Honoring Labor Day

United States Department of Labor, Name and Logo

Of all the national holidays in the US, Labor Day has become the most meaningless. Veterans’ Day, Memorial Day, Presidents’ Day, Independence Day, Columbus Day, Martin Luther King Day – all of these holidays inspire us to at least pay lip service to their origins, even if we don’t actively celebrate them. But Labor Day? Most people think of Labor Day as simply a day that marks the end of the summer; swimming pools are closing, the school year begins, it’s the start of Football season. Many people don’t even know where this September holiday comes from.

In fact, Labor Day was first created in order to honor the American labor movement and to recognize the contributions of workers. In the late 19th century, as the trade unions and labor movements grew, trade unionists proposed that a day be set aside to pay tribute to the American worker. The first Labor Day parade, organized by the Central Labor Union of New York, was held in 1882, though Labor Day did not become a federal holiday until 1894.

There are still some official Labor Day celebrations held, but for the most part these are relatively low-key events. More people are more likely to go to a neighborhood barbeque than to a parade or ceremony. We have long forgotten the importance of honoring the worker on this day. Even people in the position of managing workers do not use the day to honor their staff.

In general, most workers in America today feel they are not valued by those who employ them. The result is that a lot of people just try to keep their heads down and get through the day. According to a recent Gallup Poll , 75% of all employees do not feel “engaged” at work. When people are not engaged, they don’t perform as well, which leads to overall organizational dysfunction. This frustrates top leaders as well as middle managers (who get complaints from above and below). Of course there are other, more complicated, reasons for this trend of disengagement, but one of the main culprits is the disconnect between people at the top of the organization and the people at the lower levels.

“It was always amazing to me that none of the top management ever came into the stores,” my friend Sandi, who used to work in the trenches at a major retailer, told me recently. “They never listened to what store management would try to tell them. The attitude was that we didn’t know anything, and they knew better because they were at the top.” Sadly, this is the view of many employees, at all levels within a company.

Wouldn’t it be great to mark this year’s Labor Day by making it the day we decide to truly honor the workforce by re-engaging at work? This year, on September 5, if you are someone who is managing other people, try to do one of the following:

  • Go into your office tomorrow and make conversation with your employees. Walk around the office, go to where they are. Make a trip to the store to talk to salespeople in your company, or visit the call center to see what people might need to do their jobs better. Call a casual meeting with people who you feel out of touch with.
  • Challenge the status quo and encourage others to do the same. Don’t keep doing things the way you always have because that is the way it has always been done. Instead, think, is this a good idea? Does everyone else think it’s a good idea or are they just following orders?
  • If you are an executive, get people to ask questions. If on the other hand you are someone who is working at more of middle management position, be brave, ask your boss a question that’s been bugging you for a long time, or tell her about a systemic problem that is slowing down production or cutting into profits.
  • Make yourself talk to a new person every day – whether it’s the head of sales, the receptionist, or the janitor. Connecting with new people will help you see your workplace with fresh eyes.

I believe the best way to celebrate Labor Day is to make a commitment to be truly engaged at work, and to help spread engagement throughout your organization. Connect in a real way with other people. Be present at your job. Get out of the board room and onto the factory floor or the retail outlet. Try to look at things from the outside in. Find out what’s going on with the people who have most contact with your customers. Be proud of and reward other people’s accomplishments.

Let’s commemorate Labor Day by focusing on workers again.

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