Have you ever done something just because it was the right thing to do for your employees and then years later read about it in a book and have one of those “aha” moments? Well, I did. During my management career in the call center industry, the senior leadership group would get together and have an annual cookout for the employees. We were always very cautious of costs and sticking to our budget. We would price out having it catered and needless to say, we always ended up doing it ourselves. A trip to the local wholesale club store to fill our flatbed carts with food, drinks, condiments, paper products, etc. was the norm. Putting it all together and setting up a schedule where we each pull our shift of grilling, serving (fixing plates), and cleaning up. Exhausted before we even got started. It was all hands on deck and the management team did all the work in the midst of the hot humid SC summer. We always got great feedback from the employees of how nice it was but most importantly that it was very meaningful to them that we served them. For us to do all the work is what they really appreciated. So, my “aha” moment was in a book titled “Conflict Unraveled – Fixing Problems at Work and in Families” by Andra Medea. The author (page 76) talks about the power of food…..”No Catering……Having everyone out of their authority role eating together like kids in a family….Great for employee morale”! Aha, been there done that and now I really get it! It was the right thing to do but now I really understand why. Take the time to serve your employees.