ONE
Hypocrisy
People of integrity and honesty not only practice what they preach, they are what they preach.
—David A. Bednar
Kayla woke up with a renewed sense of anticipation and energy, something she hadn’t experienced for quite some time. Today was the first day at her new job at ProcessCorp. “Maybe I will find that passion again,” she hoped.
DREAMS OF MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Kayla’s first real job out of school was with a marketing agency at which she’d previously done an internship. The great part of this job was she could live at home, pay down her school loans, and get some relevant experience. The compensation and benefits were good.
Kayla’s first job didn’t last long, though. After the honeymoon wore off, she became restless. She didn’t like the stodgy, old-school attitude around the agency. Most of the clients were well-established companies focused more on promoting their tradition and values than anything new and exciting. Kayla loved the people and made some close friends. Although she learned a lot, the work was boring and impersonal. So, she began looking for something else.
An opening in the marketing department at a big hospital in Houston caught Kayla’s eye. Working with a team for a health care organization surely could offer the community and people-focus she craved. She applied for the job and was asked to take a personality assessment. Although she got the job, she never saw the results of her assessment and was never told what it was used for. Kayla quit the marketing agency and joined the hospital. Although her close friends at work were sad to see her go, her boss wasn’t so kind. His last words to Kayla were “I hope you will mature and recognize the value of what we provided you.”
Moving to Houston and living on her own for the first time was an adjustment. Kayla adapted quickly. She was sociable and friendly, so making friends at work, at the gym, and in her apartment complex came easily. Her new job at the hospital was exciting at first. There were new things to learn, a fun group of people, and a message of healing and hope to share. What could be better?
The discouragement set in as Kayla began to learn about the crazy health care insurance and reimbursement climate, changing regulations, and the cutthroat practices to recruit physicians. Patients were just a means to an end, identified by their insurance carrier and diagnosis. Her boss seemed more focused on compliance mandates handed down from corporate than tending to the team. Meetings were overly structured, impersonal, and seemed to focus only on where people fell short. Morale was low and people worried more about protecting their turf than supporting each other. She was disillusioned with the lack of compassion, especially for a health care organization.
This went on for almost two years. Many times, Kayla thought about quitting but she didn’t want to abandon her team and didn’t feel confident she could find something she really loved so early in her career. She tried to hold on to the big picture purpose of helping people, but she soon became miserable.
The only thing that helped Kayla through each day was her boyfriend, Lucas. They met at the ribbon cutting for a new hospital addition project. Lucas’s father owned the construction company that did the project. Although Lucas seemed rather guarded at first, he demonstrated deep loyalty and commitment. Kayla knew he was a man of his word. Lucas was a rock, someone who was stable and trustworthy. They didn’t talk about work much when they were together, which was fine. Mostly they spent time together doing outdoor activities and enjoying the food and culture of the area. They got along well with each other’s families, which was a bonus.
THE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVE
The final straw for Kayla was the “employee engagement initiative.” One day it was announced at a staff meeting that the hospital was concerned about low patient satisfaction scores that were threatening their accreditation. Corporate decided that one way to address the problem was to increase employee engagement. Engaged employees can lead to happier patients and better compliance, the consultants advised.
One part of the engagement initiative involved everyone completing an online personality test. The explanation they were given was that there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach to engagement, so learning about individual personalities was important. A consultant came in to meet with the marketing team and debrief their results. The results categorized everyone into quadrants and colors, each representing certain styles and preferences. Kayla’s profile identified her as someone who cares a lot about people, values relationships, and wants to have fun. “Duh,” she thought, “I knew that already.” The consultant directed everyone to share their results with others on their team, explaining that by learning about personality differences everyone could gain greater appreciation for various styles, get along better, and be more engaged. The meeting lasted two hours and included lunch.
There were a few guarded “ah-has” in the room, as well as a few laughs as teammates recognized tendencies among them that were common knowledge but had never been given a name. And there was the elephant in the room, or perhaps the elephant missing from the room: the boss. Kayla asked the consultant why their boss wasn’t part of this debrief, explaining naively, “It seems she should be here so she could also learn how we could all get along better.” The consultant revealed that executive and C-level leaders were doing their own thing, and that they would be shown everybody’s results.
A month went by and Kayla’s boss never mentioned the personality test. She saw no change in her boss’s behavior either. She remembered the personality assessment she had completed as part of her employment application and wondered whatever happened with that one. Did her boss ever see it? Did anyone even care?
Meetings were just as painful. Kayla tried to talk about her personality profile results with a few peers, which was mostly okay at first, but faded quickly without support from above. The only time people talked about it was when they labeled others. “She’s a High-D, so you better hurry up.” “There goes Ms. touchy-feely taking everything too personally again.” Or, “Hey, she’s an introvert so don’t try and talk to her.”
WE HAVE A MISSION, BUT WE DON’T LIVE IT
Kayla shared her discouragement with Lucas. “I don’t get it. They say they want to improve engagement, but they don’t seem to deal with the real issue—how we communicate with each other. I tried to be optimistic with the personality thing, but there was no follow through and now people just use it as another way to avoid responsibility or gain an advantage. My boss doesn’t seem to care about me as a person or about developing her people. We’re just cogs in a machine that claims to care about people, but it’s all about the money. There is no compassion.”
Lucas was mildly concerned, but didn’t know how to help. He listened and didn’t say much.
Kayla continued, “We have a mission, but we don’t live it.”
That must have been a trigger for Lucas, because he sat straight up. “That’s hypocrisy,” Lucas exclaimed with unexpected passion in his voice. “I couldn’t work for a place that didn’t walk the talk. My father’s not perfect, but one thing I respect about him is that he models the behaviors that he expects from his employees. They might not like some of his policies, but at least they know he has integrity and they trust him. He’s not above the law and they respect that.”
Lucas’s response validated what Kayla was already feeling. She didn’t see how she could work for a company that didn’t walk the talk. That was the beginning of the end for her. She disengaged emotionally and began looking for something else. Her search was limited, though, because she wasn’t sure there was anything better out there. She became disillusioned and cynical. She went through the motions at work, but her heart wasn’t in it. She was angry at her boss, angry at the hospital, angry at corporate, and angry at life. She privately blamed them all for her situation. She didn’t tell anyone though, because she didn’t see how it would make a difference. She felt trapped. She was miserable and depressed. In 6 months she gained 15 pounds and was angry at herself for that, too, but preferred to blame work stress and the cafeteria food. Lucas was supportive, but didn’t really get into the emotional stuff with her. Occasionally he suggested solutions or tried to give Kayla advice, but it didn’t help.
THE TEN BEST PLACES TO WORK
Whether by pure coincidence, providence, or divine intervention, something happened that set Kayla on a course that changed her life. It was a Saturday morning and she was at a local coffee shop enjoying a cold brew and leafing through a magazine. An article caught her eye: “The ten best places to work in Texas.” She started reading. The article described employers who had the highest employee engagement scores and were doing innovative things to build strong and connected work cultures. “Is this fiction?” Kayla thought. “Do such places really exist?” She read one account after another, stunned to find out that there were places where leaders cared about culture, walked the talk, developed their people, and focused as much on the teamwork atmosphere as the bottom line. By all accounts, these companies were successful as well.
“What would it be like to work for one of these companies?” Kayla imagined. She briefly let herself experience the feeling of being supported, energized, and free to be herself. She kept reading. At the end of the article was a list of human resource contacts for all 10 companies. “What do I have to lose?” She whipped out her tablet and began researching the companies, looking for job openings or at least somewhere to submit an application, trying not to get her hopes up.
When she landed on ProcessCorp’s website, her immediate reaction was, “Wow, this is different!” She read, “Most companies say people are their greatest asset, yet it’s the people problems that most often get in the way. We understand. We help companies improve the human interactions that drive your business success. Whether it’s an assembly line, customer service process, or new product roll out, ProcessCorp will help you prevent miscommunication and drama from sabotaging the outcome while maximizing the unique contribution of each person on your team.”
Kayla did a double take. “Did I really just read people-processes, people-interactions, prevent miscommunication and drama?” She quickly found ProcessCorp’s mission and vision statement and was just as shocked. They talked about diversity as their greatest asset and that relationships were at the heart of their work. And their purpose statement read, “Our purpose is not to see through people, but to see people through.”
“What? Are you kidding me? I want that!” Kayla’s heart was pounding, maybe from the second cold brew she was drinking, or maybe from the prospect of working for a company like this. She tried to temper her enthusiasm as she searched for their online job listing and application. Again she was surprised. The website indicated they were hiring, but there were no job titles listed. Instead she read,
ProcessCorp is made up of people who are caring, smart, committed, creative, imaginative, and action-oriented. Thank you for your interest in joining our team. To help us determine if there’s an opportunity for you to thrive and help us thrive, will you complete this application and submit your resume?
The application was not what Kayla expected. She was asked to submit her resume, but there were a bunch of other questions about her passions, gifts, failures, goals and dreams, and ideal work environment. To her surprise, these questions were much more difficult to answer than she expected. She knew what she didn’t like, but had never really figured out what she wanted instead. She’d never felt like it was okay to do so.
Kayla looked at a few other websites, but didn’t submit any more applications. She called Lucas to let him know what she had done. He was curious and asked a few questions, but cautioned her not to get too excited.
A few days later, Kayla got a call from ProcessCorp saying they had reviewed her application. They invited her to come in for an interview. She was beside herself with anticipation and a little anxious. After all, she hadn’t been confident about some of the questions in her application and was worried she’d get grilled about it.
It was nothing like she expected. The HR director, Bennett Lavy, was friendly and kind. He smiled a lot, complimented Kayla on her sunglasses, offered her something to drink, and even cracked a joke. Kayla thought it was a bit unusual that Bennett would compliment her in that way, but felt strangely at ease. Nothing felt inappropriate or insincere about it. After clarifying a few basic details, Bennett brought Kayla next door to a common area that looked like a living room with couches, comfortable chairs, and soft lighting. Two others were already sitting down, engaged in lively and friendly conversation.
Bennett introduced Kayla to one of his HR partners and Pauline Harris, the Director of Storytelling and Brand Engagement. Pauline explained that her department was responsible for “telling and helping others tell the ProcessCorp story in the most engaging and compelling way. This is how our team members and clients engage around our brand. It’s all about the relationship for us. The better we tell the story, the stronger the relationship.”
Kayla still had no idea for what position she was being considered but she didn’t care. She felt curious and excited. Bennett continued, “We saw a potential fit between your experience, skills, and interests and the work that Pauline leads in her department. We’d love to get to know you better and give you a chance to experience a little of ProcessCorp.”
The next 45 minutes felt like 5 to Kayla. The conversation was friendly, upbeat, and covered a lot of ground. They asked what she liked and didn’t like about previous positions, and a little about her marketing and communications expertise. Mostly it just felt like a conversation that covered a lot of topics, some of which didn’t even seem relevant to a job interview. Kayla never felt like she was being interrogated or set up, even though she disclosed a lot about herself. At times she didn’t have an answer, or worried that what she did say wasn’t relevant or valuable, but she never felt judged. How refreshing!
Kayla finally asked her burning question: “So what would I be doing?” Pauline smiled, took a deep breath, and explained, “Your education is in marketing and communications. Your experience is in trying to get people interested in products and services. You seem to really love people and are creative and spontaneous. We barely know each other, but from what I can tell, I bet you’re a terrific storyteller. You would be helping build amazing relationships by helping us tell great stories.” Without even thinking, Kayla responded, “Sounds good!” Inside she simultaneously felt warm and cautious. Warm because of a sense of belonging, cautious because she didn’t trust what she was experiencing. And then she blurted out, again without thinking, “I’m in!”
Everybody laughed together. “I love that you are excited!” replied Pauline. “We are going to do our homework and let you know our decision this week. Thanks again for your interest in ProcessCorp. We’ve really enjoyed getting to know you.”
The next few days seemed like an eternity. When the email from ProcessCorp showed up, Kayla held her breath. The subject line read, “We’d love to have you on our team.” She read the email:
We are delighted to offer you a leadership position at ProcessCorp with the Storytelling and Brand Engagement team. You will report to Pauline Harris. Don’t worry, you won’t have any direct reports at first. Like everyone at ProcessCorp, you are a leader and we want to help you develop as a leader. Here is some information about compensation and benefits. Will you review and let us know your decision by Friday and when you are available to start?
Before the reality had sunk in Kayla messaged Lucas to share the good news. “I got the job! Scared and happy. Can’t wait!”
Kayla replied with her acceptance and within a couple of hours she had another email from ProcessCorp:
Welcome to ProcessCorp, Kayla! November 12 works great to start. Your first day will include the usual paperwork and introductions. Most importantly, though, will be your welcome meeting with Samantha Bryce, our CEO and founding owner. It’s really important to Sam that she gets to know each new leader we hire. As you know, culture is very important to us. Sam takes this seriously and wants to be the first one to personally welcome you.
Will you please complete this online questionnaire so we can generate your Process Communication Model (PCM) Profile? It will take about 30–45 minutes to complete. There are no right or wrong answers, only what’s a best fit for you. It’s okay to take your time and be as candid as possible. The purpose of the profile is to help you and ProcessCorp discover the best ways we can be successful together. We encourage you to find a space where you are comfortable and free from distractions. Sam and Pauline will have your results and explain how we use them at ProcessCorp.
We are here if you have any questions. See you soon!
