The Good and Bad of Human Employees

by Linden Wicklund, AASP-MN Executive Director

This month’s feature article focuses on a very real problem: employees are expensive and come with all the inconveniences of being human.

Leaders must decide how to navigate this in the present moment, not with the benefit of hindsight or rose-colored glasses about the past. The availability of childcare and elder care – at a time in history when dual-income households are the norm based on necessity – is preventing people from showing up early and leaving late, even when they wish they could. 

In February of this year, I became just the sort of inconvenient employee nobody hopes for. To be clear, the biggest problem is (according to most) that I’m good at my job. So when factors in my life required accommodation at work, the question wasn’t how to get rid of me, it was how to work with me for the benefit of everyone. Two unexpected things happened at the same time. 

One, my husband Steve and I decided to move back to New England to be closer to my extended family. After losing his mother in December 2022, we understood the value of being within driving distance of aging parents and giving our kids time to develop deep relationships with grandparents while there was time. Our first 12 years of parenthood were spent with his family close by, so now it was my family’s turn. Simultaneously, my aunt and dad needed to sell the family cottage my grandfather built. Steve and I decided to purchase this home to keep it in the family. Working remotely and traveling back to Minnesota regularly for work is neither convenient nor ideal. However, AASPMN staff members have worked remotely more than 60 percent of the time for many years. It was in the best interest of AASPMN members to give long distance remote work a try instead of immediately finding a replacement. If it works, that’s a win for everyone. If it doesn’t, we plan for a smooth transition. I’m now writing this on my laptop in Massachusetts. 

Problem number two: I urgently needed major back surgery. I have a deformity like scoliosis that was getting worse, combined with a tumor that had developed within my spinal column. Surgery was scheduled six weeks before our planned move. At the AASPMN golf event in June, I used a cane and showed off photos of my newly rebuilt back, complete with foot-long rods and 28 screws that will be a permanent part of me. This meant two things for AASPMN: announcing my move while I was out on medical leave would highlight my absence, while there was a different reason for the interruption in productivity, and my newly planned regular travel would be delayed. 

In August, I was back to travel and presented at the Minnesota Teachers of Transportation & Industrial Areas conference in Brainerd. Once my core responsibilities at the event were finished, I drove myself to the area emergency room, based on heart and breathing issues that had cropped up post-surgery. AASPMN decided it was best to not have me travel for work until these symptoms were fully addressed. Hopefully, when this issue of the magazine lands on your desk, I will be in Minnesota for the December Board of Directors Meeting and the annual holiday luncheon for major contributors to AASPMN. 

So yes, I understand deeply how frustrating it can be to be faced with impossible choices about how to handle employees. When employers are understanding of their employees’ situations and respect the need for work/life balance, it can result in enhanced loyalty from those employees and a desire to work even harder to achieve the business goal. 

Here are three examples of progress in the past few months at AASPMN: there is a new website being built to coincide with a new social media and online marketing strategy; we have a new lobbying firm that is making critical headway on advocacy efforts; committees are asking to meet more frequently than they have in the past; and we continue to bring news and resources to light via our official magazine, AASPMN News. There are many great leaders at AASPMN who are advancing the mission of the organization on behalf of all members. The culture is open, flexible and supportive, backed by unchanged core values, even though things look a bit different. “Lead by amplifying member voices” is a key part of our strategic plan, which means we need to empower members more than members need to listen to me take up all the talking time. I continue to be here to champion the work of AASPMN members and give them the opportunity to shine. 

Want more? Check out the December 2024 issue of AASP-MN News!