Taking steps. Not climbing ladders.

We recently sat down with Leticia Franco SHRM-CP, Senior Human Resources Generalist of our client, Forensic Analytical Consulting Services Inc., an environmental services and consulting company, and learned of an inspiring career journey. Here's her story.

To Leticia Franco, finding that spark in your career is achievable, no matter what stage of your journey – the beginning, middle, or end.  She found her spark at the environmental services and consulting company, Forensic Analytical Consulting, and it all started 23 years ago. 

Historically, this industry tends to include fewer women, especially in leadership positions; so it took time for Leticia to find her own voice. She started in administration, became an Admin Manager, and eventually moved into Operations. After a few years, this PI Promoter leveraged her strengths, built solid relationships, got a mentor, and discovered she was a natural fit for Human Resources. 

Now as a seasoned HR leader and practitioner, she reflects on her time spent in administration and operations as one of the most pivotal moves in her career. As a result of that experience, Leticia says, “I can empathize. I can speak the language. I understand the terminology. And for me, the admin and operations roles helped me understand just how valuable HR was to the business. So when the opportunity came up to transition into HR from Operations, it was a natural fit for me.” 

It wasn’t easy for Leticia, she really had to fight for a seat at the table, and her career took an unconventional route. And today, she’s inspiring others with her story. 

Leticia broke from tradition when she was paired with a mentor who was external to her organization. At that time, it was unheard of to have a mentor who wasn’t a leader at your own company, let alone out of state. “This really kept the focus on me and what I needed out of the relationship,” explained Leticia, as the greatest advantage created by this mentor-mentee pairing. 

This became another leverage point for Leticia in her growth trajectory. “I was growing and developing rapidly.” She wanted to prove to herself that she could lead the HR organization, and she wanted to show the organization the value of HR in its service offerings. 

Leticia knew the HR Leaders’ ticket to value creation was their desire to make an impact, demonstrate capability, and always be adaptable. “To work in HR, you have to have to be aware of what’s coming up ahead, start preparing yourself mentally, how will this affect you as a professional, so you can help support the rest of the organization. HR is always fluid,” she said. 

Leticia thrived, working 60 hours a week, having a seat at the most strategic table in the business, and building a team she was proud to lead. She had reached her career destination as the leader of the HR organization, but she came to realize that her work was affecting her balance in life. 

She found herself considering some difficult options:

• Quit and leave the company she loved 
• Stay in the leadership job, but risk happiness 
• Or maybe there was another way? 

In a world where we are conditioned only to gaze upward at the corporate ladder, Leticia decided it was best to take a step down. She would courageously take the step to ask her leadership for an individual contributor role. She presented her plan and prepared for potential rejection. 

“I felt like I owed it to myself to tell the company where I was at with this decision,” she said as she proceeded to lay out her new career arrangement with the company. 

Leticia was met with resounding support from the leadership team, who listened to her, believed in her, and supported her when she wanted to make this change. Leticia was at once recognized as the “one leader in the history of the company who voluntarily took a step down from their leadership role.” Leticia quickly became a model example of what could help shape this new way of being at her company. 

Of course, this is easier said than done. There were challenges to overcome, but Leticia was prepared for any possible outcomes of her courageous move, including rejection. “I had to be okay with the company saying ‘no’ to my proposal. I had to be okay with my replacement not accepting that I, the former leader, would remain on the team.” The biggest obstacle was to realize that making a change in your career that feels contrary to the traditional upward trend, is not a failure. Leticia allowed herself to be okay with this option. 

To have this level of courage, at such a pivotal moment, begs the question: How much leverage would you need to propose such an arrangement? To Leticia, it all went back to trust and the decades-long relationships she’d built within the company. She listened to her heart, and with the support of her family, she bet on herself. 

“What’s been interesting to me is that it’s my journey and my personal feelings, but to see how it’s impacted people in and outside of the organization, I'm surprised by how much it has resonated with people. We’ve been so conditioned to think and operate a certain way that until you see someone who steps outside of that norm, you wouldn’t even know it to be an option for you.” 

There are three big takeaways from Leticia’s story that show real examples of a shift in the power dynamic from the employer to the employee:

1. Find an external mentor. Deemphasize the company needs in your mentor discussions, and make your growth needs the focal point. 
2. Your career path matters. Each time you move jobs, you’re not starting over; you’re starting from experience. Think about how each step in the journey is to serve your future self. 
3. Know yourself. Understand what you’re willing and happy to give to your employer. The worst thing that can happen is they say ‘no’ to your proposed arrangement. And you may be pleasantly surprised, but you’ll never know if you don’t at least give it a try.
4. And for the business. When trust levels are high and intentions are received as pure, there are no limits to how far you can take your relationship with your employer. 

In Leticia’s words, this was a “WIN-WIN for everybody!”

This story offers clear examples of how to shift the power dynamic from employer to employee. Imagine if everyone in today’s workforce found their leverage this way.