Make a Note

Now. Today. Before you get busy. Before you forget.

Make a note about every pandemic protocol you instituted and when, especially if it was before the general call to do so. Directing and facilitating work-from-home. Reconfiguring your premises for employee and customer safety.

Make a note about every business challenge you’ve surmounted during this pandemic year and how. New products. New services. New modes of delivery. New supports for clients that are struggling.

Make a note about every employee-support program or initiative you’ve implemented. Time off. Family supports. Access to confidential counselling. Regular round-table discussions.

Make a note about every community-support activity your company and employees participated in. Christmas toys for kids. Snowsuits for kids. Donations for your local Food Bank. Meals for seniors. Cupcakes delivered to staff at long-term-care homes.

Make a note about any feedback from employees, their families, and your community. Thank-you letters. Public kudos. News stories.

Make a note to celebrate all this, when the time(s) is/are right.

Make a note to add these tidbits to the stories you sprinkle through proposals. The stories that describe what kind of company you are. What kind of employees you have. The stories that show what you do, not just what you say.

Make a note. Now. Today. Before you get busy. Before you forget.

Here’s one story that’s been well documented: Canadian North and Scotiabank partnering to deliver 75 sets of brand new hockey gear to Inuvik, Kugaaruk and Qikiqtarjuaq. You don’t have to make this much effort: Any record is worthwhile.

Here’s another (amazing) story about an Ottawa philanthropist. Again, it’s not about matching the effort or the profile, it’s about tracking what you did do.