Sales

A month prior to graduating with my Bachelors degree from Arizona State University, I was excited to have received an offer letter from company X. Immediately, I contacted the President by phone and accepted the offer. I was moving to Burbank California to start a new chapter of my life. On my first day of work, I met with the human resource manager to go over my benefits and review my job description. I also took a tour of the office and met my colleagues and department manager. The organization was full of young and eager individuals. At that moment, I knew I made the right decision to go with this company.

I started as a customer service representative and quickly moved up the corporate ladder. Working long hours was never an issue and even if I was sick, I would always show up to work. There was so much to learn and as my responsibilities grew, it motivated me to work harder. I was always willing to work harder and longer than anyone else because I loved reaping the rewards. My company valued individuals with strong work ethics. They only promoted the ones that went beyond their line of duty. They frowned upon people that take vacations days or calling in sick. Although the company provided full-time employees with a fair amount of sick days, you would be treated differently when you return to work. Thereafter, people will eventually work harder to recover or go towards what we call a “dark path”. At that point, they will either be fired or will be forced to resign. This was our unspoken “corporate culture”.

During my third year with the company, we made some aggressive goals. Since we were a Southern based company, we needed to explore the Northern part of the state to capture more market share. I was assigned this project with the mentorship of my new boss, the VP of Sales & Operations. I was eager to put my skills to the test. I was in charge of opening up the market and hiring my own staff. We started with our first office in San Jose, and then eventually opened up a satellite office in Sacramento and Oakland. I knew this task was not going to be easy, but it ended up being harder than I thought. I no longer had the management team to rely on and my boss will only be traveling up North once a month. I had to rely on my local team to help me succeed. We incorporated ramp up time in our forecast, but we were still busier than anticipated. Without my staff putting in extra hours, I would not have been able to fulfill the orders.

At the end of each night, I was to call my boss and provide him with full reports of what went on with all three offices. The general manager in the San Jose office had been sick the past 3 days and was unable to show up to work. The second day of reporting that, I felt my boss was a little annoyed. By the third day of the same report, he was livid. He demanded that I let him go. I did not agree with my boss’s request nor was I willing to comply. It just did not make sense when he has been doing such a great job and was a huge contribution to our growth. Secondly, employees were allowed to have a certain amount of sick days. At that moment, I knew I was no longer conforming to the “corporate culture”. Previous times my boss would have let go of people due to absence, which would have bothered me but it was not my department so I did not have any say in the situation. When he pushed his beliefs on me and expected me to do the same, it was a different story. From that day on, my boss traveled to Northern California more frequently. Our relationship based on trust and respect quickly deteriorated. Although the Vice President never reprimanded the general manager for those sick days, the general manager could feel that he was heading towards the “dark path”. Eventually the general manager resigned from his position.

I stuck out the job for about another year and eventually resigned. When I left the organization, it was a bitter sweet feeling. I have committed 4 long years to this organization and it was a great learning experience. Leaving the company was my only option since I no longer believed in the mission of the organization. The employees were what differentiated our company from our competitors. Our employees were the drivers of our organization. It saddens me that we lack appreciation for what our staff has done for us.

When I think about what happened with the clash between my values and ideals and those of the Vice President of my former company, I feel like I can relate to the story of the two men on the mountain.