No Regrets

Around a year ago at this time I was writing and bitching about my job at the bank. I had just been screwed over by my then boss with concern to my review and then had to go through a downsizing where my team got whacked. Even though I survived it was still a very stressful situation. Well, what a difference a year makes, as I could not be happier with my current employment situation.

It is so refreshing and such a culture shock to me to be at a place where you are treated with respect and dignity. At the bank, the management focused on your negatives. Here they focus on your positives and allow you to strengthen the areas where you need improvement. At review time at the bank, it was about as much fun as an audit. I could have done 1,000 tickets the previous year and done 998 of them without incident. But, what do you think the management focused on?

Each call I did at the bank, the client would get a survey about me. I had a score of 95% positive which was the best in all of the Midwest. All I heard about in my review were the 5% of bad surveys I got. I mean it got to the point where I felt, why bother busting my ass. I don’t need to get blown but, I also don’t need to be harassed when, I was doing what most sane people would consider a great job.

Another thing at the bank that used to drive me up the wall was their personal time policy. At my current job, if I need to take a day off for some personal reason, it is never a problem. At the bank, I always got the third degree. The worst was when my Step-Dad’s Mom died and I wanted to take the day off to attend the service. I will never forget my team lead’s remark, well it wasn’t a blood relative so it doesn’t fall under the grief policy. I felt like punching this bozo in the face when he said that. He was going to make me take a vacation day, so I had to come in and work half a day so I would not use one up.

At Carlson, my boss is beyond understanding when it comes to personal matters. As long as you don’t abuse them, everything is fine. When in a hurry one morning I locked my keys in my car, I called him and he told I didn’t need to come in if I needed to call a locksmith or something. At the bank, I would have had to stay late to make up the time.

On top of all of that, I am a much happier person. My whole mind-set has changed. I no longer dread getting up in the morning and going to work. When I was at the bank, each morning felt like I was going to the dentist. I was dreading it. It would start on Sunday night before I went to bed. I would sit there and start thinking about all the nonsense and bullshit I was going to have to put up with, the next day. Be it the illogical rules, the me-first clients, my old hag of a boss, or the knowledge that I as going to be verbally assaulted at least once for something that was out of my control. It was all too much to take.

So, now I am a happier and better person. When I am at home, I never think about work. On top of all that, I would walk on hot coals for my boss. He treats me fairly and with respect. You get a lot more mileage treating people that way as opposed to slaves. I no longer work in fear wondering if my job is going to be outsourced or off-shored. I come in each day, with the knowledge, that I am valued. There is no amount of money that equals that kind of peace of mind.