A blessing for a long-term key employee

Many family businesses are blessed by long-term employees who care for the company as if it was their own. In fact, it sometimes feels as if their emotional and psychological ownership exceeds some family members’ financial commitment.

Some of those team members were present well before the senior generation transitioned out of the business. They have become as close as a brother, sister, or even parent, and their identity is fused with the organization in ways similar to that of a traditional owner.

Dedicated, long-term employees can also be challenging. It can be difficult for newer employees or younger family members to gain credibility with these key staff. They might resist necessary changes in the business, or passively (even aggressively!) attempt to shape the trajectory of the firm. But deep down, we know that their opposition is often born out of a deep love and care for the company.

This blessing recognizes the history, work, and dedication of a long-term key employee, acknowledges that they have become part of the family, and offers thanks for their time with the family business. I encourage you to offer this blessing to them.

You entered our work-world as many others do
Seeking a place to be rewarded for your efforts
To us, what you knew was not nearly as important
As your determination, character, and attitude. 

As your time with us lengthened
Our trust in you deepened
Our respect of you grew
As you skillfully fulfilled your role.

We cultivated this company together
Sweating side-by-side in labor
Celebrating successes and sharing a solicitude 
For the challenges every family business must face. 

We paid you with money and security
You paid us with commitment and care
Our relationship grew beyond the financial 
To encompass a friendship, to become as family.

Someday you will depart 
And we are ever so grateful for your work 
We give God thanks, we are indeed blessed 
By your many good years spent with us.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

Prior blessings: For the next generation’s new business venture, for a family member recovering from addiction, for a sibling partnership, for the end of a family business partnership, for grandparents in the family business, for those experiencing family estrangement, for your estate planning efforts, for a family business gathering, upon the passing of a family business member, for rest, for the next generation’s return, for the senior generation letting go, and for the new year.