Meaningful Work
Work for a company that values your aptitude
I know someone who spent years working for an electrical company, starting as a journeyman and working his way up to the to a chief foreman, the top role on the union side of the business. He eventually wanted to move from the union to the management side of the company to continue to grow and advance his career.
He was successfully running large commercial jobs worth millions of dollars and was already performing some of the tasks that the senior project manager is supposed to do. But when he pitched his company to hire him in that capacity, they refused. They said he could only move to management if he started at the very bottom, as an assistant. It would have been a huge pay cut and taken years to move up to the role that he was already capable of.
He very quickly met with a competing electrical company, Prime Electric, and was offered a senior project management role. The people that interviewed him looked at his resume of high-value jobs and got references from people who had great things to say about his work. They saw that he was qualified for the role and that his experience would help them win bids on future projects. Some of those references were given before he spoke to anyone at Prime…one executive makes it a habit to find out who is respected on large jobs in the Seattle area.
I won’t name his former company, but am happy to give a shout-out to Prime as an example of a company that has a practice of hiring people with aptitude and providing opportunities for existing employees to develop.
The former company has lost two other employees to Prime that I’m aware of. One was stuck in an assistant role while performing project manager duties – but they wouldn’t promote her because she didn’t have a construction management degree. Prime hired her, and now she’s the project manager for a multi-million dollar, big-name building. Another person wanted the chance to develop a specialized segment of the business – but they wouldn’t permit it. Prime hired him, and now he’s able to live up to his potential while growing the business.
The former company is still in business, but Prime has continuously expanded, creating even more opportunities for employees.
It’s incredibly shortsighted for companies to underestimate what their employees are capable of and limit their opportunities for advancement. Instead of building morale and creating loyalty, they must replace great employees just to maintain their current rate of business. It’s also ridiculous for hiring managers to insist that candidates come from the same role that they are hiring for, instead of seeking out candidates with the aptitude to excel.
When you’re researching companies as part of a job search, you might not find a lot of public information about how well companies hire and develop staff based on their capabilities, but you can get this information during interviews.
Ask if there are policies and practices in place that help employees advance their careers. An interviewer at Prime would be able to describe a mentorship program, a “university” where staff can learn what skills are needed for various roles, and explain that managers are evaluated partially on staff development. You can also ask if the interviewer’s colleagues were hired from outside the company or promoted from within.
It is worth probing if there is a culture of employee growth and development. Instead of needing to job-hop to advance, you could be building your career from your first day on the job.
Leaders and Workers
In large workplaces there are leaders and workers, obviously. There must be people at the top setting strategic direction, delegating, and making decisions about where to invest. And there must be people to get the work done.
Yet in some corporations and the military, if you don’t continue to rise through the ranks, you are eventually pushed out. In one performance review system that I was familiar with, if an employee was considered unlikely to be promoted, they were docked in their review score and received fewer financial rewards. This was true even if they performed above expectations.
The belief was that the best employees would grow into higher-leveled positions and everyone else would eventually leave the company.
It seems short-sighted, doesn’t it? It’s a pyramid, with far more roles for workers at the base than roles for leaders at the top. Companies need many reliable workers at those lower levels to function, let alone thrive.
Not everyone has the qualities to be leader or wants to be a leader. Valuing the people who keep the business running is wise, especially in today’s environment, when employees who aren’t treated well are finding new places to work.
It’s hard to succeed in your job if you don’t fit in with the workplace culture
I recently heard someone say that the ability to succeed in the workplace depends on how well you adapt to the culture.
I wish I had learned that lesson at the start of my career. It could have spared me years of fighting to survive in workplaces where I would never have fit in.
I’ve had jobs that I stayed at too long past my expiration date. After the honeymoon phase, I slowly realized that the way I approached my work was not what those organizations wanted. Worse, in one of those roles, my work ethics were not aligned with the team’s.
If I could go back in time, I would have started looking for new roles as soon as I sensed that what I brought to those jobs — including my capabilities, ideals, and personality — were not valued. Instead, I burned out while putting my energy into trying to fit in better and succeed despite the environment. Towards the end, all my energy went to coping one day at a time.
What a waste.
On the other hand, I’ve been fortunate to experience some roles that were a great fit. My managers understood and supported what I was working on and how I did my job. I was mentored by people I respected. I could put my energy into my projects instead of navigating politics and temperamental managers. My skills and personality meshed with team’s charter and culture.
I accomplished a lot for those organizations.
I thrived.
Why are so many people quitting?
Phillip Kane recently published an article in Inc. entitled, “The Great Resignation is Here, and It’s Real.” If you’re unhappy at work, you might like to read it and commiserate with the many thousands of others who are contemplating a job change.
I enjoyed the article because it points out what employers can do to retain staff. Kane writes, “In a word, care.”
I’m thrilled that so many employees are demanding a basic level of respect, and willing to find a new job if they aren’t getting it.
Are you one of them?
Looking for a better alternative
My least favorite service vendor to work with is someone who takes days to respond to emails, takes weeks to provide estimates, is late to appointments, and will reschedule at the last minute. The only reason I don’t fire them is that their responsibilities are just one part of a greater scope of work that is done well at a good price. I know because I seek out bids for the same work every year.
I have concluded that I’m better off staying with this vendor for the time being, despite the poor experience.
Will I replace them as soon as I find a better alternative? Absolutely. Would I recommend them to others? Never. But for now, it’s in my best interest to put up with some poor communication and unreliability because I don’t have a better alternative.
This same approach can apply for jobs, too.
A step towards a better job
Many people who spoke to me about quitting bad jobs told me it took two years for them to recover from the stress and negativity they had left behind. They came from different industries and their workplaces were toxic for different reasons. What they had in common was that they all moved on to better roles, and they were all happier because of it.
It can take time to find better work and recover from bad experiences. Starting small and starting now is a great way to stop feeling stuck and begin feeling empowered. Updating a resume or looking at job postings are actions within our control. A small step is still forward progress.
There is nothing virtuous about tolerating a toxic workplace
Coping with a bad job while you search for something better? Great. Doing what you need to do to pay the bills until you can move on? Sometimes necessary.
But there is nothing virtuous about staying in a toxic work environment just because you think you should be able to handle it. Tolerating bad treatment on the job doesn’t earn you a badge of honor.
Recognizing when you need a break
I feel very fortunate to be working and enjoying my job right now, when so many people are unemployed or have limited opportunities to change roles. I also feel worn out from all the hours and energy I’ve put into both paid and volunteer work in the last couple of months. Although I have no right or desire to complain, I realize that I need to take a break before I start trudging through unproductive workdays or get so run down that I get sick.
Next week, I’m looking forward to a three-day weekend, when I will completely unplug from all work from Friday afternoon until Tuesday morning. This weekend, I practiced setting that boundary in a couple of ways. First, by letting others know I would fulfill my obligations during the workweek and second, by turning my attention back to the present whenever I started thinking about my work to-do list.
It wasn’t the most exciting weekend, but putting work out of my mind and focusing on what was in front of me made me extra appreciative of the great dinner I ate, the perfect temperature on my afternoon walk, and the fact that today was the first time in three weeks that I washed a load of laundry without a tissue hidden in a pants pocket.
Struggling at work
If you’re struggling to succeed at work and are constantly getting feedback about the ways that you are underperforming, it doesn’t mean that you’re incompetent. It could mean:
- Your workload or deadlines are unrealistic
- Your manager has different priorities or expectations for the job than you do
- There is a gap between your skills and the job requirements
These issues are solvable. Workloads and deadlines are negotiable. Priorities can be discussed and agreed upon. Training or mentoring can be provided to raise skill levels.
If your manager is unwilling to discuss and implement changes that would improve your performance, then the job is a bad fit. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad worker if you don’t have the characteristics needed for a particular job. It just means that it isn’t the right job for you.
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