LIFESTYLE
It’s a recession - they
all need to go that extra
mile. After all, it’s what
we do with our clients
all the time isn’t it?
Laura
made a few phone calls.” crunched all day (no breaks, no lunch). I did overtime that night to
Lesley turned a low paying client into a bigger client and friend. “She make sure everything was set up and working. I even had to assemble
hired me to re-write some of her web content. I ended up fixing her the furniture and carry the monitors over to the desks myself.
computer, helping her choose a laptop, and moving her web site to a “I worked an entire weekend without sleep and then had one of the
new host. I’m planning on flying out early next year to meet her in real managers yell at me for wanting to go home and rest once I’d briefed
life for the first time.” everyone on what happened. I gave my employer a lot of slack because
It’s always important to have the choice. It can be great for business they were just starting out. Things can be chaotic but they expected
when you choose to go above and beyond but if you feel manipulated crunch-level work all the time and refused to give me any concessions
into doing extra work, it can leave a nasty aftertaste. in return.”
“I was on call 24/7,” says Lesley about her old job. “While I was Some signs that might warn you to steer clear are:
happy to be called up for serious things, I got one 2am call from • You get the sense that they don’t value your time or expertise
someone whose mouse had stopped working.” • Your gut instinct screams “Are they kidding?”
Like most bad situations, the changes were gradual. When she started • Your heart sinks when you hear from them
working there, Lesley says, “The culture was very positive. I put in a lot • You don’t feel they pay you enough/promptly
of effort in the junior role because I enjoyed the job.” Doing more will leave you feeling resentful (even if you manage to
To her delight, this led to her being promoted. “I’m very passionate not say something, it will come out somehow)
about that kind of technology, so I didn’t even see it as a job. I felt like I But it’s good to be helpful when
was being paid to do something I’d willingly do for free.” • The solution to a client or customer’s problem seems simple to
Unfortunately, things went from great to ridiculous in just a few you and you want to share it
months. Lesley says, “I’d be given only part of the information I needed • They’re a pleasure to work with
to do the job and I constantly felt undermined by the head office. On Giving extra won’t leave you feeling depleted in any way - you’re
the one hand they refused to give me access to their policies / naming giving from a place of fullness
conventions / standards and on the other they complained if I didn’t
follow them.”
For more advice, please visit
www.applecoaching.com and
On one occasion, when told about a big project with only 24 hours to
www.evemenezescunningham.co.uk
go (when they’d known about it for two weeks), Lesley says, “I stupidly
22 | Summer 2009 - rapport
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56