An office is like a mullet

Hear me out on this. It's all business in the front. When you were interviewed you got a great impression. "The culture is great, we're just a group of people who love what we do and we get real stuff done." The perks and benefits sounded nice. Everyone was friendly during onboarding. You got taken out for lunch on your first day.

But as the first few months go by, you realize that things are more hairy and tangled than you imagined on the back end. Workflows are unclear, too many people are seemingly responsible for the same things (or nobody is), and as you settle into your work the intentionality from your first few weeks seems to slowly fade away.

Even worse, the care and attention paid to those coming in seems to totally be lacking for those who have committed years to serving the organization. Long-term employees don't get the salary bumps that are required to attract newer (and sometimes less qualified) talent. People are leaving.

Now I do have a ton of empathy for why organizations become like this. It is easy to happen, even from very well-intentioned leaders.

But while I do appreciate a good mullet, please don't let your workplace become like one. Provide an experience for your employees that lives up to the early promise.

Invest as much on the backside as you did on the front.

‍