Notwithstanding the “noise” about whether one can become a billionaire without being a horrible person/entity, when friends were approaching retirement from the military and asked me about transition, I was able to provide good information. I will back-track a bit as my retirement coincided with my 40th birthday and for longtime followers, they know my wonderfully supportive husband insisted I take time to “write that novel”. An important factor here is he was being assigned to the Pentagon in the usual fashion for his rank and time in service. There are myriad opportunities for retired Army lieutenant colonels in the area with defense-related contractors, so my intense desire to be a writer instead had a back-up if needed. As most know, I have yet to make a commercial success as a writer and while I was holding out hope for later, I did reach out for my back-up within ten months.
In discussion with a couple of former bosses, I knew I didn’t want to be a “road warrior” spending 100+ days a year traveling. Since Hubby was still on active duty and I had my pension, salary and extensive benefits were not primary concerns. That meant I could stay away from the Fortune 500 culture of being one of thousands of employees.
The company I found was small; I think I was like the 143rd person they hired. Salary was mid-range and virtually no benefits. Veterans made up 80+ percent of the employees and the owners knew everyone by name and often their spouses’ names. There were either five or seven original employees and they shared a strong sense of camaraderie. Another aspect of the culture I admired was forthrightness from the leadership. The owner would hold periodic meetings with employees and act on what recommendations they could. For example, as the business grew, they added a benefit of continuing education in your related field. Yes, it was on a reimbursement basis, but 100% if made an A in a course; 80% for a B, and 70% if a C. Granted the benefit wasn’t useful for everyone, yet good for others.
A particularly important point was the clear understanding that employees might need to seek a higher salary with another company. In the private sector if you plan to do so, you literally “sneak around” so if a better offer isn’t available, you don’t risk losing your job for “being disloyal”. The owners were sincere when they explained it was okay to seek more. Their only request was to let them know if a new offer was made by another company. In most cases they couldn’t match the increase and wished the employee all the best. More unusual than such openness, in those occasions when an former employee discovered “the grass in not always greener”, they would be welcomed back if a position was open. That’s rare in the corporate world.
