Truth #16

Does your boss like you or does he take you for granted?

When I first started my current job things were looking up. The company had a large number of projects on the go and a fair number on the horizon. This was a period of excitement for me. I was finally getting to do what I had wanted to do. The years of school were finally paying off. Or so it seemed…..

*Dun dun DAAAAHHHHHHH*

Then the economic crash of 2008 happened and the future that was rosy and bright didn’t seem so much anymore.

I was the last one hired to a position that had three others. The other two had more years of experience and more time in with the company. My job seemed for the most part, surely doomed.

It was then that my current boss joined the company. He was brought in to tighten up the reigns, cut staff, and make the company a leaner but still functional group. It was desperation times. People were getting fired or laid off on a weekly basis. The office I was in started with 15 people in it. Then it was 12, then 10, and so forth. But six months into the cull, I was still here. One of the three from my department was axed and I felt assured that I was next to go.

Realizing that the only hope of obtaining another job was to garner a glowing reference from my current boss, I worked my ass off. I didn’t consider it sucking up, not at the time at least, because in my mind it was simply a matter of time before I was let go. Then the strangest thing happened.

Late on a Friday I had to go to a site visit. I arrived back around 5pm or so to find the office empty, despite the number of cars in the parking lot. I wandered around for a bit to figure out what was going on. In my search I found out that the boardroom was being occupied. There is a certain area in the office that you can hear brief muffled words coming from the boardroom. Not enough to discern what is being said exactly, but enough that you can tell who’s talking. My co-worker and immediate supervisor was in the boardroom with my current boss, another supervisor, and the owner of the company.

I can’t recall the words I heard, but I distinctly recall thinking. “Well, I guess this is it.” I collected most of my personal junk into my gym bag, and deleted anything off my computer that I thought may be viewed as questionable. (ye’old clear history, and cookies lol)  Then, I walked out the door and headed home, expecting a phone call to tell me the news in a few minutes or so.

The phone call came. I took a deep breath. Summoned the courage, and answered the phone. It was the other site supervisor. He was calling me to let me know that my co-worker was no longer to be working with us. I was slightly shocked and I don’t recall what I said, but it garnered the response, “No…..we’ll see you on Monday……have a good weekend.”  I had made it. Despite the odds I had pulled through.

Now why this long drawn out story? How does it relate to the question at hand?

My current boss was told when he came on that he could fire and hire whomever he chose. The owner of the company had actually suggested that my entire department be immediately sacked. My boss, however, decided upon a softer handed approach and chose to evaluate us over time. The first firing was done on that basis, as was the last. I remained because he saw within me the opportunity for something greater than what my job description indicated. He saw that I never said I couldn’t do anything, unlike my co-workers who liked to stay in their little boxes. If I didn’t have the ability to accomplish the task requested I said the same thing nearly every time, “I don’t know how to do that yet, give me a couple of hours and I’ll figure it out though….”  and most of the time that was the case.

My boss, my current boss, appreciates this to no end. On a regular basis I’m utilizing programs I’ve never trained on, doing work I never studied, and doing it to the level of someone that has graduated from a program specifically for those things. I have single handedly saved the company double or triple my salary on a yearly basis.

The road has still been rough, as I’m sure everyone can attest to. This economic situation is tenuous and still quite stressful. Recently I found out that the owner had suggested getting rid of me three more times since I beat the initial cull. My boss has stood up for me and kept me on each and every time.

So does my boss appreciate me? Hell yes.

But far beyond that, I truly appreciate him.

 

 

Remember to pick what question you want me to answer next =)