It’s 7:30. I stare out the window of my VW; driving into work, ignoring the usual chaos that is the Baltimore Beltway.
But this morning, I barely notice the sea of brake lights in front of me, this morning I’m thinking – wow, I’m lucky. I get to be here. Not here on the Beltway, no one ever really wants to be there. But here in the sense of where I am, where I now find myself – at an incredible junction in my life.
Have you ever felt that way before? Personally? Professionally? In today’s day and age, employers are seeing a trend of transient job holders. The millennial generation job-hops like no one’s business (think Tigger on steroids) and for what? Because we want to learn what we can and our motivators outweigh our satisfiers.
Research shows that millennials value benefits and culture above pay. So what’s this all mean? It means I've been thinking about what life has in store for me, and the immense gratitude I feel for eQ and its intentional onboarding process. In my experience, a calendar with my first month planned out was not a part of my arrival on the job, but at eQ it is, because entreQuest specializes in this strategy. eQ actively thinks about the onboarding process, and advises clients on what this involves and what is necessary to attract talent and retain talent.
It all just clicked for me staring out the window.
I recently read an article that quoted the CEO of Etsy.com. Now I’m paraphrasing here, but he basically said that it’s not about work-life balance. Today, it’s about work-life integration. It was as if a plastic hammer, you know the kind you receive at a carnival, whaled on my head. Duh. Today we spend more time away from home than ever. It’s imperative for my happiness, passion, and purpose that I find a place that serves as home away from home. Day one, I felt like I joined a work family.
Where I’ve joined has expectations. And they are completely warranted because my employer is transparent, authentic, and speaks from a place of trust. I clearly recall being told in my interviews, “we’re all adults here.” So, where I’m going with this is, there’s maturity, flexibility, and accountability at my workplace. There’s a humbleness and wholeness. People are themselves and bring their whole self to the office.
This means that life and work are blended. It would be unnatural if we tried to keep them separate. Lots of organizations still experience the effects of people not being fully present - in essence, holding back. eQ has been preaching the importance of authenticity for a long time, and it certainly shows in our office and visible difference are felt for our clients practicing wholeness as well.
Maybe it’s time you ask yourself, would you rather feel limited and hesitant in your day-to-day or would you prefer to feel encouraged to be fully there? Think about it.
