Hold the Rope!
Fellow Aquaterraians,
Recently Aquaterra experienced the reality of an employee being placed on Long-Term disability due to a serious accident while away from work. This could happen to any of us.
Our disability policy is such that an employee’s pay is reduced to 60% of normal salary. On a personal level there are considerable out-of pocket expenses and uncertainties about timing of returning to work. The 60% pay reduction is standard in our industry for Short and Long Term Disability.
Many employees have stepped forward in various ways to offer assistance to this employee. We found these acts of concern to be quite encouraging, not only for the afflicted employee, but for the Company as a whole. It again shows our concern for each other. One individual offered to donate accrued Paid Time Off (PTO) hours to assist during the recuperation period. We found this to be an excellent idea, and after researching the potential viability of this suggestion, we have decided to develop a standard corporate policy and procedure to facilitate such contributions. We will call it the “Hold the Rope” program.
After reading a true story of a coach challenging his team to “hold the rope” before a critical game, you will understand the meaning of the term. The coach noted: “Imagine that you are hanging from the edge of a cliff with a drop of a thousand feet. The only thing between you and a fall to your death is a rope, with the person of your choice on the other end. Who do you hope to have on the other end of that rope? Who do you know that is going to let that rope burn their hand and not let go?” The coach noted that after the last game of the year one of the players walked up to him and said “coach I held the rope!”
Life is no game, it is filled with realities. But, the concept of holding the rope for your peer is consistent with what we want to do for each other at Aquaterra. Therefore, we have attached an SOP for the concept of PTO donation to others who have encountered hardship.
Wow! The above text is from a memorandum transmitted to our employees from our HR Manager. This “Hold the Rope” program was driven by an overwhelming reaction of our employees wanting to assist another employee through a tough time. I have to tell you that I am truly thankful to be part of a management team leading a group of employees with this much heart and caring for other human beings. It is truly inspirational. Maybe other companies do this but I have never been a part of one that did. This policy is dead on. We, as human beings, need to hold the rope for our fellow human beings. It’s a shame that in these times of internet phishing, begging scams, fund raising scams, and people constantly trying to take advantage of us in one form or another, that we often become desensitized to the need of many people, until the need comes home to us in one form or another. Thank you for allowing me to be part of an organization full of awesome human beings.
