Imagine you are in a meeting and one action has everyone stumped. As everyone looks around at each other with it written all over their faces, “How would I find out that?” You smile helpfully and say how you know someone you believe can help.
It feels great, doesn’t it? Despite your company investing heavily on graduate
programmes or head hunting someone from a big city firm, your ten years of loyal service has paid off. You know something that they don’t!
There are many benefits around staying with a company for a long time, but is it healthy? It seems that the employer/employee relationship is more like a parent/child relationship.
Unfortunately it is the age of a two year old!
As you are recruited in to your new playground, given lots of new toys and
introduced to all your new friends, everything looks exciting and the future rosy.
Some of your friends leave to go to new playgrounds; others are promoted to be
milk monitor. You aren’t. You aren’t even given new toys to play with. So you ask
your play leader what is going on. Why have you been over-looked? The reply is the same; “We just feel that you need some more development, to grow up a bit more.”
Your confidence has been knocked with this. How can you be so different when
you joined at similar times? As all two year olds do when they think that their parent favours another child; they scream for attention and are desperate for approval!
You sign up for every course that you can to have the most impressive Personal
Development Plan. You tell your boss every achievement that you have accomplished each day. You are comfortable with your workload, but can’t help feeling overlooked.
You believe that you are on a good package; you know that everyone asks you questions, your flexible hours work well with your home life. So, why would you leave?
Unfortunately, the choice isn’t always yours. Redundancy hits approximately 1 in 250 of us and when it does it is out of the blue and knocks us sideways.
Confidence is at an all time low as we take it personally. It is a cliché that it is the best thing that could have happened, but it really is!
When you have worked in one place for so long, your glossy CV has long been forgotten and your boss will probably be more aware of your training needs than your accomplishments. This can have an impact on how you feel and so no wonder you never felt 100% confident.
Take time out and think about what you can do, not what you can’t. Clear your mind of everything.
When it is time to go for interviews and then start with a new employer, you will amaze yourself at what you do know. You find it amusing that you talk confidently about projects in which you have experience, but had taken for granted. You are listened to and valued.
Now you are the new one in the playground and all the children want to know about you. You are the one with the impressive CV and nothing is known about the areas in which you need to develop. It is a fresh start where you can manage the impression that other people have about you.
It will feel great. In fact, I believe it is a better feeling than knowing somebody who can help you with an action plan. This time is credit for you – but this time, in your own right!
The perfect length of service is when you still feel that you are in control each day and not looking for other peoples’ approval before you allow yourself to go home happy.