Give Me a Chance to Be Great!

I can't believe this is already issue #5 of a new newsletter! I've had some starts and stops with newsletters in the past, but coming back to this one is like returning to a friend already.

Even though I'm the kind of person who has notebooks upon notebooks of ideas, sometimes I can't decide what to talk about first, or how to fit it into the context I want.

Soon, I'll be talking more about ESG in detail. However, I don't like forcing content when I don't feel inspired to write it. I'm not giving you my best when I do that. Instead, I hope you don't mind a brief detour that I'd like to use to talk about something that has been on my mind ever since it happened. I promise I'll still tie it into ESG!

Storytime

Just putting the pups here for attention - They are very happy about our new house!

A change of scenery

Last year, my partner and I started talking about moving to be closer to his family. It felt like the right change for everyone - his nephews were getting older, his parents were moving up there, and we could use a change of scenery. We decided to check out some homes and ended up lucking out, getting an accepted offer on the first house we saw (I know, I know!).

Outside of some loan and former owner shenanigans, we ran into minimal snags and we've officially been in the house for over a year now. Time flies!

A new opportunity

However, during that time, I was also offered an opportunity that I couldn't pass up - A position with better hourly, allowing more flexibility. They were telling me they needed me ASAP - It'll start with 8-10 hours, but it's going to go up to 20-30 hours quickly!

I had to have some tough conversations and started to plan the phasing out of my former role. My goal is to set everyone up for success, so we started talking about what the transition might look like, and how I can do it without taking on too much. I had support across the board, and it felt like it was really happening! It wasn't the best time with the home loan, but hey, opportunities like this don't come around all the time, right?

What honeymoon phase?

Within the first few days, it was clear that the person I was reporting to in this new role was...frazzled. Stretched thin. At the end of their rope. They complained to me about some of their clients, something that always seemed like a red flag to me. The occasional gripe about a client isn't that odd, but I've mostly noticed repeat complaints in work environments that are less than healthy. I took a mental note but figured, hey, this person is stressed out. Once I help them out, things will improve and they'll be more relaxed.

We had some brief onboarding and training, maybe a couple hours, and I was put to work. Based on the instructions I was given, I thought I was doing what they wanted. I'd turn in my work and the feedback would be pretty generic but positive - "You're doing great, just tweak this, this, and this."

I'm the kind of person who takes direction well. If you tell me how you want something tweaked, I can bank it, make the changes, and make iterative improvements. As a writer, I have to adjust my style to fit the client. Sometimes it takes a couple rounds to form muscle memory on the particular rules of a new client, but it's something that comes relatively easy to me. I thanked the person for their feedback, and because it was mostly positive, made the changes I heard them mention and didn't worry about anything else.

Radio silence

Throughout the first week or so, I kept sending emails and adding comments to documents as gut checks - Is this heading in the right direction? Is this what you want? Did you want things to go like THIS or THAT?

When I've trained people into a role, I always work in a lot of time for onboarding. There are so many small idiosyncrasies that are second-nature to you when you've been in a position for a long time, but someone else coming in could have no idea what you want or what you're talking about. Most of the questions I asked resulted in crickets. The reasoning? "I'm just so busy, sorry, we'll meet soon."

Meetings kept getting cancelled. I kept asking for direction and clarification on projects, only to get little to no answers.

The gut punch

Less than two weeks into this new position, I was told, unceremoniously, from another party, that I would no longer be working for them.

My heart dropped. It felt like someone threw a bowling ball at my gut.

It's easy to feel like a failure when facing rejection. It's also easy to call all of your abilities and talents into question. I felt rejected and dejected. Where did I go wrong? The last feedback I got was "This is great, just make these tweaks." How did that turn into "Never come back"?

Insert the "this is fine" dog, surrounded by fire

Source: Gunshow

As you can imagine, this was the worst timing ever with the home loan, but luckily, I was able to pick myself back up. I, again, received support from my team and was able to adjust hours and expectations. We got the house, we had time to settle in, and I spent more time evaluating where I wanted to be in the future.

Now, I look back on that time and can't believe how far I've come. I successfully transitioned someone else into my former role, went solo full-time, and have clients that pay me much more than I would have been making at that job that I thought was too good to be true (and, in a way, I guess it was).

Here's where it ties into ESG:

The way a company treats its employees is a major part of ESG, particularly in the S (social) and G (governance) pieces. Sustainable companies treat their employees well on every staff level, whether they're part-time or full-time, entry-level or senior, contracted or not.

Pardon me while I toot this horn

A sustainable company should work to nurture the success of people who come aboard, especially people who show a clear track record of talent and high performance. Not to toot my own horn, but I haven't achieved success in the industry for 15 years by luck. I have worked hard and learned a lot along the way, and I'm incredibly adaptable. If a company can't get something useful out of me, it says something about their approach, not my output.

I suffered from poor communication and insufficient onboarding on part of the company. They lost an employee that had the potential to do great things for them because they weren't being open and communicative with me. They weren't willing to invest the time to see my potential and see what I could do for them.

A closed door is a gift.

Back when it happened, I was bitter. Now, I'm grateful. Getting a door closed on me is a gift, as I said in a recent LinkedIn post . It opens the door for others who will appreciate what I have to offer.

So, why am I telling this story now?

Stories like this can get messy. I'm not telling this story to call any companies out. In fact, because it was short-lived, most of you will have no idea what I'm talking about. My story isn't about one company. It's a cautionary tale for companies that may not be operating in a way that supports good employees, especially at the onboarding stage.

If you're experiencing high turnover, or you feel like you can't find the right person for the job, but you're not investing the proper time and resources to onboarding, it may be time to take a look at your policies (governance) and how your employees feel about communication and their treatment (social).

I'd also love to hear your stories. If you have something to share, feel free to put it in the comments below, or send it to me if you'd like it to be anonymous. I'll share in a future post or issue. It's going to take all of us to foster healthier work environments that set employees up for success!