Welcome back to my podcast Scaling Out! To start Season 2, the next few episodes are about choosing where to work and who to work for.
The business news in 2022 has been about the great resignation and more recently quiet quitting. I greatly appreciated my company’s Chief Human Resource Officer recently stating that quiet quitting is a misnomer, it’s truly about employees balancing work with life. While unemployment rates remain low, companies will be recruiting everyone & promising everything to fill those seats. You are in the driver seat to find something that allows you to balance better the demands at work with the needs & desires of home life. Sure picking the company with the highest salary offer seems most ideal, but you must consider the effect a crappy boss will have on your mental health, or the inability & inflexibility of the company to allow you to handle a family health situation. In 10 yrs, what will you remember? The money? Or the time caring for yourself & your family?
Of course changing jobs is necessary sometimes. It’s like a marriage – and you & your company might just be growing apart – whether in values, in technology, in growth. But if your employer is offering a meaningful work experience, growth opportunities in knowledge/skills/positions, and a supportive work community you have to carefully consider what a job change would add.
My company is experiencing an increase in boomerangs, employees who have left and want to return. This shows that the recruiting company overpromised & underdelivered or the employee did a poor job interviewing the new company and team. You must do your research. Social Media posts primarily show the positive stories, while GlassDoor reviews typically give the anonymous a negative outlet. Reach out to current employees via LinkedIn & ask for their personal experience. If you don’t know anyone at the company, get 1st level to introduce you to those 2nd level connections.
Also, carefully consider & plan your questions to ask during the interview -- focus on what is important to you. Some great questions that I have been asked include:
- How do you celebrate successes?
- What happens when a milestone or objective is missed?
- Who is to blame when the customer gets upset?
- How soon do you supply feedback on the work I completed?
Note that none of these questions state they are about work/life balance, but they all are. You aren’t disclosing to a potential employer personal information like how many kids you have or you expect to be out for school events -- but you ARE understanding what the priorities are and how management will supply support.
Thanks for returning to my podcast for Season Two! Im really excited to start this season. Next up I will chat with a colleague on why they chose their employer.
Until then, Stay Safe everyone!
