|
Edited on Sun Apr-26-09 07:51 PM by grace0418
After all I've been reading and hearing (and posting myself), I thought I might share something good with you all.
First some background...
I'm a graphic designer who got laid off in December. I hated that job but was still pretty freaked out considering the economy. It should've been a great job but the CEO was a petty, selfish, greedy micromanager who surrounded himself with middle managers who were only there to stroke his ego. I worked with so many talented people who's talent and hard work were completely wasted at that place. The only way to get ahead was to gossip about other people to the higher ups, I swear it was like a big hen house. I worked there for 8 years and was never shown an ounce of respect or loyalty. Even though my designs were consistently the ones selected by our customers to sell in their stores, I was never rewarded or praised. The only time I would get told I was doing a good job was on my annual review, and that was just supposed to make up for a lack of pay raise. When I tried to speak up for myself or my coworkers for various reason (trivial matters like hot tar from the roof repairs leaking in on our desks, or a "manager" who didn't show up until 10:30 and then spent the rest of the day talking to her family on the phone), I was labeled "negative" and told I must not be working very hard if I had time to complain.
So in a way it was no surprise to get laid off. I was planning to become a freelancer at some point, but January 2009 didn't seem like *the best* time to make that leap. And at first it really sucked. I had no clients, the agencies had no work. It was bleak. But slowly work started coming in. As luck would have it, the week my severance ran out (the ONLY good thing my former company every did for me) was the week I started getting a lot of jobs.
Then, this past Friday I got the following email from my biggest client:
"Grace, You are just too good to be true! A phenomenal talent with a great, proactive attitude. So rare to meet an artist who comes w/the full package!"
She followed this email with a phone call telling me to add a few hours onto my invoice for all the hard work I did. I kid you not.
:woohoo:
How do ya like that? I NEVER ONCE was told anything like this in eight years at my last job. I was really starting to doubt myself there. I had always considered myself hard-working, responsible and talented. If I don't know how to do something, I learn it. If someone needs help, I help them. And yet, on a daily basis, all my coworkers and I were treated as if we couldn't be trusted, didn't know what we were doing, and would only do the barest minimum of work. Well, when you treat people like that, damn if they don't start behaving like that. Conversely, if you treat people with respect, expect the best from them, assume they are capable of doing the job they are trained to do, and praise them when they do it well, it's AMAZING what can happen. I feel like forwarding that email to my old boss and saying "THIS is the power of positive reinforcement," but she'd never get it.
Anyway, thanks for reading. This just made my weekend and I wanted to share. There still are a few good employers out there who get it! Even though I'm not out of the woods financially or career-wise, I have hope and I have renewed confidence.
:hi:
|