This past semester, I have been working with Make-A-Wish, under their development team. I aid them in organizing two internal fundraising events. These events are the Walk For Wishes, and the Wishmakers Ball.

Throughout my time there I have noticed many things involving the Symbolic Frame. Make-A-Wish is a nonprofit organization granting wishes to critically ill children. The employees communicate with families with many struggles. Families can get really emotional sometimes and it can be a tough job. Because of this, the employees and wish coordinators have to be very emotionally stable and able minded to communicate effectively. Additionally, there needs to be a good overall moral so employees can bring the positive energy back to the family and the kids.  Wish coordinators work together on some of the wishes if they are more on the difficult side. Additionally, the employees celebrate their successes together!! Whenever a wish is granted, there is a celebratory email sent out to all of the different teams.  Additionally, there is a big kitchen and lunch table. The employees usually eat lunch together and talk about their lives. Everyone is always super friendly and eager to talk to you. Sometimes the company will buy lunch for all the employees or provide dessert. Additionally, on Valentine’s Day HR organized a cookie exchange. For this each employee brought around twenty cookies, and they all traded. This was a super cute way to involve everyone. Another policy that boosts morale is the office dress code. Besides more official days, employees can wear jeans and nice shirts, or dress up more if they would like. The dress code is very relaxed, so employees are more productive. Of course this is a workplace, so there has to be hard deadlines and rules, however the office is very lax compared to other workplaces. I chose this frame because I have noticed how a high morale contributes to an amazing workplace.

Utilizing the Human Resource Frame, it is apparent how collaborative the employees of Make-A-Wish are. Because the purpose of the company is so family orientated, the overall feel of the company is family oriented. Everyone cares so much about their individual families and their employees talk about their children and significant others often. Additionally, the company celebrates its employees’ milestones. For example, when one of the women was getting married, her coworkers decorated her office in a bridal way to celebrate her. It is also apparent how much each of the employees care about what they are doing in their careers. They want to give back and help grant wishes to children with critical illnesses.