| expectations

What if your actual work is not what you expected when you were hired?

Jim is wearing his usual white polo shirt tucked with his blue jeans pants. This is what he always wears in the office. He was following what Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg do for their clothes. The minimal decisions on small things to make every day, the more he has time to think about important things.

The supervisor who reports to him is about six months into the team. He is not new. He had worked with him before in their previous company and he knows he could trust him to do the job. He has proven over and over again that he can deliver so to him, there is no doubt in his mind that he would take care of their deliverables while he was gone.

Jim took a week-long vacation to celebrate his birthday with his family. During this time, he had disconnected from any means of communication at work. He keeps a strict rule on this. Whenever he is on vacation, during the weekend, or already out of his shift, he totally disconnects. He doesn’t have a work email or messaging app on his phone and he keeps his phone for personal use. Anyway, if something is really urgent, they can call him.

The week he got back from vacation, Jim talked to his boss to get updates. Nothing unusual, she said. I was able to get what I need from the team, she said. Just a few follow-throughs we need to complete this week, she said.

Good, I thought. Then there is no need to backtrack and we continue moving forward.

Jim and his boss start about 3 hours before the rest of their team starts. The business provides customer service 24 hours a day so the schedule of the entire team is spread out throughout the day.

A little past 8 in the morning when Jim sent a message to his supervisor:

Hey. Good morning. Ping me when you are here and let’s talk. Just give me updates.

His supervisor replied, I am here. We can talk in about 30 minutes. That works?

Alright. Just come here in the room, Jim replied.

Ok. His supervisor replied. Jim stood up to get coffee from the pantry which by this time would be empty as people are starting to log on to their desks.

When Jim got back he was surprised to see his supervisor by the door waiting for him.

“Mark, how are you? You seem 15 minutes early.”, Jim said while approaching Mark and motioning him to get inside the room.

“I have nothing yet to do so I decided to come here since I know you’ve been here and have free time now.”, Mark said while pulling out the chair in front of Mark’s table to sit down.

Jim went to his seat at the other side of the table and settled his silver coffee mug down on the table while grabbing the chair to sit down.

“How are things? Any issues while I was out? Anything urgent on our plate this week?” Jim asked as he sat and swiveled a little bit on his chair.

“No issues. Nothing urgent for this week. Our usual client meetings. I was able to provide Sam with what she asked for last week. I worked from 5 to 5 so I could cover the team as she kept reaching out to me.”, Mark said.

“Why? That’s long. Where was Steve?”. Steve is one of Jim’s supervisors who is mainly responsible for the later hours as Mark covers the early part of the day.

“He was in. But Sam always reached out to me which surprised me as her questions were Steve’s scope.”

“Ok. And what happened?”

“I was able to give to her just like what I said.”

Jim sensed something else was bothering Mark.

“Ok. Which to me is good except the long hours. What is bothering you?” Jim asked.

Mark took a deep breath before saying, “This is not what I had signed up for.”

Jim didn’t want to jump to conclusions so he asked Mark what did he mean by it.

“You know with everything that had happened with my transfer, to my role, to my salary, and last week, it was like more was being expected from me. I feel like my compensation is not enough for the work I am doing.”, Mark responded calmly.

Mark was having issues with his compensation, role, and level. He joined the company under a different department and has been there for eight months before he moved to Jim’s department with the expectation that he would get promoted and of course, better compensation. Six months into their department, that has not happened yet because of processes that were missed and he is suffering because of it.

“What happened? Why are you feeling this way now?” Jim asked. They discussed his situation before and he is scheduled to be promoted in three months. Jim now is wondering what caused him to get all these concerns back.

“When you were out, it felt like everything is my responsibility even if it is not my scope. That I did not expect. It is like I was supposed to deliver things when in fact, you got Steve to do that. That made me think again about my role and compensation which until now, I have not gotten. I feel it is just unfair.” Mark explained.

“What else?”, Jim asked to see if there is anything else.

“I am tempted to entertain the offers I am getting outside. Same work I am doing. Higher compensation than what I have. But I do not want to leave. I like it here. I like working with you. It is just that last week, it hit me with all the things Sam kept asking of me. This is not what I signed up for. Why am I even here?”

“Okay.”, Jim started. “There are two ways how to see what is happening to you. One, it is unfair for you to do the work without being compensated enough. That we are working out already and because of how large our company is, there are processes that we must strictly adhere to. You know in that aspect, I do not have enough influence.”

Mark nodded as this he understood clearly and they both talked about it were before.

“Second”, Jim continued, “is to view what happened as what to expect in two or three years. What you experienced last week is a taste of how is it like to have a higher position. It is very noisy. It is very stressful. It is a level that will require most of your time. It is a level that will drain your brain power. It is where you work almost nonstop.”

“That is my world.”, Jim added while leaning back for a bit on his chair. “It is much noisier on Sam’s level which you know I had been and I do not want that for me as I do not get to do other things I want.”

“Now, if you look at it from that perspective, ask yourself, is this what I want to do for five or ten years? Because if it is, then whatever your situation now, will get rewarded in the future. And if not, and that is fine, at least you know what could happen in the future if you decide to move further up. Settling where you are now is okay in terms of what you do. But do not expect big rewards.” Jim finished while looking at Mark’s eyes. He picked up his mug and sipped his coffee.

“Yeah. I think everything just weighed down on me and brought back my issue because of the incessant questions from Sam. Is she really like that? I don’t get that much time with here except last week when you were out.” Mark replied while rocking back and forth on his chair.

“She moves fast because she had a lot of things to complete and she trust us to get our own department in order so she doesn’t need to think about it which is what we have been doing.” Jim answered with a tinge of pride.

“I think I just got overwhelmed. But don’t worry Jim, I will still do what you except me to do. That I can promise you. I’ll wait and hope that my status will finally be fixed in the next three months.”, Mark said with a little bit of conviction.

“Good to hear.” Jim stood up. “I know you keep to your commitments and promises. That is why I want you in the team.” Jim slowly walked towards the door and opened it.

“Just remember what you experienced and decide if that, along with the possibility of more money and more stress, is something you can do for five years.” Jim said while Mark was standing up and walked towards the door.

“I can’t say now but yes. That is something for me to think of. Thanks Jim.”