Tumbling Dice

Relationships, despite our best efforts, are very much a game of chance. A roll of the dice if you will. A gamble.

Even the most successful gamblers rely, ultimately, on luck even if they can slant the odds in their favour a little.

A relationship with a new employer is the same.  You will court each other, show each other your best sides and, all being well, form a long-lasting partnership of mutual benefit, respect and trust. 

No new partner admits to being controlling or having temper issues

No new employer admits to racism or bullying

All is rosy, everyone is happy.

Then it happens; the mask slips, the veneer begins to crack, your partner’s true colours start to show, and its not what you signed up for. Now what?

Walk away? Risk doing it all again? Roll the dice again?

Stay in a loveless marriage?  Accept less than you value for yourself?

Are these two routes actually just the current trends? The ’job-hoppers’ and the ‘quiet-quitters’?  Could the cause of both expensive cohorts in fact be the lack of honesty and truth, from both sides of the relationships?  And let’s face it, both groups cost money to organisations, either in terms of reduced effectiveness or the cost of hiring and onboarding.

It could even be easier than that. Could some of these trends be down to a simple case of incompatible cultures?  Some people really value ping-pong tables and pizza Friday’s. I personally don’t but I wouldn’t steer immediately away from a role because they did these things. However, if months down the line, I felt I was missing out on career chats, progression or the inside track because I didn’t stay until 7 on Friday’s to have some pizza and a fruity IPA, I could easily feel like this culture is no longer right for me.

Back to the dice.

How can this be better? How can I slant the odds of finding the right role, the right employer in my favour?

I could ask the exes? Glassdoor and Indeed reviews – good sources of opinion (and sometimes facts) but mostly after the break-up and often disgruntled ex-employees.

I could speak to current employees but would I get the truth? Hiring is expensive, would any employee want to risk the outcome of derailing a potential hire (there is probably another blog on this subject)?

I’d get the truth if the culture was great. And if the culture was great, people would be open and have nothing to hide, and be there for a long time, and be happy and engaged.  And possibly play ping-pong. 

If the culture was great it would be obvious, right?