He left a job he loved because of a Slurpee.
Mark* was a talented IT professional who was loved and appreciated by his coworkers and provided a valuable service to the organization. Many in leadership had expressed how grateful they were to have him on the team, and he always seemed happy in his role.
So, when he announced he had accepted an offer to work for a competitor, it was a shock to all of us. We knew he had career aspirations and were working with him on identifying some growth opportunities through his current role, but none of us knew he was so close to leaving.
When I asked him why he had taken this new role, I was expecting to hear about a juicy compensation offer or an exciting opportunity for advancement, but it turns out it was a lateral move. His reason for pursuing this opportunity? His manager (the COO) was a no-show for their one-to-one and, on his way back to his office, Mark saw the COO parking his car with a Slurpee in hand. The message Mark received was that the COO’s Slurpee was more important than his one-to-one with him.
Most of us have had similar things happen in our work or personal lives. We hear words like, “It was the last straw,” or “out of nowhere” someone does something drastic or responds in an uncharacteristic way. In Mark’s case, he didn’t leave a job he loved because of a Slurpee. Mark left because the “psychological contract” with his leader was broken.
A psychological contract refers to "individuals’ expectations, beliefs, ambitions, and obligations, as perceived by the employer and the worker.” Unlike the legal employment contract, where the exact terms of the agreements are clearly itemized, defined, described, and signed by both parties, the psychological contract is often implicit, inferred and assumed. Examples of what may be included in a psychological contract are: job security, career growth opportunities, perceived fairness, and trust.
To explore this concept in more depth, I reached out to Dr. Laura Hambley, Work & Career Psychologist, speaker, author and thought leader for insights on this topic.
“Every single employee has a psychological agreement in place. They have certain expectations for what they need to give and do in their job for their employer, and in return, what they will get and receive in return. These unwritten expectations are not in the actual employment contract yet are important to the person. They're more subjective.”
“They’re more subjective.” So, in addition to ensuring that we’re fulfilling the legal aspects of our employment agreement, we also need to know what’s happening in employees’ minds – a feat challenging enough for the savviest of leaders but made more challenging when many of us are working in remote or hybrid organizations.
In a co-located work environment, we can often get more clues as to how a person is feeling about their work. We may notice that they are socializing more or less, or even notice changes in physical appearance. But, in hybrid or distributed environments, we don’t have the same access to observable data that can support awareness of what’s happening at a psychological level, which means the leader needs to be even more intentional in attending to what the “subjective” experience is for their employees.
As a pioneering researcher in the study of leadership capabilities in distributed and remote environments, Dr. Hambley had the following suggestions for leaders:
Attracting and retaining top talent is more important than ever. To learn more about this topic and to hear the full conversation with Dr. Hambley, watch the video below.
While completing her Doctorate in 2002, she focused on remote leadership and predicted the world of work would change to become more flexible and mobile. Dr. Laura Hambley continues to write and innovate on the topic as a future of work pioneer.
Visit drlaura.live to learn more about Dr. Laura Hambley or connect on LinkedIn.