Let's Talk About Attrition

Let’s Talk About Attrition

So you've graduated from school. You are recruited by several major companies who want you to be their newest star. You hear all the good things about each company, and how they are the best for you. After being courted, you pick what you feel is the number one opportunity for you. You accept a position. You go through the honeymoon period. Months go by, and you settle in with the good and the bad. You see the company make a couple cutbacks for high salary positions. But you notice something else that you don’t know what to make of. People are leaving for other opportunities. It’s so frequent, that management calls a meeting to address it. You don’t know what to make of it. Why would people leave such a great company in bunches? Should I be concerned about my choice to work here? What’s going on?

Attrition, that’s what’s going on.

Definition

Attrition – 1) a reduction or decrease in numbers, size, and strength, 2) a wearing away or weakening of resistance, especially as a result of continuous pressure or harassment, 3) a gradual reduction in work force without firing of personnel, as when workers resign or retire and are not replaced.

How to Deal with Attrition

1. Don’t Panic

It may rattle you to see several people leaving from a company you just started working for. When people leave, you become more valuable. Your company is more concerned about stopping the lost of people and increasing company morale. So relax, keep your composure, and work harder to be on the radar for more responsibilities

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2. Take Advantage

When people leave, look at it this way, “More work for me.” From my personal experience, I've stuck around and moved up very fast in a company with a high attrition rate. I moved into a management position in a recruiting department with less than a year of experience and no education in the field. I had the gift though. I thrived in the position. You are a special person if you can thrive in a demanding work environment.

3. Continue to Gauge the Work Environment

So part of the definition states, “as when workers resign or retire and are not replaced.” This is important to observe. What is the true workload of the company when people can leave and there is no need to fill their position? Even more concerning, is there additional work from their departure? Where did those 40 hours a week go? Leadership will lie about having “All this work” in the pipeline to ease people’s concerns. Or maybe the work is a little down the road. Seek a definitive projection of work.

4. Maintain and Expand Your Network

This is bullshit, but companies often paint people who leave as traitors. They will discredit their honesty and loyalty. Bitter leadership will discourage people from talking to people who departed. Listen! People that leave are assets to you. If they leave to work for a better company, then that could be an opportunity for you to do the same. Be wise in your communication, but keep in touch. Sometimes is wise to wait a couple weeks until you see how your former co-worker is doing. I've had to lie and say that I was no longer in contact with former co-workers. I then had to go on Facebook and untag myself from their wedding the weekend before.

Every design firm is different. The only way you will know about other experiences and opportunities is through networking.  I had an internship experience that made me want to quit engineering. Had I endured, stayed longer, played the game, I probably would have had a better experience with the same engineering firm. I still have friends that work there, You can ask those questions with other professionals that you can’t ask at work. Here are some things you may want to know about other firms.

• Mentorship
• Workload
• Company Morale
• Team building

This info can come from just letting your associates talk. If your friend is not happy with his/her job, then that will put job opportunities in perspective for you. I personally would love more mentorship, so I ask my associates about how senior level staff provides feedback or instructions. You always have to look out for yourself, and do what is best for you. Be prepared.

"To Be Simple Is Bliss" #Engineering #FirstWorldProblems

"To Be Simple Is Bliss" 

#Engineering #FirstWorldProblems

I share stories with the objective of providing personal experiences that people can learn from. Blogging also helps me vent about my first world problems. I am going to share one of the most aggravating experiences of my professional career; it is working with people who are devoid of social skills.

I graduated from school last May 2014. My senior year, I worked my ass off in preparation for an excellent career opportunity out of school. I bumped my GPA up above a 3.0. I had an internship with a top engineering firm. I went to several engineering conferences for career fairs. My interpersonal skills are at an apex, so I had many positive interviews and several job offers. I ultimately picked an opportunity with an international consulting firm.

Now mind you, I am thirty years old and just getting started with my career. I look young for my age, but I am mature, career minded, focused and very ambitious. I need to surround myself and learn from like-minded people. However, I am seated with other young professionals who are short in social skills.

One cubicle mate in particular, acts like a 12-year-old girl. I do not believe she was sheltered as a child, but her reclusive and timid demeanor reveal that her growth was inhibited at some point. Her communication skills are at an annoyingly simple level, often steered by small talk, even months after knowing her. Here are some examples of what I go through weekly.

1. Every f**king Monday, I'm asked, “How was your weekend?”
2. Every f**ing Friday, “What are your plans this weekend?”
3. Every f**king day, I hear, “I am so cold” but instead of layering clothes, the thermostat is always turned up so everyone else is hot.
4. Every time I have a tie on, I am asked “Why are so you dressed up?” The office is business casual
5. I cannot eat anything at my desk without being asked, “What are you eating? Ooh, can I have some?”
6. If I’m doing anything extraordinary at my desk, I am asked “Why?” 5,000 TIMES, like a four-year-old that wants to know everything.
7. Conversations are only started by obvious question. Bike helmet in hand, I will surely be asked, “Did you ride your bike to work today?”
8. She talks to herself throughout the day, and she is soft spoken, so I never know when she is talking to me or not. I am constantly distracted, and I always have to tell her to speak up if she actually is talking to me.
9. She stares (O__O)... I feel her eyes when I leave my desk, and when I return to it.

The repetitive small talk and mindless conversation over MONTHS is killing me! I swear college education was the reason why my vocabulary and social interaction burst with flavor! But apparently, that didn't happen for everyone. This work relationship does not feel like a friendship. It feels like I am tolerating someone that needs constant attention. I am so aggravated that I have to explain basic things like, 

“Listen, every time I wear a tie to work, you do not have to ask me why I am wearing one. There is no special reason for me wearing a tie today. It’s just Tuesday.”

I should not have to do this! She fails to read my body language when I am busy and annoyed. It may be too late for her to change; she is set in her ways as the cute little girl in the office. Her management coddles her and supports her childish behavior. She is applauded for being a leader, and being proactive in interacting with other co-workers. Her sense of entitlement has been bolstered by her bosses. It is harmless, but it wearies me to no end each work week. I never imagined working in a professional environment in which young adult women are still treated like princesses.

The real relationships I have in the workplace are a breath of fresh air. For example, I tell some of my co-workers about my weekends without them asking me. CRAZY I KNOW! Being around the same co-workers has not rubbed off on her. She believes herself to be mature with a bubbly personality. Everyone is really just being kind to her and making her feel apart. I might be a bit of a prude, I'll admit it.

I would say I am an extrovert because I feed off of people’s energy. But, when I am around people that offer nothing socially, I am drained very quickly. After a 40+ hours work week, I spend the whole weekend recharging and mentally preparing just to be asked about my weekend on Monday. 

So the moral of the story is, you will have to work with people who have obtrusive social behaviors. This may not seem fair, because you've always had to say and do the right thing in life to get ahead. It’s not fair, but people are hired to perform assigned tasks. If they can perform those tasks, then that is all that matters. But you can take the following lessons from my story:

• Having excellent social skills will set you apart in your career, especially when it comes to networking, presentations, and leadership. 
• Maintaining good work relationships with everyone is important, no matter what. 
• Professional engineers quite often have social quirks with no motivation to improve them. 
• You will find yourself introverting as an engineer when dealing with everyone’s "quirks."
• Yes, you are the normal one, and you will gravitate to other social people in the workplace.

 But... "To be simple is bliss"