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Uncle Tony’s Cigar Box


Growing up, I had an Uncle Tony. He wasn’t actually an uncle; he was one of my dad’s war buddies who didn’t have a family. So we “adopted” him. One of the many things I remember about Uncle Tony was what he did for us kids at Christmastime. Everything about Christmas was exciting. But going to Uncle Tony’s house for our annual Christmas party was extra special, and we looked forward to it for weeks beforehand. At some point during the party – when he perceived that we couldn’t wait any longer – Uncle Tony would gather all of the kids around him in a circle. Then he’d bring out an old, faded yellow cigar box filled to the top with pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. As we fiddled anxiously, Uncle Tony invited each child, one by one, to put two hands into the cigar box and pull out as many coins as he/she could. Whatever we could hold in our hands was ours to keep. When every child had reached into the box, we’d all yell, “Thank you, Uncle Tony!” Then it was a race to the kitchen table to count out the coins into little stacks to see who’d gotten the most.

Uncle Tony probably collected his spare change all year long to fill that cigar box. Just a little bit here and there. It wasn’t a lot of money. But what was a small thing to him was huge to us and garnered our loyalty and endeared him to us for life.

I was reminded of Uncle Tony and his cigar box when a friend of mine, who is a dedicated manager, was commenting on some of the shortcomings of the company he works for. At one point, an exasperated, pleading look came over his face and he said, “And you know, it would be nice if they could just provide some decent coffee!”

Decent coffee – a small (perhaps even minute) thing for a multi-hundred-million-dollar company. But for my friend and his co-workers, the coffee had become a daily reminder of what they perceived as the organization’s lack of empathy for its employees. That perception carried over and influenced their feelings about other issues like compensation, benefits, working environment, budgets and employees’ worth in the eyes of upper management.

Organizations and their leaders often forget the little things that can have a significant and real effect on employees’ attitudes, engagement and productivity, and therefore, organizational results. A chair that doesn’t squeak, a copier that works more often than not, bottled water, enough chairs in the conference room so that people don’t have to sit on the floor during staff meetings…nothing earth shattering. Yet these are the very things that irritate otherwise productive employees – employees who don’t expect major changes or expenditures, but who do expect to be provided with reasonable necessities and amenities.

Perhaps none of these examples are true in your organization. But let me ask you: do your employees have to face an inquisition to get the necessary supplies and equipment to do their job? Is work flow cumbersome and complex? Is there enough privacy in their cubicles that they can hold conversations with customers and vendors? And what about the small intangible things that make a big difference to employees? Does anyone call to check on them if they are out sick? Does anyone ask about their vacation, their parents’ health, their child’s soccer game or the movie they saw last weekend?

Just like Uncle Tony’s cigar box was a big deal to us, small things can make a big difference to employees. So, contrary to the popular book series, I’m telling you that you should sweat the small stuff. When you do, you will earn big returns. Sweating the small stuff creates win-win situations. Employees win with “better coffee” and you (and the organization) win by having more productive, engaged employees.