We are excited to announce Jared Parker as this year’s recipient of our "Tickled Pink" award!
Jared is the second person to have received the award, following Alex Rains’ win last year. The recipient of the award is whoever has received the most recognition throughout the year for going above and beyond in various ways. That recognition is shown in the form of “feathers” that teammates award to each other at stand-up meetings.
Jared recalled a few examples of teammates handing out feathers, like when a new employee gave every member of the team a feather because he felt especially welcomed, or when a teammate upgraded an existing development tool to support newer systems for a client.
How did Jared receive this award?
“Honestly, I don’t know how I got so many of them,” he said. “I don’t really think I did anything special.”
Jared said his approach to working at 1904labs is fairly straightforward: he aims to take ownership over things that need to get done, and he offers help where he can.
Still, he was able to recall some specific things that may explain his win: staying overnight at the office to finish a data migration, offering his time to help a coworker build furniture, and generally helping out teammates when they’re having a hard time. There was also the night Julie Olivarri was working late and discovered her car battery had died. She sent out a message and Jared, who lives nearby, dropped what he was doing and helped jumpstart her car.
Over time, these small acts build up and help foster a supportive and collaborative culture at 1904labs. We came up with the Tickled Pink award to recognize some of these day-to-day efforts, and to create a platform for our teammates to give recognition when they feel appreciative.
“Some people really like being able to give recognition as well as receive it,” he said. “I think that’s a really important concept.”
