This past Sunday I had brunch with a group of friends whom I worked with when I first started out in the estate planning industry 17 years ago. We have been tight friends ever since. They are like family, not because we are all transplants, but because of the consistent sense of community that was created at the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys (NNEPA) when we started out together. In customary fashion on Sunday, we all took turns speaking about what’s going on in each of our lives. The inaugural question perpetually leans toward “How’s work?”
Cara has always talked about her position with such passion and vigor, like the sign above the building holds her name. She has been with her company for six years now and has talked for many years about a personal goal of retiring in 2021, sharing all the things she has been putting in place to make her big swan dive as non-disruptive as possible for her co-workers.
“Well, I’ve spent the last eight months really wrestling with my future here,” Cara continued. “I honestly was starting to think this wasn’t the place for me any longer. I knew there were a lot of changes going on and nobody was really talking about them. Everyone was so busy, the monthly company morale outings pretty much faded into the dark and we all kind of started coming in and doing our work, working our tail feathers off, mind you, and then going home. Power struggles began to brew on the team and I started to feel as if ‘defend and protect’ replaced our motto of ‘collaborate and connect.’ I honestly thought I always dreamed of retiring here; this was my dream job, but this past year I wasn’t so sure of that.” We’d never seen Cara look so down and out.
Then the shimmer and shine returned as she went on to say, “But last month I was called into the conference room and all the leaders were seated at the table. They started right into a national launch they wanted me to be part of as I feverishly took notes. My direct boss started laughing and I looked up and he said, ‘Cara, we didn’t call you in her to put one more project on your desk. We brought you in here to award you with the presidents club award, the highest honor you can achieve here. In addition to the award, we would like to reward you with a handsome bonus we believe you will be very pleased with.’ ”
To the surprise of no one, Cara was floored with gratitude, a newfound passion to her career there, and a welcome realignment with her dream job.
There are too many “Caras” roaming the office halls daily in a place of confusion and worry. In the beginning you know exactly where you stand, with regular check-ins and reviews. And then eventually the “water-cooleritis” begins to spread throughout the office like a black rain flood.
If you’re lacking a structure for consistent employee reviews but are committed to changing the way you keep your “Caras” engaged instead of roaming for a place to call home, join us Wednesday, March 26 at 3pm EST for a webinar called “How to Conduct an Empowering Team Review.”
Champions of your continued growth,
Molly Hall
molly@yeschick.com
