Professional Darwinism: Update to OP on p.74

[Slartibartfast]

I was looking for some restaurants for dinner the other day and stumbled across this page on Urbanspoon

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/760185/restaurant/Melbourne/Beluccis-Albert-Park

BG - This restaurant is close to where I live and boasts an enviable position right opposite the beach with an uninterrupted view. However we always referred to this place, Belluci's, as the 'Ghost Restaurant' because even on a beautiful Saturday afternoon when all the other places within walking distance were packed and struggling to keep up with demand, Belluci's would be completely empty. Occasionally you would see a bored looking bartender polishing some glasses, but in all the times I drove past the place, I never saw a single customer inside the restaurant. - End BG

Two people posted poor reviews on Urbanspoon, and the owner of the restaurant came back with a spectacular vitriolic tirade against both, ending with the phrase 'We've been here since 1977 and we don't need customers like you' (read the whole thing at the link above)

Three months later the restaurant was out of business. Professional Darwinism at it's finest (although I do feel entirely sorry for the couple who booked their wedding reception there and had to find a new venue at short notice)

Oh wow, the owner's post was horrible.   It's easy to sympathize with business owners who receive maliciously bad reviews, but it doesn't seem to be the case here.  The business owner seems to think people should feel "honoured" to be her customer and abide by her concepts of what is right or wrong.    I hope she has found work in an industry to which she is better suited - not hospitality!!

I'm going to think of his "the costumer is not always right!" every time I see a play with strange costume design now

[Ceallach]

I'm going to think of his "the costumer is not always right!" every time I see a play with strange costume design now

Hehehe!   Reminds me of a job application I received which said "I am holding the diplomat of social services" .... had he worded that phrase any other way, the typo of the extra "T" would have been nowhere near as awesome.  As it was, I felt as though I should be reporting a potential terrorist threat rather than ticking him off as having a relevant qualification.

[JonGirl]

I've got another one from the pharmaceutical industry for you -

Now I work for a company that makes a powerful prescription tranquilizer.  A few weeks ago an employee at the facility that makes said tranquilizer was fired and arrested for murdering her husband with a large dose of said tranquilizer.

You win. 

[WolfWay]

One from the "do as I say, not as I do" file:

If you're the specialist on ethics (basically overseeing ethical business practices in the business), don't have an affair with your pretty young Personal Assistant.

(for the record, they didn't fire him, but they did refuse to let him ever have another personal assistant). It's fun to have it explained to you that the head of the ethics committee isn't allowed to have a PA because he slept with the last one he had.
 

[weeblewobble]

I've got another one from the pharmaceutical industry for you -

Now I work for a company that makes a powerful prescription tranquilizer.  A few weeks ago an employee at the facility that makes said tranquilizer was fired and arrested for murdering her husband with a large dose of said tranquilizer.

You win. 

So taking your work home with you IS bad for your marriage.

[Hollanda]

There is a woman on our team who won't work. She sits there at her desk and makes 3 reports take several hours. A straightforward report in her team takes 5 minutes. On my more specialised team a report can take half an hour or longer. Management are aware, I know this. She is known to go off sick if she doesn't like whatever she's been asked to do. She lies and has been caught out by management, this I have only just found out. If this isn't PD, I dunno what is. She does no filing or housekeeping and reports have been lost. I now have to train her in my job...I will do it, but I want her nowhere near my work when I'm off. Oddly my bosses have intimated to me that she is not to do my job!!!

She's a nightmare and getting worse.

[Clareish]

There is a woman on our team who won't work. She sits there at her desk and makes 3 reports take several hours. A straightforward report in her team takes 5 minutes. On my more specialised team a report can take half an hour or longer. Management are aware, I know this. She is known to go off sick if she doesn't like whatever she's been asked to do. She lies and has been caught out by management, this I have only just found out. If this isn't PD, I dunno what is. She does no filing or housekeeping and reports have been lost. I now have to train her in my job...I will do it, but I want her nowhere near my work when I'm off. Oddly my bosses have intimated to me that she is not to do my job!!!

She's a nightmare and getting worse.

And yet, this is the worker that, when eventually fired or "let go", will complain and cry and be completely astonished after everything they've done for the company!

Why is this such a trend that the worst workers are always the most shocked at the results of their actions?

[exitzero]

There is a woman on our team who won't work. She sits there at her desk and makes 3 reports take several hours. A straightforward report in her team takes 5 minutes. On my more specialised team a report can take half an hour or longer. Management are aware, I know this. She is known to go off sick if she doesn't like whatever she's been asked to do. She lies and has been caught out by management, this I have only just found out. If this isn't PD, I dunno what is. She does no filing or housekeeping and reports have been lost. I now have to train her in my job...I will do it, but I want her nowhere near my work when I'm off. Oddly my bosses have intimated to me that she is not to do my job!!!

She's a nightmare and getting worse.

I think she works at my office. But if you complain, you are told not to worry, she is getting very close to being fired. How long has she been close to being fired?

Fourteen years.

[blue2000]

There is a woman on our team who won't work. She sits there at her desk and makes 3 reports take several hours. A straightforward report in her team takes 5 minutes. On my more specialised team a report can take half an hour or longer. Management are aware, I know this. She is known to go off sick if she doesn't like whatever she's been asked to do. She lies and has been caught out by management, this I have only just found out. If this isn't PD, I dunno what is. She does no filing or housekeeping and reports have been lost. I now have to train her in my job...I will do it, but I want her nowhere near my work when I'm off. Oddly my bosses have intimated to me that she is not to do my job!!!

She's a nightmare and getting worse.

And yet, this is the worker that, when eventually fired or "let go", will complain and cry and be completely astonished after everything they've done for the company!

Why is this such a trend that the worst workers are always the most shocked at the results of their actions?

I think you really do have to be a bit delusional to be like that. Most people who cannot or will not work will quit. They don't get surprised when management helps them out the door. Delusional people will make excuses as to why they aren't working, or why people don't like them.

One person I used to work with was so proud of her performance, she would boast "I did X today!!" Never mind that the woman she was working with did XYZJ and C in the same amount of time. That didn't count. X was what counted!

[rose red]

At one job, we have 6 weeks of training when hired.  One guy kept missing class without even a phone call.  It happened so often we thought he quit.  On the day of "graduation" he comes waltzing in and the surprised instructor told him to see his supervisor.  Then we all went out for our celebration lunch and when we came back, he was never seen or heard from again.

[Hollanda]

Work is up and down now. Mainly due to cancelled operations. When it is slack in our dept the normal thing to do.is offer services to another team. If no work there, filing always needs to be done. Housekeeping of desk can be done. Get files in order. Check phone numbers of frequently used contacts. Take archive files down to archive. Stock check stationery to help admin manager. There is the work if you want it!! It's not all typing, far from it. I spend most my time taking notes to clinics, chasing up specimens etc...admittedly not part of my job but need doing! Sitting around is boring!!!!!! Being off sick to.me is frustrating...but this one is pretty entitled. "That is not my job"....well...it is now. Jobs are few and far between. Grrr her attitude confuses me.

[magician5]

I was looking for some restaurants for dinner the other day and stumbled across this page on Urbanspoon

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/71/760185/restaurant/Melbourne/Beluccis-Albert-Park

BG - This restaurant is close to where I live and boasts an enviable position right opposite the beach with an uninterrupted view. However we always referred to this place, Belluci's, as the 'Ghost Restaurant' because even on a beautiful Saturday afternoon when all the other places within walking distance were packed and struggling to keep up with demand, Belluci's would be completely empty. Occasionally you would see a bored looking bartender polishing some glasses, but in all the times I drove past the place, I never saw a single customer inside the restaurant. - End BG

Two people posted poor reviews on Urbanspoon, and the owner of the restaurant came back with a spectacular vitriolic tirade against both, ending with the phrase 'We've been here since 1977 and we don't need customers like you' (read the whole thing at the link above)

Three months later the restaurant was out of business. Professional Darwinism at it's finest (although I do feel entirely sorry for the couple who booked their wedding reception there and had to find a new venue at short notice)

Just yesterday In was reading a book of essays on how to choose a decent restaurant in a strange city. The author made a major point: "Never eat in an empty restaurant. All the people who aren't there know something you don't know."

[MissRose]

I've mentioned in the Work section about the new schedules (that are now on hold) done by a combination of overall productivity and on time attendance plus seniority.  The attendance on time counts for A LOT of the ranking.  Some people are committing PD regarding the on time rules: be on available right at your scheduled START time not 5 minutes past it cause you needed a cup of coffee or other reasons, return from your scheduled break and/or lunch ON time not a few minutes past it, and if you have something to do or happens not on the schedule to send a quick email with the reason why so it doesn't count against your attendance statistics.  I did not think those things were so difficult to do but apparently it is for many in my work group.  I wish there was a crackdown on those rules and real enforcement.

[Wulfie]

One of our staff members has a true case of PD if there ever was one.  She is still within her 90 day probation to boot! I don’t see much of a future for her.

Some of this came out after the manager for the other location noticed that she showed up late one day.  She is supposed to be there an hour before the manager but the manager saw her drive up 5 minutes before he was supposed to start. He asked her why she didn’t call to let him know she was going to be late, rather than making some excuse on why she was an hour late showing up, she said nothing and walked away, which made him curious! He went back on the security cameras and low and behold, she has been an hour late every week for the last month but still puts a full 8 hours on her timesheet.

She works at 2 locations. My location (A) and Location B. One day a week she splits between the two buildings. They are about a 5-10 minute drive apart. She leaves my building at Noon and should be at B by 12:15 at the latest. She rarely is there before 12:45. THEN she takes her 30 minute lunch!

Then to top it off, she is not doing her job. She is a janitor and is constantly refusing to do anything that is dirty. Sorry but scrubbing toilets and empting garbage is part of your job.  You knew it when you took the job.

Today, I gave her a list of things that needed to be done.  There were 3 things on the list.

1)   Sweep and mop the lobby and community rooms.  The lobby was swept and mopped. Community room? Nope!
2)   Clean the graffiti and spit off of the stairwell by the outside door. – Nope.
3)   Clean some half eaten food out of the window well across from one apartment- Nope.

When I asked her if everything was done (after I had already checked) She told me that she had done so. When I told her that I had checked and they had not been done, she told me that I am being too demanding and she doesn’t want to work in my building any more.  Hmm, I want you to do your job and that is being too demanding?

Didn't take long! She was let go today! Is it bad to say that I am not sorry to see the last of her?

[PeterM]

I've got another one from the pharmaceutical industry for you -

Now I work for a company that makes a powerful prescription tranquilizer.  A few weeks ago an employee at the facility that makes said tranquilizer was fired and arrested for murdering her husband with a large dose of said tranquilizer.

See, I think this sends the wrong message. Companies should encourage employees to use their products. Now the next time one of your company's employees decides to murder someone, they'll use a gun or knife or even - gods forbid - a drug from a competing company! No one wins when employees aren't encouraged to take pride in their products.