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A company founder believes employees who are welcomed hospitably into the company would treat their customers well in turn.
In this week when Jews celebrate Passover and Christians observe Holy Week, hospitality stands out. During the Passover meal, it is a tradition to open the front door in order to offer hospitality to all who are hungry. Hospitality is also part of Maundy Thursday, when Christians commemorate the hospitality Jesus offered to his disciples the night before his death, starting with the radical gesture of washing their feet as they began to celebrate the Passover meal together. Christians now celebrate this meal as the Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion.
For both traditions, hospitality is central to the meals celebrated this week. As Jews and Christians alike are reminded this week of the importance of hospitality, what can they do to bring this practice into daily life? How can others learn from these traditions? How can the observances of this week spill over into the rest of the year?
One way is to make the workplace more intentionally hospitable toward both its employees and its customers. Aaberg Associates , a land surveying company located outside Boston, is a good role model for hospitality in the workplace. Founded in 1996 by Doug Aaberg and his wife, Ann, it manifests its culture of hospitality in three ways: putting employees first, being family-friendly, and sponsoring events for employees.
In founding the company, Doug Aaberg reflected on what he had liked (and disliked) about his previous places of employment. He firmly believed that employees who were welcomed hospitably into the company and treated well would treat their customers well in turn. So when he started the company, respect for employees was at the top of his list. Doug respects his employees by providing everything they need to do their jobs well, and then trusting them to do it. He respects them by being open to learning from them whenever they have insights about how their jobs could be done better. And finally, he respects them by providing generous benefit packages, good salaries and regular pay increases.
Consistent with putting employees first, Aaberg Associates also practices hospitality by being family-friendly. When scheduling surveying teams, the firm takes family responsibilities into account, making allowances for children's performances and sports events, sick children and elder care. Aaberg Associates also aims to be family-friendly when scheduling vacations and personal leave, working around school and family schedules. In keeping with this philosophy, the company's benefits package includes generous allowance for personal and family leave, in addition to vacation time. Everyone understands the hospitable culture of the company, and everyone flexes for needs of families.
Finally, Aaberg Associates practices hospitality by planning events for employees. To celebrate the firm's fifth anniversary, all of its employees were treated to a surprise limo ride to downtown Boston, followed by a morning whale watch trip, and topped off by a late lunch in an upscale Boston waterfront restaurant. More recently, employees at an all-company retreat were invited to reflect on how their own stories connected with the company's story, and how the company could better help them live out their sense of calling in the world. One of the outcomes of the retreat was a request from employees that each of them be trained to see a job through from start to finish, so that no one would be trapped in boring "assembly-line" work. President Doug committed that day to the training, and the company has begun to equip all its employees for the entire range of work required on a job.
By practicing hospitality in the workplace, Aaberg Associates has discovered that it's possible to create a positive culture, serve customers well and thrive financially. May the hospitality lessons of Passover and Maundy Thursday percolate into other workplace cultures as well as they have into Aaberg Associates.
Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of "Soul at Work: Spiritual Leadership in Organizations," works with leaders in business, healthcare, government, and nonprofits to help them develop spiritual leadership. Visit her website at www.ExecutiveSoul.com
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