My Novels

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Taking the High Road



I skimmed past 2010 in my previous post without really realizing that was a very busy and somewhat stressful year in my career.  The first part of that year was difficult working with a staff member who did not have a very good grasp of the MT profession.  He eventually left, which I’m sorry to say no one was unhappy to see him go; in fact, it was quite a relief.  It was in the spring of that year that I had the pleasure of meeting the director of education in person, having a wonderful 3-hour chat with a lot of brainstorming.  My title was also changed to faculty coordinator rather than instructor coordinator due to the school possibly obtaining accreditation.  Apparently proper wording is everything when seeking accreditation, and faculty just fit better than instructor, at least to the accreditation crowd.  

By the end of the summer, a few instructors had quit or been let go, and one of the managers was also let go.  That put a lot more responsibility on my desk, but I was fine with that.  As I have mentioned earlier, I like a full plate.  Towards the end of the year, the decision was made to add speech recognition editing to our curriculum, so that entailed a very big project.  I even worked through my vacation and while I was very ill with a respiratory infection to help get the project up and running.  This was during the holiday season, so to say it was a busy time is putting it mildly.  Despite being so sick and worn out, I was still enjoying the project and excited about adding speech rec to our course of study. 

We went into 2011 still working on the speech rec project and staying very busy with students, of course.  During the summer months, we got word that our school was sold to another large company.  There was barely time to get used to working with one company when now the staff was faced with yet another purchase of the school.  Enrollments had been down for quite some time due to the economy, so despite being so busy, it was still a worrisome time.  I even wondered if I should start looking elsewhere for work, but I loved my job so much that I put that on the back burner.  I really did not want to work anywhere else. 

As it turned out, I should have followed my gut feeling and started that job search.  In the fall, I got a note from my boss saying she wanted to call to catch up. She had been on vacation, and I just assumed she wanted to hear about anything that went on while she was away.   When the phone rang, little did I know that call would change my life completely.  My boss and another director were on the line, and I was told that my services were no longer needed.  I really don’t blame my boss for her note about wanting to catch up, because how do you tell someone you need to speak with them because you are going to be told your job is over and done?  I think deep down a part of me knew this was coming, but I was not expecting it quite that soon.  Yet it did make sense.  When a company is bought out by another company, there are always employee changes made.  Nothing ever stays the same when a buy-out is in the works. 

The one positive was that I was asked to stay on during the “transition” period, which would keep me employed through February of 2012.   That was 5 months of work I was not expecting, so I was happy I could put off that job search at least until after the holidays.  


No day is a good day to learn you are losing your job, but when you try to call a friend or family member to share the news and get some comfort and no one is home, well, suffice it to say that makes the day all that much worse.  I could not believe no one was home except for my sister-in-law who had a terrible cold and could hardly talk.  My poor pup bore the brunt of my frustration that day, but I can tell you a lick on the face can definitely make a scary time a bit less so. 

I will say the company was somewhat generous in that they were allowing me to work for 5 more months and giving me a bonus if I stayed on until the very end, so that actually was giving me time to think about a new job after my time was up.  It gave me a little breathing room.  You might think I would have used that time to just barely do my job and no more. They were letting me go, so why should I show any loyalty to this company?   For me, it was more about the people I was working with, not the company. Some person in an office far removed from my job made the decision to let me go.  Those kinds of decisions are made every day in any company.  Granted, I hope I never meet that guy, but I could not justify taking out my anger and frustration on my co-workers and students because someone made what he felt was a good business decision for the company (even though it wasn’t….). 

Taking the high road and acting in the most professional manner possible is not always easy.  Believe me when I tell you there were days I wanted to just not show up.  But I felt so much better about myself by still giving over 100% to my job, and in the long run, that made me the winner, not the suit who thought nothing more of me than an ID number on a spreadsheet. Keeping my attitude and work ethic at the top of my game paid off in more ways than one.  Not only did I receive the bonus at the end of February, but I was also asked to stay on an additional 3 months with the possibility of the company reversing their decision.  That led to another 3 months of extension over the summer, and by the end of August, I was told I was to stay on permanently if I wanted. 

Even though an “I don’t care” direction would have been the easy way to go, you just never know what can happen if you resist the urge and stay on that high road.  It won’t always mean you will keep your job or that bad things won’t happen, but feeling good about yourself always makes you the winner every single time.  Obviously I was thrilled that now my employment was to continue indefinitely, but that is not always going to be a sure bet.  More about that next time.  Have a great day!

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