The other day, the president of a construction company told me a story about a young employee who resigned. It was quite an interesting story, so I’d like to share it here. I’ve edited it slightly, but it’s, of course, a true story.
A Special Individual Who Excels in Both On-Site Work and ICT
The employee who quit was Employee A, who had been with the company for about five years and was around 24 years old. He had originally joined as a laborer, but we had entrusted him with ICT duties and site supervision.
He was a “high-achiever” who worked with enthusiasm, always looking things up on his own when he didn’t understand something. He even served as an instructor for the prefecture’s ICT implementation training program. As a young person skilled in both on-site work and ICT, he was a special asset to our company.
Out of those four months, there was only one week when I ”didn’t arrive late or miss work.”
However, there was a problem. He was a chronic latecomer and truant. It was so bad that I decided to keep track of just how often A-kun was late. As a result, I found that over a four-month period, he had been late for three months and three weeks.
In other words, there was only one week during which he didn't arrive late or miss work.
It just kept getting wild from there. A-kun said, “I’m not feeling well,” and took a week off. Right after that, he skipped work for another week without permission.
"If all I have to do is work on the computer, I'd be happy to do it at the office."
Thinking, “This won’t do,” I called both A and his mother into the office. His mother knew that A had been absent from work, but she didn’t know he had been coming in late.
So, we talked about all sorts of things, but then A said something that made me think I was hearing things.
"I don't want to be a laborer or a supervisor. If I can just work on the computer, I'd be willing to stay at the company and do that," he said.
Hearing those words, I was convinced that he believed, “If I were to leave, the company would be in trouble, so they’ll never let me quit.”
"I regret giving A-kun the wrong impression."
Even my mom was stunned by those words. When I asked her, “What do you think?” she said, “If it were me, I’d fire him.” “Exactly,” I replied.
The moment he heard this exchange, A’s expression changed. He looked as if to say, “Wait, are you seriously thinking of quitting?”
So I asked A, “Are you going to actually come to work?” His mother tried to persuade him, saying, “The boss isn’t a monster. If you tell him you’ll actually come to work, he’ll keep you on. Just tell him, ‘I’ll actually come to work.’” However, when he heard that, A replied, “Forget it. I’m quitting. I’m done with this.”
So I quit.
Besides being late and missing work, there were other problems. A-kun also lied a lot. Plus, he had a bad attitude. Even when he skipped work for three days without permission, he acted as if nothing had happened. Naturally, he never apologized.
He never showed up at the worksite, told lies, and had a bad attitude, so he was disliked by the people there.
Looking back now, what I regret is that “I led A-kun to misunderstand.”
That concludes the president's remarks.
Is it really okay to “only do what you love for a living”?
There’s a saying out there: “Turn what you love into your job.” A probably had moments when he felt he’d succeeded in doing just that. However, if there was one misconception A had, it was likely that he tried to “make only the things he loved his job.”
There’s a saying that “the world is built on misunderstandings,” so you can’t say that misunderstandings are always a bad thing. However, even in this day and age when diverse work styles are being celebrated, as a salaried employee, I don’t think this excuse would fly.
I’m not sure if A-kun himself was just a special case or if young people these days are more or less like this, but I think it’s important for the civil engineering industry to keep in the back of their minds that “there might be young people like this out there.”
