My Shawmut Experience
The last couple of days have been rough emotionally. I have to confess that I’m on some meds that are certainly messing with my emotions right now. Yesterday, my former employer started cutting staff. Over the last two days, countless friends have lost their jobs. I’m feeling incredibly thankful that I do have a good job right now. Had I not taken my new job, I could have been one of those casualties.
It’s hard to articulate why this is so upsetting unless you’ve worked there. Shawmut is the first place I ever worked where the culture actually meant something. In fact, at my interview, the recruiter, Johanna, said something I’ll never forget. She said “Our culture is everything. Without our culture, we’re nothing.” And that’s really how the company operates. It’s an exhausting place to work, and the people will drive you crazy. And they’ll give you the last dollar in their wallet if you need it. In my almost four years there, I never heard anybody say “That’s not my job.” That would just be treasonous. Working there is hard. Expectations are ridiculously high. And people exceed them. Everything is about pleasing the client, and every person in the company has a vested interest in the success of the company. That’s hard work. And Shawmut takes care of its people. I went to a lot training. They don’t even blink at training because they see the value in investing in people. They have built a community in their people, which is not an easy thing to do.
When I first moved to Providence and then Boston, I didn’t know many people. Shawmut became my family in a lot of ways. These are more than just former coworkers.
That was my Shawmut experience. And that’s why I grieve today for my friends.
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