“I’d love to take the assignment, but the last time I worked with you guys, it took four months to get paid.”
Not exactly what I wanted to hear from the freelancer I was trying to recruit.
“Yeah, I understand,” I said, my disappointment obvious. “Call me if you change your mind” (i.e., get so desperate for work you’ll take on any project).
What else could I say? He was right. And what’s worse, he wasn’t the first writer to complain about a late payment. So I went to the accounting department looking for answers, but when all I got was the usual song and dance about a lost invoice, my head nearly exploded.
I didn’t want to hear any excuses.
Because of the company’s poor track record, I was having trouble recruiting writers. I wanted to know what could be done to address this issue, because obviously it had become a big problem. As someone who has worked as a freelance writer, I can attest that things have to be pretty bad to turn down assignments. Freelance gigs — particularly in this economy — are tough to come by. And if you’re lucky enough to land a regular assignment, you’d be crazy to decline, right?
Wrong. If you know that you’re going to spend just as much time hounding, stalking, and harassing the editor until you finally have that check in your hands, sometimes it just isn’t worth it.
So when I was unable to land a decent writer, I saw it as a pretty glaring sign that the company had developed a poor reputation. To the freelancer, it doesn’t matter that the invoice got buried on someone’s desk or they were waiting for approval to cut a check. It only matters that he isn’t going to get paid on time, and that makes me look bad. Although it may not be my fault, I’m the one who has to answer to the writer about why he hasn’t seen a check yet. And when I have no answer, it makes me — and the entire company, for that matter — look inept.
It may not be fair, but it’s the truth. Like it or not, you represent the company you work for. And along with taking positive steps to solidify your professional reputation — such as networking, speaking, and serving on committees, according to Bonnie Siegel — it also means taking initiative to help build (or in some cases, improve) the company’s reputation.
One way to do that is to always keep your ear to the ground. If you hear complaints from staff members or patients, or if you see an opportunity to improve the overall experience for your customers, act on it.
Another way is to hold your organization — and your team — to high standards. Don’t tolerate halfhearted efforts, excuses, or anything else that could damage your reputation.
It’s a philosophy that has served Epic very well. If an implementation isn’t going smoothly, the company is willing to walk away, leaving all the money on the table. In an interview with Anthony Guerra this past summer, Legacy Health CIO John Kenagy called Epic “a standup company,” and said his experience with them was “a refreshing change.”
The reason? Accountability. To staff members, clients, and patients, it makes all the difference knowing that if something isn’t working, it’s going to be addressed. If not, you’ll end up losing them.
And there’s no excuse for that.
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