I had decided I was done with my job (years ago). The company was bought out by another company. Things hadn’t been going well. And the direction of the company was changing. For me, it didn’t seem like a good thing.
So I got up the courage to tell my boss. My boss had been one of my peers who had recently been promoted. To be honest this was another issue. He was more experienced than I was but I now felt I was reporting to a peer. And there was no room for me to grow into another role.
He had seen me working on a high-profile project that was pretty painful and I don’t think he was surprised when I told him. What was surprising is the new owner of the company was going to be in town and wanted to take me out to lunch.
- Was there an offer they could counter? Actually no, I had taken time off before this job and really appreciated the break and perspective it gave me and I was choosing to do the same this time.
- Could they help me make projects less painful? This was tricky, I honestly didn’t think they could and didn’t want the burden of having to figure that out, my diplomatic no response was offered.
- Was there another role that I could move into that I wanted? No, this was such a small company I actually liked a lot of what my role was initially designed to be.
- Could they create a role that kept my focus on the type of work I wanted to be doing? While I appreciated this I really wanted to be at a company that was focusing differently not a small focus that differed from the company.
There are a lot of lessons for management here. Don’t wait to talk to your employees until they are burnt out and ready to walk. Have regular conversations that allow for some psychological safety so you hear what’s really going on and start problem-solving a lot earlier. It’s clearly better for the employee to be supported and engaged. But we also know the realities of the negative impact of turnover. Invest a little to save a lot.
But the biggest lesson was for me. I was floored by the effort to try to make it work. I honestly didn’t think I was appreciated. And I didn’t think that there were any other options for me because I didn’t see them.
So lesson learned. Mostly. Moving forward what was it I wanted or didn’t want? How could I start creating that path? Who did I need to start talking to?
And I know I’m not the only one. I had a client say to me, if I didn’t ask for a promotion no one would have looked out for me. And while we can all be hopeful for good managers know that it’s up to you.
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