Written by Jeff Ottman, Partner & EVP-Operations (Nashville, TN)

Appreciation. We all want our work to be appreciated. Appreciation takes many forms. Compensation for sure. Individually, I simply want a thank you or the recognition that the hard work was noticed.

For many years, we have appreciated our employees, our tenants, and our clients. Some of my favorite events have been Summit’s BBQ lunch, Florida’s Christmas celebration, and taking a few clients to a Notre Dame football game.

With vendors, we believed our appreciation was meeting or beating their payment expectations. Certainly, many of you have nourished those relationships. Yet I struggled with how could Holladay, as an organization, strengthen our vendor relationships and how could key vendor employees feel appreciated for their individual work. The result was a vendor appreciation event.

The planning began several months ago. And on June 15, it came to fruition. The event:  Nashville Sounds Baseball Game with a segregated area. The people: key vendor employees and related Holladay personnel.

The results:  Holladay is a “Class Act.”

(Pictured above: (Top row, l-r): Allen Arender, EVP-Development, Joey Syracuse, and Councilman Jeff Syracuse; Heather Sullivan, Property Manager (Summit), Daniel Eubanks from Demand Mechanical, Lori Norman of HCP, and Andy Bennett from Demand Mechanical; Jason Adams of CapStar Bank and Chad DeRossett, Leasing Agent.  (Middle row): Mary Gibson, Property Manager (Centennial) and Chad Kern of N2 Interiors; Holladay guests and personnel mingling; Willis Keeton of N2 Interiors, Julie Bandy, Property Manager (Skyline), and Dan McKinney of Tenant Building Group.  (Bottom row): Baseball players and honorable guests on the field during the National Anthem; Mary M. Vavra, Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon with Lori Weir of Relationship Architects (Talent2Strengths guru); and Holladay’s guests and personnel enjoying the game.)

Committed to Excellence in Service

“Committed to Excellence in Service” means not only serving our tenants, our clients, and ourselves. This service excellence needs to extend to those who serve us. I believe our test case was successful.

We will work with the various operational leaders to expand this appreciation to other markets over the next year. Yet, do not be afraid to say an extra Thank You, write an unexpected note, or tell someone how much you appreciate them.

Thank you to Marcy Coffman, Executive Assistant/Office Manager, for arranging the Vendor Appreciate Event. Without her, our vendor appreciation may have been a T-ball game and the cheap bottled water from the convenience store.