Wordless Wednesday

 

Finding My Work People in the Chaos

If you’ve been keeping up with my work saga, I have another installment for you. A brief little recap: I left my previous job of 12 years due to toxicity and a lack of opportunities. Where I was is where I would remain. No moving up in position or pay. My manager at the time told me if, for some reason, this new job didn’t pan out that, he would hire me back. The direct quote was, “If it’s 30 days, 90 days, a year - it doesn’t matter. If yours is already filled, I’ll create a position for you to return to.” So, off I went to give this new opportunity a go. Only the onboarding was terrible. No one knew anything. The person training me was disliked by everyone. No one was listening to my suggestions. And after my first week, I had no idea why they had hired me.

Fast forward a month, and after minimal training and several hours of LinkedIn learning - they terminated the person who was supposed to train me. Suddenly they expected me to handle all of the accounting processes for our organization and two others. This was on top of regular duties. We lost our Assistant Vice President to a different school that week too, and the Executive Assistant I was looking forward to learning more from moved out of her role. Three team members from different divisions started helping me navigate the chaos, but they also had their own jobs. The instructions were, “Just keep the lights on.” There were filing cabinets and boxes stacked taller than me. I didn't have the credentials to complete tasks through our main accounts, and no one had any process information. The only accounting resource we had couldn’t touch our financials because our foundation didn’t want to pay for those services. Then I had different university departments reaching out about scholarships and grants that I had no clue about. And the motto from our President seemed to be, “Just figure it out.”

I reached out to my old boss, but the answer was, “I wish I could hire you back, but….” So, much for that, huh? Two weeks later, I was informed they had posted a receptionist position. It would appear that they wanted to hire someone else for less pay. Which is fine, and I don't blame them. I did leave after all. It just made me question my previous boss’ words. And whether anything that was said before I left was even genuine. I guess it's true when they say as an employee, you're replaceable. I was a little bummed, but I figured there was a bigger picture I wasn’t seeing yet. And did I really want to dive back into a toxic work environment? Anyway, I decided to move on from the idea that my previous employer would be able to help me out. And by the end of January, there were more dumpster fire days at this new job than not. Some afternoons I went home to cry. I felt like an idiot and completely incompetent. Then school started back up, and I began to stress. Though, if I'm honest, I looked forward to the days I had a class because they got me away from the office. Kind of sad, huh?  

Thankfully, at the beginning of February, someone was hired to help me. And she’s been an enormous blessing. Before she came on board, though, two remarkable women stepped up and had been helping me pretty much every day throughout this whole fiasco. And it was such a huge difference to work with people who lift each other up. They're ready whenever I have questions or need to bounce some ideas off of them. On rough days, there’s chocolate or coffee offered, and a “Let’s sit down and work through this together.” When I talked about my strengths and weaknesses, they listened. And we’ve talked about getting me back onto the career path I want once the dust settles. Because even if it means that I transfer out of this role, they want me to be happy at my job. And that’s what helps me get through most of my days.

While the meetings may feel like they never stop, and I still don’t know what I’m doing half the time, I think I’ve found my people. The work environment is one that I enjoy; it's just the job I'm having difficulties with. So, I’m chugging along. I know it won’t feel this chaotic forever, and I have a great team around me. The hope is that everything will smooth over after a year, and we’ll have more of a routine. Or maybe a new opportunity might arise? Whatever it is, I know I have people in my corner, and that’s such a great feeling. So, for now, I’m just hunkered down. I’m doing the best that I can, and that’s all I can really do.

Discovering My Non-Negotiables

Photo by freddie marriage on Unsplash

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want out of a job. Back in September, I was listening to this episode of Interview Boss, and the title was “Job regrets? What to do when your new job sucks.” I didn’t think too much of it because I was still working at my previous place of employment, and I didn’t have any new job prospects. So, I kind of zoned out through it. Then, right before Christmas break, I wondered what I had gotten myself into by taking on this new job. It wasn't that it sucked; it's a decent job. It was just going in a completely different direction than what I was originally told. There were 3 major changes, and from one day to the next, I had responsibilities put on my shoulders that I hadn’t signed up for. And I just felt so stressed out and overwhelmed. So, as I was heading into work one morning, I thought about that episode and decided to give it another listen.

As I listened to these two women talk, it made me think about what I wanted. And I started thinking about what was important to me. At one point, one of them asks about non-negotiables. So, I started thinking about what my non-negotiables were - right then. Had my priorities changed? Would they change again anytime soon? And I began to think about how my previous job and this new job made me feel. I knew that nothing out there would be perfect, but what were the things I found important that I didn’t want to compromise on? For instance, was pay a major factor? Or was a flexible schedule more important? Was the work environment a deal breaker? And so, I started coming up with a list of things I wanted in a job.

• A good work environment // I don’t want to dread going to work. I don’t want to deal with people talking badly about each other - every single day. I know that workplaces have gossip, and not everyone is going to get along. But I firmly believe that good leadership can have a lot of influence over how often and how long these behaviors are allowed to go on. Having toxic coworkers is not fun, and I want to limit it as much as possible.

• Good benefits for myself and my family // Medical and dental insurance are important to me because I have a family, and I also would like to add to it in the future. Not having insurance or having a terrible plan is not something I’m okay with. Even the best individual plan through the Affordable Care Act sounds like a joke regarding premiums, copays, and deductibles.

• Good starting pay ($48k net) with reasonable yearly raises // The price of everything has gone up. The cost of living is getting higher. And as long as I’m doing good work, I feel it should be compensated accordingly. And it should be equal to anyone else at the same level. Man or woman. 

• 40 hours of vacation and 40 hours of sick time to start automatically // I’ve been in the workforce for a very long time. My work history shows that I am loyal and consistent. Starting over without these benefits while having a daughter and family is not ideal. So, this is something I wish I could negotiate.

• An 8 a.m. -5 p.m. workday // I want to clock in, do my job, and clock out. While I’d be flexible if it were an EA position, I want clear boundaries. I want to have a good work/life balance. And I don’t want to be made to feel bad for that, either. This is one way to help avoid burnout.

• Training and learning opportunities // I want to be good at my job. I want to advance and stay up to date with skills in my career. And I want to make the employer feel/see that I’m worth the money I’m being paid. So, being able to attend a conference, take a course, or go to a workshop each year would be amazing.

• The option to work from home in case of an emergency // When kids get sick or when we have to make a last-minute trip out of town due to emergencies, I’d like the ability to work from home or remotely. I enjoy going into a physical office away from my house to work. Still, there have been times in the past when I wished I could have been able to work remotely rather than burn through my vacation - especially since my job was almost exclusively done on a computer.

• A wellness program // Extra time (30-45 minutes) either during lunch or before/after work that I can take to work out at a local gym, run, or attend a therapy session. Limited to twice a week max. Our physical and mental well-being is super important. I’d like to work for a company or business that understands that.

I get that some of these may not be 100% attainable. But I feel like there’s room for negotiations on most of these. And the right employer will be open to discussing them. However, sometimes I think that being in a small town limits these opportunities because they’re all pretty “modern” concepts that many businesses around here aren’t necessarily on board with yet. So, maybe this is all just a long shot. A “dream job” that doesn’t exist. But after finishing that podcast episode, I realized that I currently have at least three non-negotiables. And that's something I can work with going forward.