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		Feed the FISH!: Motivating Resident Assistants to Program Fish need food in order to “Catch the energy and release the potential”. Submitted by Jennifer Liberato, Resident Director, Gwynedd-Mercy College The FISH! Philosophy is a popular take on being customer service savvy while making work enjoyable. If you are not aware, it is a simple plan that can benefit any work place with a little bit of commitment and conversation. Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, Washington, was the starting place for the idea. Realizing that his employees were unhappy, the owner decided something needed to change. He invited his employees to help create a better workplace, they collectively decided to become “world famous”. The fishmongers added four principles to their everyday work, and turned their fish market into a productive and fun environment. The four principles are play, be there, make their day, and choose your attitude. The fishmongers put the principles into action by throwing the fish orders over the counter rather than walking them to the other side. This playful strategy caught on, and customers began staying to watch or joined in, leading them to buy more fish. Taking each person that came into the market and being present or being there with that individual made the customers feel the staff was invested. When the staff was being “world famous” they listened and engaged each individual instead of just going through the motions. In an effort to make their day, the staff began acknowledging everyone that passed by and yelled out each order. An attitude is a choice made at the beginning of each new day. The fishmongers chose their workplace and it was important knowing they affect their customers with that choice. The choice to be happy and positive was contagious. With work and determination these simple concepts can be integrated into Residence Life or any area. These four principles apply to leadership in any group and being in the moment while doing whatever the job may be. Pike Place Fish Market may be the location for the original video, but they make it known that the fish is merely a symbol. I think using that very symbol to keep FISH! alive is a great idea. As a Resident Director supervising 12 resident assistants, I noticed the programs in the spring semester were starting off slowly. Our resident assistants, through their residents’ needs and using the Wellness Wheel Model, are required to complete a minimum of five programs a semester. The spokes on our Wellness Wheel represent seven specific areas: 1) Intellectual/Educational 2) Spiritual 3) Emotional 4) Cultural 5) Physical 6) Life Planning 7) Social Each individual category or “spoke” encompasses a significant area in a resident student’s life and the wheel in its entirety benefits a student’s total wellness or wellbeing. The RAs while using the FISH! Philosophy and the Wellness Wheel breezed through the fall semester with successful individual hall, combined building, and area wide programs. Overall getting started proved more difficult in January as the spring semester began. Since we allow the FISH! to symbolize many of our themes throughout training and development it was a familiarity they would know. I began thinking. In the FISH! video, by ChartHouse Learning, the fishmongers spread their motivation by allowing others around them to catch their energy and release potential (they throw fresh fish). We pass around a stuffed fish at both Professional Staff and Resident Assistant Staff Meetings to the individual who could use this symbol to get motivated. At the next meeting that individual reports back about which of the four principles they used with their residents or in their personal life. What could I use outside of the stuffed fish to motivate my RAs to continue programming? I had some colorful plastic tokens, and I knew token economies and point systems can be productive strategies. I realized, each program could represent a fish and then each completed program would result in the receiving of a token, or fish food. The tokens reminded me of Beta fish pellet sized food. The idea took off from there. Here are some pointers for getting started. Feel free to adapt the FISH! Philosophy and the symbolism to whatever works for your staff. Decide what your symbol for each required program will be- FISH Decide what will feed your FISH- Beta pellets (use any round colorful item, and even color code according to RA) Design a template (fish tank) with the required number of programs as FISH (laminate and use dry erase markers- to reuse for each semester) Hang the fish tanks in your office, the RA office, or another general location that is accessible to the resident assistants During a staff meeting introduce Feed the FISH! and hand out Beta pellets to each RA as their own personal bag of fish food As you have a one on one with each RA go over programs and allow the RA to bring their Beta pellets to feed their fish and update their fish tank Make an incentive for any RA who goes above and beyond the required programs (home cooked dinner by his or her RD, movie tickets etc…) Remember the four principles of the philosophy- PLAY, BE THERE, MAKE THEIR DAY, and CHOOSE YOUR ATTITUDE for this program to be successful Reference: Christenson, J. (Producer) (1998). FISH! Catch the energy, release the potential [DVD]. Burnsville, MN: ChartHouse Learning. About the Author Jennifer Liberato is a Resident Director at Gwynedd-Mercy College. She supervises 12 resident assistants and oversees the operations of three residence halls. Prior to becoming an RD, Jennifer, was the graduate Residential Staff Supervisor for two years. In May, Jennifer, completed her Master’s in School Counseling and is a certified Secondary School Counselor. She has worked in residence life for the past three years, and has been involved with resident assistant training, judicial affairs, staff development, and summer conferences.