Grandpa don’t you love me?

By Darryl Stewart, Head of the Herd

Five year old girl to grandpa, “Grandpa don’t you love me?”

Grandpa, “of course I do sweetie.”

Child, “then why don’t you pay attention to me?”

This exchange would pull at the heartstrings of even the crustiest old fart.

A five year old child notices many things and is not afraid to say what is on their mind.

sculpture of grandpa and child — Photo by Firefly the Great

Grandpa’s can get focused on sports, carpentry, the price of gas or the news. If they are retired it seems crazy that these things would be more important to them than a bright eyed and adoring grandchild.

Yet we all know this happens.

Research into employee engagement tells us unquestionably that one of the most important factors in employee engagement is whether an employee believes someone cares about them at work.

If grandpa, with all his years of experience, can ignore his granddaughter who is over for just a few hours and spend the whole time watching the football game, then you, with all your duties and responsibilities can be forgiven for not seeming to care about your team member.

Do you want be forgiven or do you want to make the place you work into something special?

IBEX Payroll extends our profound respect and immeasurable gratitude to all the ancestors and keepers of the land on whose traditional territories our work takes place. We acknowledge that we are on Treaty 1 territory, the traditional gathering place of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene people and the traditional homeland of the Métis people. This land is sacred, historical, and significant.

Every time we acknowledge this truth, we have an invitation and an opportunity to reflect on the wrongs of the past, what we do in the present, and what we can do to continually honour the people whose lands and water we benefit from today.

This statement only acts as a first step in honouring the land we reside on and its peoples, and must be paired with education, understanding and informed action.