Whenever I think about my friends leaving the office for better pastures I can’t help but stop and think of leaving also. We’re a small team and I’ve come to like working with these people. The nature of the account I work for blends well with what I love doing and reading about. Problem is, people are leaving and it seems I can’t do anything about it.

It’s no longer a question of why they’re leaving. We all know why. You only need to listen to us talk about it in our Facebook pages, in plurk and even in twitter. And yes, some if not all of the supervisors know the reasons already. No appropriate training, no briefings, bosses who’d rather give you written warnings (and with glee I might add) than ask why, a negative working environment, and to top it all off,  salaries that are not competitive enough.

Last I checked, it’s really not about the money. The people who are leaving are vets, they’ve been with the account for 3 or more years and though they could get higher wages in other companies, they opted to stay.  It’s not all about the money but also the people you work with and the people you work for. Take the latter off and you got yourself a bunch of ill trained newbies and a measly number of disgruntled vets in your hands.

I understand that the management needs to please the client so I get all the new work roles, new targets, and stuff. What my colleagues and I are asking for is that for the management to at least heed some of our requests. Implement new stuff but make sure to give appropriate training. You hate reporting back to the client with dismal stats and looking stupid? Well, we hate it when we sound stupid too just because we were suddenly asked to support a product we know next to nothing about. Oh, and please do ask some of our bosses to take a class or two on how to manage people. I know the client’s the top priority but treating us like dirt won’t encourage your people to work harder. I guess it works for some, but judging by the numbers, it seems this tactic stinks like hell.

Truth be told I don’t want to leave. I don’t like doing back office but I could live with it. Same with VPS support. I’d like more training but I’ve handled a VPS package before so I guess it’s okay. Give me a few more weeks and I’m pretty sure I can take it. What I hate and don’t want to see are people leaving. I know we are all dispensable but replacing somebody will be quite a painful process, don’t you think? It’s not as if everything is doled out in training. Most of the stuff we know came from experience and from a little research. At best, only 20-30% of what we know came from training.

I’ve decided to stay for another year for resume purposes. My uncle thinks it will be the best route, for now. Yen thinks I might not last that long though, especially when she, the badets, glen, ron, ochie, and everybody else leaves. I guess it’s time to dig up my resume and start thinking about mowing the grass on the other side of the fence.