Leah Warwick: Hi, everyone. I’m Leah Warwick, and you’re listening to The Admin Edge. We’re in season 10, which is hard to believe. Thank you so much for being here with us. This first episode is sponsored by Edible Arrangements. The Edible team has been a wonderful partner, and I think you’ll get a lot out of this quick conversation between me and Matthew Walls on the show floor at EA Ignite.

Hi, I’m Leah Warwick, senior content manager for the American Society of Administrative Professionals, and my guest today is Matthew Walls, president and chief stores officer at Edible Arrangements and a sponsor at this event, EA Ignite. Welcome to the podcast, Matthew.

Matthew Walls: Thanks, Leah. I appreciate it. Thanks for having us.

Leah Warwick: Yeah. It’s so great to see you, ’cause you were at our last EA Ignite event as well.

Matthew Walls: That’s right. Yeah, last year in Nashville.

Leah Warwick: That’s right. Yeah. So welcome back, and I’m so excited to get into these questions for you, on a very important topic, which is the hidden power of workplace recognition. So being the person in the room who notices, who remembers the promotion, the work anniversary, the rough week someone’s had, is one of the most underrated skills an EA can have. From your position at Edible, what do you think about recognition and appreciation being not just feel-good extras, but genuine strategic tools that shape culture, build trust, and make you indispensable?

Matthew Walls: Well, I mean, you just said it. I think companies that get it right understand it’s just who you are, right? It’s part of the soul of your company. I think I’ve been in some companies where unfortunately recognition was something that they did — recognition is not something that you do, it’s something that you are. We’re really blessed to have a phenomenal executive assistant at Edible, Lisa Knoll, and Lisa has that sixth sense.

She knows when people are having a rough time. She’s good at the tap on the shoulder saying things are gonna be okay, and I think a lot of times recognition is conflated with celebration, and that’s not what it has to be. We all have a different language when it comes to how we like to be recognized. Me personally, I love the private thank you. I like someone just coming in the office saying, “Hey Walls, thanks for that, I appreciate it.” That’s all I need. Some people like the stage, and so I think the role that executive assistants have so much in our culture is getting to know each person and understanding what recognition looks like to them. For some people, it’s very embarrassing to have public recognition. It could actually have an adverse effect to it because now they’re maybe a little hesitant to actually go out and do things ’cause they don’t wanna get put on the stage.

Leah Warwick: And I think you’re exactly right. I think a strong recognition culture, but one that’s curated to the individual, is absolutely critical to a healthy culture. I’m really glad you said that because a lot of EAs are more behind the scenes, and they get into the roles that they’re in because they don’t want the spotlight. They don’t need it.

And a good job goes a long way, an acknowledgement of the work they’re doing, and it doesn’t have to be public. And then, like you said, some people do like the stage, and they want the award or they want the raise and promotion. Everybody has a different way they wanna be recognized, and sometimes it can be multiple things at once, right?

Matthew Walls: You’re right. So really kind of figuring out — it is an individual thing. Not everybody likes to be recognized the same way. But to what you said about recognition isn’t what you do, it’s who you are, so if you embody that within your organization, that we recognize people in the ways in which they want to be recognized, and there’s so many different ways that we recognize people, not just one way.

Leah Warwick: And are there any examples that stand out to you of an EA who drove that appreciation culture?

Matthew Walls: I’ve been blessed to have so many great executive assistants that I’ve partnered with, and candidly, most of them did a phenomenal job of recognition. Part of it is they also need to be given the license to have that type of culture.

So I think it starts as much with their business partner as anything. And we were just talking this morning about how I was able to promote somebody today, which was like — I’m fired up to be here. I was even more fired up to give him a promotion. I thought it was really cool. But I think about the relationship that I’ve had with the executive assistants, both current and in the past — we had a mutual understanding that recognition had to be part of our culture. And it not only had to be part of our culture, but it had to be individual. Lisa at Edible Arrangements does a phenomenal job of that, and she’s really good about changing her style depending upon the people. She gets to know them, their past, their motivations, sometimes their fears as well. Once you know the motivations and fears of a person, you kinda understand them.

And so I think it’s so important for us — if we wanna come across as authentic, we need to make sure that it’s not just an online catalog where I get to pick my five-year anniversary gift. It’s about what does Leah — what’s important to her? And maybe it’s not even you, maybe it’s your family. Maybe bringing them in for the recognition. That would mean a lot to you. We do some standard things — every Wednesday we have a huddle, and we do “wows” where we celebrate people, but that’s just part of our wow culture because we do wanna make sure that we are recognizing one another, ’cause then we’ll recognize those in the stores, and they’ll actually take that positivity to our customers. That’s the idea behind that. But that’s just a small piece of it. Most of the recognition doesn’t happen on a stage. It happens behind the scenes, and I think it’s so critical for team leads like me to be very well connected with the administrative leaders that support them so that they can also understand what we’re looking for. I think it’s so critical that connection between team leader and executive assistant, making sure that they’re both on the same page when it comes to recognition. ‘Cause then the other thing is, if she’s recognizing a certain way that supports my vision for how I wanna run the culture — then there’s no question. It just seems very organic, and again, authentic, which I think is probably the most important thing about recognition. It has to be authentic.

Leah Warwick: It has to be authentic, and oftentimes recognition programs don’t work when it comes across really impersonal, right?

Matthew Walls: You’re exactly right.

Leah Warwick: So when it comes to an EA and their business partner, it’s gonna be most meaningful if they really understand each other and what the recognition is, is, like you were saying, very authentic. It shows that you have listened, and you know them, and maybe you picked up on something that they said, and you filed that away for later. And it doesn’t have to be about how much the gift costs or even a gift at all.

Matthew Walls: That’s right. It’s more about the thought behind it, and that applies outside of work as well. And I think that’s where it comes back to the motivation. If someone’s motivation to work is to support their family and if you can give them something they would take home for their family— oh, that’s everything. But you need to know whether they have college-age kids or they have little kids around because it’s really this idea that when someone walks away from being recognized, do they feel that they were part of just kind of a corporate program?

 Or were they individually being recognized for what they did. And that’s the way we want people to feel. That’s the reason why I think that individuality and the authenticity is so important.

Leah Warwick: Yes. Yes. Agreed. Agreed. And EAs are naturally good at that, in my experience, because they are able to sort of read the room in a way. They have access to a lot of information.

Matthew Walls: You’re so right. And so that enables you, in many instances, to be really good at recognizing others because you are observing, and you are seeing the different dynamics, and you are taking the time to get to know the executives you work with especially.

Leah Warwick: So that’s a really great takeaway. And they, and Lisa does a great job at keeping me in check.

Matthew Walls: Yeah. Because sometimes I think I have a great recognition idea, and she always wants to let me take care of it.

Leah Warwick: Okay. Because she is ’cause she’s just more in tune with this. But I really feel like her job, more than anything in our company, is making sure she understands the status check on everybody.

Matthew Walls: And because she knows that, she also knows what’ll motivate them. ‘Cause that’s part of recognition too. It’s not recognizing what you’ve done, but it’s also motivating you to continue to do that.

Leah Warwick: Yes. And she’s so good at that.

Matthew Walls: She’s so good.

Leah Warwick: I bet she knows a lot of things that you don’t know, and then you find out from her, and you’re like, “Oh, good, I’m glad you caught that.” 100%. Absolutely. So I believe that ensuring people feel seen is actually a leadership skill. In your view, how can admins, EAs, and executive leaders advocate for organizations to take employee recognition more seriously?

Matthew Walls: Mm. Yeah, I mean, it’s a hard one because there’s typically a built-in culture when an executive assistant comes into the role. So we’re not just asking them to start recognition, but you’re asking them to change an entire culture. And so I think you start small. I think you show the net effect of having small moments of recognition and how people appreciate that, and then watch how they react to that. Being aware of how people wanna be recognized is one piece of it.

The second piece is being able to go back to the business partner and say, “Hey, remember we recognized Leah a couple months ago? Have you noticed how engaged she’s been since then?” That’s what the business partner wants to hear. We wanna hear about engagement. The feel good is the recognition moment, but does it actually have a long-lasting effect? That’s where I think we can be really effective — calling out cultural changes that lead to business results, ’cause ultimately that’s what we’re going after. I would start small, right? As a new executive assistant into an organization, I’d start small. I’d give a couple people some recognition. I’d watch how that affects their relationships and their performance. And certainly if it’s positive, calling that out, because I think good begets good. It’ll have a snowball, a positive snowball effect.

Leah Warwick: I really like that. Tracking it like you would track the ROI of other things.

Matthew Walls: Absolutely. You track the recognition and say, is this having a positive effect on the business? ‘Cause you’re right — recognition, we know it can be very motivating if it’s the kind of recognition that people are looking for, the kind of gift they might like, or the kind of words of encouragement, whether public or in private. If that has a positive effect, that can just create a ripple effect beyond that for everyone that they work with. Positivity is so contagious, and we do find at our organization as well, one good deed does create a ripple effect in that way, and people do pay it forward, and it just creates a better culture. And we’re more productive and happier, and if we have to go to work every day, we might as well enjoy it, right? We might as well love it. And that’s why we can start small, because those ripples do spread out. If you go too fast, it will look inauthentic. It really will, ’cause it’ll look like you’re just doing it to roll out this new program. And I’ve been in organizations where we’ve talked about, “Hey, we’re gonna roll out this new recognition program” — it pains me. It needs to be organic and authentic.

Even if there is a construct behind the scenes, let’s not show people the construct. Let’s actually show them our heart. Just like Vadrick this morning who got promoted — he immediately had to do an update for the company. It was one of the better updates I’ve seen just because he was so excited and still buzzing from the fact that he was promoted into this new position. It is absolutely something you can measure, and that’s the way that we get executives to get excited about ongoing recognition — by showing that there’s a positive net result from doing so.

Leah Warwick: Yeah, that’s great to hear. I’m glad to hear it. And we have a listener question I wanted to share with you.

Matthew Walls: Oh, good.

Leah Warwick:  It’s submitted by one of our community members, and they wrote in to us: “What advice do you have for administrative professionals who are great at celebrating others, but don’t know how to advocate for their own appreciation at work?”

Matthew Walls: Wow. Well, that’s almost every executive assistant that I know. By nature, they are the most supportive people, just by nature. I was actually sharing some ideas with you earlier about some strengths that I see in certain executive assistants. I think one of the strengths that I’ve seen throughout my career, and especially with Lisa in my current role, is she does a really good job of following up after everything she does. For instance, she’s the one that set up us getting here.

She’s the one that actually did all of Nashville last year for us, and she has this very good feedback loop mechanism that she puts into place. When she does something, she’ll say, “Hey, Walls, how did everything go? Did it meet your expectations? What could we have done better?” And what it does is it humanizes the work that was done. I think that’s what happens so often — I just got on a plane yesterday, I just showed up to a hotel and my room was ready, I knew when to be at this podcast. Well, it didn’t just happen. Lisa did it. So I’ll probably get a text from her after this, and she’ll say, “Hey, Walls, how was the podcast?” And that reminds me that there was this human behind there that made sure it happened.

I think that’s really, not just executive assistant, but anybody who wants to make sure people understand the human effect that went into whatever we’re doing — is just having that feedback mechanism, ’cause it humanizes it so much. In a world where we all go so fast, and we think that it’s just a mechanism, sometimes we forget that it’s actually people that are making the mechanism work. And my advice would be — make sure you’re always giving good feedback. Your business partner will love it, and hopefully you’ll get the recognition you deserve in the way that you like to be recognized.

Leah Warwick: Yes, and open communication too.

Matthew Walls: Yeah. Just being very open about the fact that often administrative professionals are underappreciated, and the date you’re listening to this is Administrative Professionals Day —

Leah Warwick: Yeah, yeah, which is a day of appreciation for all of you.

Matthew Walls: Absolutely. I’m glad we’re all together for it. It’s kinda cool.

Leah Warwick: Exactly. We’re all together, and we’re all feeling the love here, but you’re so right. Really behind the scenes, administrative professionals, executive assistants, they are running things, and it’s their job to make things go seamlessly.

Matthew Walls: Yeah, they really are. And so I’m so glad that we’re recognizing Lisa also on this podcast today.

Leah Warwick: Lisa, if you’re listening —

Matthew Walls: Thanks, Lisa…

Leah Warwick:— you’re the best, it sounds like.

Matthew Walls: She is the best. Absolutely, no question.

Leah Warwick: Amazing. Well, Matthew, it’s been a delight to talk to you today. Thank you so much for joining us on The Admin Edge. Where can our listeners find you?

Matthew Walls: They can find us at edible.com.

Leah Warwick: All right. Go to edible.com. Thank you so much, Matthew.

Matthew Walls: Thanks, Leah. Thank you so much.

Leah Warwick: Thank you for listening to The Admin Edge, produced by the American Society of Administrative Professionals. Original music and audio editing by Warwick Productions, with audio and video production by 5Tool Productions. If you like this podcast, please leave us a nice review, five stars, and subscribe. If you’d like to submit a listener question, you may do so on our website at asaporg.com/podcast.