

I like to work. I don’t have to work. God will provide for me. I call the money my “gas money.” I’ve heard others call it “mad money”. Just a little in the pocketbook - just in case.  

My father worked beyond the age of 65. He was a salesman and changed from selling furniture to selling real estate. He had his office (“Trade Winds Real Estate”) and three people who sold underneath him. It wasn’t a career. It was a retirement ‘keep going” job.

I officially retired at age 69. I worked the first Christmas in retail, filled in one day a week at a new housing development (so the actual salesperson could get a day off), substitute taught, worked for elections, and worked for the past two years at a retirement community.  

Yes, I could volunteer (and I do volunteer), but I like the little income and the fun of being able to increase my scholarship at Dakota State University. (I was reflecting that it has been 23 years since I left Dakota State - so not many folks I know left. But helping needy and deserving students get an education is essential to me. Yes, my other institutions also want me to contribute, but I like making a fund that will help.

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In economics, four factors are generally considered: - land, labor, capital, and management.    

You can use the land to raise crops or livestock or build buildings on the ground, rent them out, or use them for business. 

You can use people (labor) to make money (staff, employees).

And management can help determine if it will be a success. 

Let’s talk about labor and football (since it is labor day).

Management wants a winning team.  One aspect of a winning team in football is having great players. Professional football can pay “big bucks” to recruit a blue-chip player (maybe a quarterback), But that isn’t a guarantee of a winning team. You can get a top-notch quarterback but have a lousy offensive line, and the expensive quarterback gets sacked frequently. You can have an okay quarterback and pay for stronger offensive line players. That might be an excellent route to go. Teamwork is important.  

Likewise, in another other business, teamwork wins. We had a great team at Dakota State - mostly native talent who liked being great teachers and working together. I sense the recent cutting of the department I was in was possibly from a team that didn’t work well together and lacked some training to be a top team.  

As an employee, a person can be part of a team or a lone wolf. In some respects, I’m a lone wolf in my current job (until the last day of September). I haven’t had a one-on-one meeting with my supervisor. That could be two-pronged - encouragement, “Gee Karen, you’re doing a great job,” and correction, “You could work faster and not talk to the residents so much.” 

Like the football team, a fantastic quarterback with a weak offensive line might not beat a good quarterback with a solid offensive line that plays together as a team.  

So, I have used “T E A M” as an acronym - Together Everybody Achieves More. How does management create a winning team? With motivation, accountability, respect, training, and LOVE!

“Love what you do, and you won’t have to work a day in your life” is a statement that gets thrown around. If you love your job, it will be almost fun to work - it will be such that you WANT to go to work.  

I know a company where some of the employees come in late and leave early. My bias is that, eventually, that will backfire. (Now, I don’t know for this particular company if a significant amount of work can be done at home in the evening. There were days as a faculty member that I didn’t get to campus until 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning and left about 3:30 or 4:00. But, I graded papers at home and prepared lessons at home - including on the weekend. The appearance is that the staff is cutting corners. 

Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” 

My bias is in the long run, God will judge me.  

Am I measuring up to His expectations?

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, SEPTEMBER 3, 2023