In your comm center as we speak, a group of team members are doing more than their fair share of the work, just like they do every day.
Outward appearances suggest that they are happy doing all of this, because that’s how they carry themselves – but it’s wearing them down, and their leaders are likely making it worse.
Let’s call them team MVPs, because they’ve earned the title.
They tend to do extraordinary work feeling largely unappreciated by the leaders who legitimately – but far too quietly — treasure them for doing it.
What gives?
Team MVPs routinely step up to take on extra tasks without fanfare and without complaint.
They do the right thing not because they are told to do so, or because the SOPs command it — but because it’s the right thing.
That’s how team MVPs roll.
Every shift.
Every day.
These MVPs make their leader’s job far easier, and every leader quietly sings their praises – and therein lies the problem.
The “quietly sings their praises” part.
Despite their invaluable contributions to the day-to-day, these team MVPs are often invisible because they tend to be taken for granted. Even worse, we confidently pile more work on them because we know they’ll get it done without complaint and perform at a high level as they do.
Team MVPs don’t require direction. They keep things afloat. They spread positivity. They embody what it means to be a great teammate.
Instead of being openly appreciated, though, their work becomes their norm. It is expected.
The message our MVPs are receiving: Keep doing the highest level of work that others won’t do, pick up their slack . . . and we’ll reward you with more work, higher expectations and no visible appreciation.
Though leaders are greatly thankful for these MVPs, their spirits become crushed and, ultimately, they are forced out when taken for granted and asked to do more than the more problematic employees.
They essentially become cursed by their own work ethic and great attitude.
The MVPs see and feel this – and even when the message is sent unintentionally, it is unmistakable.
From the perspective of the MVPs, they’re being punished when they’re asked to step up and do even morewhile those who aren’t are allowed to feel special by having others pick up their slack and work around them.
Our MVPs become invisible as expectations of them (and their workloads) increase.
As a director, I was as guilty of this as anyone – and it remains a great personal regret that I didn’t more openly and outwardly show consistent appreciation for my “invisible” MVPs on the dispatch floor through both my words and my actions.
I loved my MVPs. I was endlessly thankful for their contributions and, more than almost any other trait, their outright refusal to bring drama to work (if you’re a leader reading this, be careful that you don’t sustain a neck injury with the vigorous nodding that you’re likely doing).
Like so many of us do, I just assumed they would do this great work eternally and that they inherently knew how fantastic they were and how thankful I was for them.
I was wrong, and if you are making the same assumptions, you are, too.
Starting today, if you are a leader in your comm center, you have the following homework:
- Make sure you let your MVPs know how much you appreciate them by telling them. Do it often. Make sure your actions match your praise.
- Stop allowing problem employees to do less. Demand more of them and hold them to it.
- Become “workload aware.” Do you have a handful of folks doing far more than others? Rectify it. Today. They need you to see and remedy this, because it isn’t in their nature to make that case for themselves (they don’t want to be seen as complainers).
- If you keep heaping work on good people because it gets done, understand that this doesn’t mean it’s fair or right to do. Your MVPs will do whatever you ask of them without complaint because it’s their nature. That isn’t a green light for you to continue to burden them, and you’ll lose them if you keep it up.
Leaders, it’s time to truly SEE our invisible MVPs. It’s time to fully appreciate them and to stop taking advantage of their work ethic and their good nature.
It’s time for you to become their MVP.
About Kris Inman:
Kris Inman is the Director of Program Development for The Healthy Dispatcher. A 29-year veteran of 9-1-1, Kris retired in July 2023 as Director of Springfield Greene County 9-1-1 in Springfield, MO. An awarded speaker and instructor, Kris has delivered standout educational sessions, keynotes, motivational talks and yoga instruction to dispatchers across the country. He is also a long-time college adjunct instructor, teaching courses in communication and public safety leadership. Kris holds a Master of Arts in Communication and a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media from Missouri State University. He is also a registered yoga instructor.
