It's a rather awkward situation because today is my "official" anniversary with my company, but I have been with the company for longer than a year. I started in early October as a contract employee since I was hired thru an employment agency. I had to wait for all the paperwork to go thru and for all the necessary final approvals before I was a member of the company's staff. All of that ultimately got finalized on December 1, 2008.
This has been the first time in a while that I have been at a company for longer than a year. It's rather sad to admit, but it's the truth. I have now worked for a total of six different companies since graduating Iowa State in 1993 and this anniversary now marks third longest tenure. There's something very different about how this one feels though. It's also the smallest office I have ever worked in which provides more of a close-knit feeling of camaraderie among the employees. It makes a huge difference that promotes a more positive work environment.
Prior to coming here, I had been at Marsh for just over a year. It only me took me that long to realize that that was not the place for me. I can't speak for the entire organization as a whole, but the department I was in was a disorganized mess. I had a boss with one of the worst midget complexes I have ever seen. Not to mention that the environment was just poisonous overall from the minions all the way up to clueless senior management. Getting out of there was the best thing I could have done.
There's always a certain level of stress involved with any job; however it all depends on what type of role you're in. My prior two jobs involved me being in the supervisory role. Although I did enjoy helping others succeed from my coaching, that wasn't always the case. Some folks didn't want to succeed and that was always hard for me to accept. I never could understand why some folks are content being sub-par no matter what type of incentive is presented to them.
Now I'm back in the area of claims where I have the bulk of my expertise. I have no more direct reports. I am accountable for the work of one person. My workload is determined by how much I get accomplished during the course of one day as opposed to relying on other folks that may or may want to pull their share depending on how they feel. That type of stress is much easier to manage as it's something over which I have full control.
As I look around the office, I see folks that have been here for years and years. That's something else that is very encouraging. It demonstrates job stability. You can tell from the over atmosphere in the office that folks enjoy being there which also says alot about why folks have been there for 5+ years. I anxiously look forward to the time that I can say the same thing when my 5-year anniversary rolls around.



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