The Four F's
OWL Technologies is a data center support company serving state, local, and federal agencies. The kind of work that keeps the government running but rarely gets recognized. Then the announcement came. AI-driven automation. New platforms. Roles under review. Leadership called it a transformation. The employees called it a lot of other things.
Here is where several of them stand today. One of them probably sounds familiar.
Meet Robyn. Frozen.
Robyn has been at OWL Technologies for 40 years. She was there before the cloud, before virtualization, before half the people on the floor were born. She is afraid. Not ready to retire. And for the first time in four decades, she wonders if her job is at risk. She comes in. Does the job. Nods at the right times. Goes home frozen in place. Robyn does not need to be told to work harder. She needs to know she still matters. The first step is a conversation with the people leading the transformation.
Meet Keith. In Denial.
Keith has been at OWL Technologies for 25 years. He knows where every cable runs, why the 2014 workaround is still in place, and which vendor promises are worth the paper they are printed on. He pushes back. Hard. In meetings. In emails. In the hallway. He has been labeled difficult. A roadblock. Keith is not fighting the transformation. He is fighting a plan that does not account for anything he knows. Nobody has told him his instincts are an asset.
Meet Ryan. Reading the Writing on the Wall.
Ryan has been at OWL Technologies for five years. He built a reputation in customer support for solving problems nobody else wanted to touch. He knows customer support is the first to be replaced by AI. He sees an entry-level role with no clear path forward. He is in survival mode and actively looking.
Ryan has not left yet. But the window is closing.
Meet Angela. Bought In.
Angela has been at OWL Technologies for 15 years. She went through a major transformation before and felt lucky to survive. This time, she made a different decision. She signed up for two training programs. Met with several managers, including her own. Started asking questions that say I want to be part of this.
Angela has been to the edge of the transformation cliff. She chose a different path.
My research on career agency showed that the strongest predictor of moving forward during transformation is not skill set. It is whether someone believes their organization respects and values them. Robyn does not feel that yet. Keith has never been told it. Ryan stopped waiting for it. Angela found it and ran with it.
At Next Wave Workforce Consulting, we help organizations understand where their employees stand during transformation and give them a path forward. From frozen to on board.
If you know someone facing a transformation, share this with them. Drop a comment telling us what you would say to help them take the next step.
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