Jack is not a dull boy
I used to just go to work every day and tolerate the passing of time, collect my paycheck and be generally satisfied with the whole situation. My bosses were mostly okay to deal with and the president of the corporation was good to work for. I took over a specialty area which gives me a little more independence and control over my schedule. I made sure to be sick from time to time, but not enough to make anyone suspicious…just enough to keep from accumulating too much time on the books.
The best part of my job was giving presentations. It meant that I got out of the office, and was “on stage” for an hour or two. It was fun to interact with the audience and hear their questions and complaints. When you have a mastery of a subject, it’s fun to teach it to others.
When they started talking about a branch office, I didn’t think too much of it at first. Then one day, it hit me like a truck. I could move to a new city, open up the branch office and be “in charge” of it. Not that I’d be the boss, or even supervisor, but I would have more freedom and more opportunity to be meeting with people. The prospect of ownership in the success or failure of the new office was exciting. So, we moved, and I love it. The company helped pay for the move, but I didn’t get a raise. I’d say it cost us nearly $20,000 after all of the expenses involved.
It isn’t so much that I’m worried about losing my job or anything, but I really want the new office to be successful. Yes, it’s a reflection on me if it flies or if it flops. But, more than that, I have a sense of personal satisfaction when participants are getting the information they need.
Well, we recently took over operation of the 401(k) plan. We’ve always “owned” the plan but we had a third party, or private company, providing the customer service in the past. For years, the employees were on commission, and seemed motivated to go out and sign people up. Then a few years ago, the reps were put on salary. The level of service suffered greatly. Nobody wanted to go out and meet with people and educate them about the plan. The rep in this area worked out of his home and was hard to track down. He also didn’t know my side of the business, so he could only provide information on the 401(k), but not all of the other stuff. Now the private company is gone and the home office is doing all the customer service. We hired all of their people and some have already quit, including the one for my area mentioned before.
So, I found myself alone in a new territory, with nobody to guide me. I had to learn the ropes fast. I called a rep whose grandfather started the business years ago. We set up some meetings and took appointments all day. Nobody had ever provided this level of service and information before. Our president was thrilled, but unfortunately nobody else was skilled enough to do this in the other territories. Glowing with the sense of being the model for excellence, I set out to raise the bar further. We hired two new employees and they quickly picked up the business. One is a natural with the one-on-one meetings and the other has a brilliant grasp of the calculations. With an expert trainer to guide them, they will shine.
I can’t believe that I don’t have to drag myself into work anymore. I go in early, work late if necessary and even pick up a few hours on the weekends. Sure, I get paid overtime for the extra work, but I never did that back at the home office. My time was my time, and the company NEVER got more than 40 hours out of me. But, it’s personal now. The work is fulfilling mostly because I have the responsibility for the region. There’s nobody to back us up. We take all of the blame and all of the credit for our performance. And, they know we’re good. It’s not a competition, and there’s no prize for success other than the pride of doing a good job. I don’t know how you instill that drive in someone else and I really don’t know where I got it from.
All I know is that life is good and I’m not consumed by my work, but it’s so much more satisfying than it used to be. And, I still take time to play.
The best part of my job was giving presentations. It meant that I got out of the office, and was “on stage” for an hour or two. It was fun to interact with the audience and hear their questions and complaints. When you have a mastery of a subject, it’s fun to teach it to others.
When they started talking about a branch office, I didn’t think too much of it at first. Then one day, it hit me like a truck. I could move to a new city, open up the branch office and be “in charge” of it. Not that I’d be the boss, or even supervisor, but I would have more freedom and more opportunity to be meeting with people. The prospect of ownership in the success or failure of the new office was exciting. So, we moved, and I love it. The company helped pay for the move, but I didn’t get a raise. I’d say it cost us nearly $20,000 after all of the expenses involved.
It isn’t so much that I’m worried about losing my job or anything, but I really want the new office to be successful. Yes, it’s a reflection on me if it flies or if it flops. But, more than that, I have a sense of personal satisfaction when participants are getting the information they need.
Well, we recently took over operation of the 401(k) plan. We’ve always “owned” the plan but we had a third party, or private company, providing the customer service in the past. For years, the employees were on commission, and seemed motivated to go out and sign people up. Then a few years ago, the reps were put on salary. The level of service suffered greatly. Nobody wanted to go out and meet with people and educate them about the plan. The rep in this area worked out of his home and was hard to track down. He also didn’t know my side of the business, so he could only provide information on the 401(k), but not all of the other stuff. Now the private company is gone and the home office is doing all the customer service. We hired all of their people and some have already quit, including the one for my area mentioned before.
So, I found myself alone in a new territory, with nobody to guide me. I had to learn the ropes fast. I called a rep whose grandfather started the business years ago. We set up some meetings and took appointments all day. Nobody had ever provided this level of service and information before. Our president was thrilled, but unfortunately nobody else was skilled enough to do this in the other territories. Glowing with the sense of being the model for excellence, I set out to raise the bar further. We hired two new employees and they quickly picked up the business. One is a natural with the one-on-one meetings and the other has a brilliant grasp of the calculations. With an expert trainer to guide them, they will shine.
I can’t believe that I don’t have to drag myself into work anymore. I go in early, work late if necessary and even pick up a few hours on the weekends. Sure, I get paid overtime for the extra work, but I never did that back at the home office. My time was my time, and the company NEVER got more than 40 hours out of me. But, it’s personal now. The work is fulfilling mostly because I have the responsibility for the region. There’s nobody to back us up. We take all of the blame and all of the credit for our performance. And, they know we’re good. It’s not a competition, and there’s no prize for success other than the pride of doing a good job. I don’t know how you instill that drive in someone else and I really don’t know where I got it from.
All I know is that life is good and I’m not consumed by my work, but it’s so much more satisfying than it used to be. And, I still take time to play.
posted by dewdew @ 12/24/2004 11:08:00 AM
2 Comments:
At December 28, 2004 12:44 PM,
Grend31 said…
Ah, to actually enjoy one's work. I'm not sure I've ever really been there. May never quite reach that place. I don't think you can instill that in anyone. I think certain people or managers have the capacity to make it more likely that you can muster that up in yourself. But it's something you you have to do on your own. It's the old saying, no one can make you feel anything but they certainly can help guide you. Choose your guides wisely.
At January 21, 2005 2:56 PM,
Jesster said…
Neeeew post please!
How's the weather up there?
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