We need some “Blue Sky Thinking” to shake things up.
The Company needs some “Out of the Box” Idea’s
I’ve been telling StickHusband this for awhile now…he’s been with the same company for nearly 18 years and IMO, they’re screwing him over. But he likes his job (most of the time) and he’s afraid in this market he wouldn’t be able to find another one that pays as much as his current one does.
Uh-oh. I hope you weren’t referring to my post:
I wasn’t saying that’s true, I was saying that (at least in my opinion), it’s a huge myth. My point was, no, you can’t expect that you’ll stay at the same job for your whole life, but neither should you look a gift horse in the mouth if you’re lucky enough to find a place that will keep you for 18 years. Because this is also a myth:
It’s my understanding that in general, changing jobs increases your salary much more than staying put and getting raises. And having years of experience can be a benefit. But - it can also be a problem. If you’ve been diligently keeping up with all the advances in technology in your industry, and can show that your knowledge is as current as someone fresh out of school, you’ve got a shot. But if you’ve been too busy doing your actual work with the outdated technology your company uses, then you may actually be worse off. You’ll be demanding a salary commensurate with your experience, but your skills will be on par with or even below those of recent grads.
And of course, in the current economy, employees are the beggars, not the choosers. It’s a huge risk to try to start over in a new position. Even if you find the new job before leaving your old one, you also have do well enough in the new one that they want to keep you. In your current job, at least you have a proven track record. And if you’re just looking for one that pays the same as you current job, as your husband says, then there’s absolutely no point.
But most importantly, if he’s making enough money, and he’s happy with his job most of the time, why why fuck around? This is why I consider this a huge myth. Sure, you might be able to make more money somewhere else, but if you have *enough *- if you’re paying your bills and able to enjoy life and your retirement situation looks good - what’s the point? You don’t always have to be making the maximum amount possible. In my opinion, being happy and relatively secure in a job is worth a great deal. I’ve got that right now, and I feel incredibly lucky, and it would take a huge amount of money - far more than I’m actually worth - to give that up.
Ethirist:
To be fair, this is sometimes true. It was true with me, re: my current job.
“Oh we don’t play politics here”. Bullshit. Biggest bunch of backstabbing assholes I’ve ever had the pleasure to leave.
If you see a trainwreck approaching, and you can support why it’s a concern, what the fallout will be, and how this will ultimately impact negatively the employees and the customers…tell management. Present your case. They will listen and intervene appropriately! On the off chance they ignore you, they will come back and apologize and say “because you were right, we won’t make you clean up the mess!”
If they feel the need to talk about that specifically, I agree that it is probably an issue there. Most companies don’t feel the need to announce that - they just do it. Well, they don’t play politics any more than the usual.
I’ll take a different tack here - there is a common, pervasive myth that employers have all the power, and employees have none. Employers need employees, even in tough economic times. If no one makes your widgets, you won’t have any widgets to sell.
You made me think of another one - the myth that companies and supervisors welcome new ideas and new ways of doing things to make things run better and more smoothly.
“Dress for the job you want.” Had a boss tell me that once. I said ok, tomorrow I’m dressing like an airline pilot.
“We want passionate company advocates who aren’t afraid to propose controversial new ideas or speak up when they have concerns…”
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
“We hire leaders!”
Who then act as followers just like 99.99% of everyone else who has an office job.
“We want you to shift paradigms, think outside the box, do blue sky thinking”
Have a thousand “collaborative” meetings and create countless PowerPoint decks using the latest buzzwords. And then make a recommendation that you do something outrageously extreme… like changing a color on an ad.
“We value innovation!”
Provided you come up with ideas we’re already in favor of and operate under our 1,000,000 constraints.
“We’re concerned about our employees, job satisfaction, work-life balance, etc.”
We’ve contracted to have an EAP program. Call them and quit your bitching.
“Hard work is it’s own reward.”
“These layoffs and reorganization are difficult for all of us, but it will make us stronger going forward.”
Oh maddy…where were you 8 months ago to warn me of all this!!!
“nobody is forced to participate in the sunshine fund and activities”
(but we will judge you as a miserable anti-team player if you do not.)
“That’s illegal in this state and at least four others not to mention it being completely inappropriate at work, and now I’m going to have to get a new chair, thanks pal”
Best Steven Wright impression I’ve heard all year!
“This restructuring is to leverage our resources. It is not a layoff exercise.”
That usually goes along with the bullshit they spew when explaining why they’ve brought in a consultant and why they need employees to list their roles and responsibilites.
“You’re doing so well in this position, I hate to move you to anything else.”
For me it meant I’d done so well that it was easier to leave me stuck in the same spot indefinitely than let me advance to something else and train somebody new to do what I was doing. Then leave me there for so long and demand so much more production out of me that I suffer from such extreme job burnout that I have a nervous breakdown, find another job and quit, thereby losing a good employee AND having to train somebody else how to do my old job anyway, which is what they didn’t want to do in the first place…
“Don’t dip your pen in the company ink.”
Coworkers hook up all the time. Theoretically, you will be working so much the only place you could even meet a wife is at work.
Of course theoretically, you’re not supposed to have a life.
This reorganization will streamline the Department and make it easier to serve the public.