My boss came to Thailand last week. His primary mission for this trip seemed to be convincing me to stay, if not forever, than at least for several months longer than I was planning. His arguement is sound - our full staff complement won't be in until May, and if I depart at the end of June as planned, that doesn't leave much time for all of those new folks to build relationships with our partners, which is really the backbone of our work. Without those relationships, wihtout the strong partnership and trust that we have built over the years here, our work is impossible.
Most unfortunately, soon after I announced my departure, another senior staff person announced her desire to either shift her position to be 50% time in the US, or to leave. I had been counting on her presence to help oversee the transition of my departure, and faced with neither of us being here, it certainly does give me pause about leaving before any of the new staff have really had a chance to even begin building those crucial relationships. So, I am considering the possibility of extending for a few months, possibly until the end of October.
My friends here are urging me to negotiate for this extra time - to ask for a pay increase, or additional paid leave, or perhaps a shipping allowance in compensation for those additional months. Let's just say that although I was initially put off by this suggestions, I am now considering which is the most appropriate request. I'm leaving towards a shipping allowance. There isn't much that I would like to take home with me, but there are two nice chairs, some art, and some hand thrown table settings that I'm rather fond of. As as my investigations into shipping are revealing prices higher than I initially supposed, a little help to keep these treasures seems appealing.
At any rate, that still doesn't answer the question of whether I want to stay at all. Having already mentally begun the transition process, I am eager to begin planning my next step, and loathe to draw out the process even longer. There are so many days when I don't even want to spend another day here that I can't imagine additional entire months. Then I think that it would be nice to experience what it is like working in an organization with a full staff complement, and that it would be a shame to leave as soon as that achieved, rather, it might be nice to stay and enjoy it for a little while before going.
I need to decide soon, but at the moment, I really don't know what to do.
Most unfortunately, soon after I announced my departure, another senior staff person announced her desire to either shift her position to be 50% time in the US, or to leave. I had been counting on her presence to help oversee the transition of my departure, and faced with neither of us being here, it certainly does give me pause about leaving before any of the new staff have really had a chance to even begin building those crucial relationships. So, I am considering the possibility of extending for a few months, possibly until the end of October.
My friends here are urging me to negotiate for this extra time - to ask for a pay increase, or additional paid leave, or perhaps a shipping allowance in compensation for those additional months. Let's just say that although I was initially put off by this suggestions, I am now considering which is the most appropriate request. I'm leaving towards a shipping allowance. There isn't much that I would like to take home with me, but there are two nice chairs, some art, and some hand thrown table settings that I'm rather fond of. As as my investigations into shipping are revealing prices higher than I initially supposed, a little help to keep these treasures seems appealing.
At any rate, that still doesn't answer the question of whether I want to stay at all. Having already mentally begun the transition process, I am eager to begin planning my next step, and loathe to draw out the process even longer. There are so many days when I don't even want to spend another day here that I can't imagine additional entire months. Then I think that it would be nice to experience what it is like working in an organization with a full staff complement, and that it would be a shame to leave as soon as that achieved, rather, it might be nice to stay and enjoy it for a little while before going.
I need to decide soon, but at the moment, I really don't know what to do.
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