Meaningful Work
Mark Inboden
By Mark Inboden
"Paying your Dues"..."Gaining Experience"..."Can’t start at the top"...these are some axioms that we have all heard over the years as we entered the workforce. I remember being fresh out of college with a business degree in my hand thinking that would land me a “good” job. It turned out that the Denver economy in 1983 was not good at all. In fact, “The 1980s were considered the second worst economic period in Colorado's history, trailing only the Great Depression,” according to the Denver Post. Needless to say, I was thrilled to land a job at a bank as a teller.
When I first started the job, I told myself that I would just “pay my dues” and then get a “better” job as opportunities presented themselves. Shortly after starting the job, I was paired up with senior people in the department. These colleagues were true professionals, and they really knew the teller job well. I was soon concentrating on “being as good as they were” and not concentrating on getting a “better” job. I had learned about “meaningful work” and how much more being a teller was than simply an entry level position in a bank.
Among the things I learned were customer service, working under pressure, accuracy, teamwork and gaining an overall working knowledge of other areas we serviced in the bank. I was meeting more people in other areas as I gained experience and was given more responsibilities (foreign cash exchange, cross-selling CDs and credit cards, etc.) I began to understand that my job entailed learning and knowing more things than many other positions in the bank, and that to the customers, I was the Bank!
I look at the craftsmen we have here at UCEC the same way. They all have “meaningful work” in putting together the highest quality panels for our customers. They are given more responsibilities as they gain experience and knowledge. Each of the panels we build is unique, and so are the craftsmen who build them. That is what is “meaningful” to me.
Mark is President and CEO of UCEC.