Professional Darwinism: Update to OP on p.74

[siamesecat2965]

Alright, I think it's time to share the ridiculousness of my previous job... I'll be quite surprised if this company's East Coast office lasts another year. The treat it like a red-headed stepchild.

The Company is a medium-sized "digital agency" (from web design/development/hosting to SEO and marketing campaigns online). Their main clients are ministry clients and are a very religious agency. I have heard the CFO/head salesman start client meetings with prayers before. The CEO started this company in his early 20's, basically he has never held a job where he was an underling, he has no idea what it's like to be an employee. The headquarters is on the West Coast and the office I worked in was a satellite on the East Coast. HQ had approximately 30-40 people working there, East coast had under 10 people (by the time I left, there were 3 full-time people - including me - and 1 part-time guy who came in about once a week).

There are so many stories of this place I can tell, but for now I'm going to tell me favorite: The Christmas Raffle.

The week before Christmas we have our monthly all-company meeting. For these, we're allowed to buy lunch for the office (get reimbursed for it) and take a longer lunch together. After lunch, we all (3 of us working full-time there at this point) log back on and start working again. To communicate with each other during the day, we G-Chat with each other. After an hour or so we notice status updates from the West Coast Office along the lines of "Merry Christmas to me from Company! I just got an iPad!", "Thanks Company for the Amazon Gift Card!", etc. We on the East Coast as very confused.

To make a long story short, the CEO decided to host a raffle to boost employee morale. He includes new iPads, a Kindle Fire, and a plethora of high $$ gift cards to Apple, Amazon, etc. All employees names were put into a hat and drawn every hour or so.

Every employee except the East Coast employees.

Apparently, out of sight, out of mind.

We contact our West Coast office liaison (who's actually only in the office once a month) and complain. Seriously, how hard would it have been to toss 4 names in the raffle and mail our presents out to us? She was out of the office and didn't know about the raffle. She immediately jumps down the CEO's neck and he says he'll "make it up to us".

Next week I receive a card in the mail. I was the raffle winner! And what did I win? A $10 Starbucks gift card.

Wow. Way to make ALL the staff feel valued! Glad to hear its a prior job! 

[siamesecat2965]

Reminds me of a former boss. One year for Secretary's Day, he gave the secretaries- and all the non-clinical staff- a nice package of gifts that would be valued at over $100 apiece. The clinical staff got nothing, because 'there's no Clinician's Day'.  He just couldn't see how it would affect morale among the clinicians not to get anything while the non-clinical staff were running around excited with their gift bags.

I don't get bosses like this.  I'm guessing the clinical staff also helped keep things running smoothly, etc. and to leave them out like that is just wrong.  my former employer, a law firm used to give all employees a gift on Secretary's Day, not just the admin staff. Everyone from the attorneys down to the mailroom staff.  Nothing fancy; one year it was a pair of movie tickets, and another, a small box of gourmet muffins, but at least they treated everyone the same, and the card that went out to each employee said as much.

[TurtleDove]

After 9/11 my law firm office was brainstorming ways to prepare in case our highrise was attacked (downtown in major US city, though not MAJOR city and not one attacked).  An all employee meeting was held, and our office manager demonstrated for us a method of sawing through the window and parachuting out to safety (which is absurd for a variety of reasons) and then one of the named parthers explained that "each lawyer would get a parachute."  Apparently we were supposed to just hold on to our support staff or go tandem or something? 

We didn't end up going with the parachute plan. 

[BB-VA]

Reminds me of a former boss. One year for Secretary's Day, he gave the secretaries- and all the non-clinical staff- a nice package of gifts that would be valued at over $100 apiece. The clinical staff got nothing, because 'there's no Clinician's Day'.  He just couldn't see how it would affect morale among the clinicians not to get anything while the non-clinical staff were running around excited with their gift bags.

I don't get bosses like this.  I'm guessing the clinical staff also helped keep things running smoothly, etc. and to leave them out like that is just wrong.  my former employer, a law firm used to give all employees a gift on Secretary's Day, not just the admin staff. Everyone from the attorneys down to the mailroom staff.  Nothing fancy; one year it was a pair of movie tickets, and another, a small box of gourmet muffins, but at least they treated everyone the same, and the card that went out to each employee said as much.

Who got paid more?   

One of the reasons for Administrative Professionals Day is for employers to show appreciation to their support staff who are usually not paid as well, but work just as hard to keep the company going.

I am not saying the boss was right - in fact, I think it was downright rude to leave the clinicians out.   It should have been everybody or nobody.

I have been an adminstrative professional all my career.  I received exactly one house plant over all 35+ years in celebration of the day.   So, maybe I am a tad cynical about the whole thing.  In fact, I am one of those who believe in only 3 holidays - Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  All the others are Hallmark (or insert your choice of company) Holidays and exist only to profit others.

[NyaChan]

After 9/11 my law firm office was brainstorming ways to prepare in case our highrise was attacked (downtown in major US city, though not MAJOR city and not one attacked).  An all employee meeting was held, and our office manager demonstrated for us a method of sawing through the window and parachuting out to safety (which is absurd for a variety of reasons) and then one of the named parthers explained that "each lawyer would get a parachute."  Apparently we were supposed to just hold on to our support staff or go tandem or something? 

We didn't end up going with the parachute plan.

And I just burst out into laughter in a relatively quiet public lounge   Totally worth the "What is wrong with her?" looks

[Sirius]

I know how that can be.  My boss was going to take the people working on our account who work at the office.  But what happened was that the lead MT asked one of the others on our account who works at home to cover while they were at lunch - a person who lived less than 10 minutes away and who could have joined them in person easily.  The person who lived close by got quite upset because it seemed to her that the boss had "forgotten" that she lived only 10 minutes away and she said she felt like the only one not invited to a party. 

I think they should have asked me to cover, since I'm in Oregon and the office is in Ohio, and given the people who work at home close by the option of joining them.   

[Iris]

Reminds me of a former boss. One year for Secretary's Day, he gave the secretaries- and all the non-clinical staff- a nice package of gifts that would be valued at over $100 apiece. The clinical staff got nothing, because 'there's no Clinician's Day'.  He just couldn't see how it would affect morale among the clinicians not to get anything while the non-clinical staff were running around excited with their gift bags.

I don't get bosses like this.  I'm guessing the clinical staff also helped keep things running smoothly, etc. and to leave them out like that is just wrong.  my former employer, a law firm used to give all employees a gift on Secretary's Day, not just the admin staff. Everyone from the attorneys down to the mailroom staff.  Nothing fancy; one year it was a pair of movie tickets, and another, a small box of gourmet muffins, but at least they treated everyone the same, and the card that went out to each employee said as much.

See, I'm a bit with BB-VA on this one. Depending on the job there are people whose work is vital to the company who are rewarded by being paid a lot of money - that's how it is shown that they are appreciated. Admin staff are typically lower paid and (at times) underappreciated. Of course this would have to be taken on a case by case basis because there are many cases where the mainline workers are JUST as underappreciated.

I know when I worked corporate I would have had no problems with the admin staff getting a present on Secretary's day (not really done over here, though). They made half what I made (and I was very junior) but did work hard and do the tedious or unpleasant jobs which meant that I didn't have to do them. Similarly now that I'm a teacher I personally bought a box of chocolates for the photocopy lady last year because she did my photocopying for me, better than I could ever do it, covered rough jobs in an emergency, occasionally had to put up with unpleasant working conditions, and is paid considerably less than me.

As I said it's a case-by-case basis but I don't necessarily think that the idea of rewarding PART of the workforce is necessarily always a bad one.

[Winterlight]

After 9/11 my law firm office was brainstorming ways to prepare in case our highrise was attacked (downtown in major US city, though not MAJOR city and not one attacked).  An all employee meeting was held, and our office manager demonstrated for us a method of sawing through the window and parachuting out to safety (which is absurd for a variety of reasons) and then one of the named parthers explained that "each lawyer would get a parachute."  Apparently we were supposed to just hold on to our support staff or go tandem or something? 

We didn't end up going with the parachute plan.

Wow, that sounds like a horrible, horrible idea. BASE jumping is not for novices, and from what I can tell this would not have worked on 9/11 anyway, between the smoke, turbulence and wind shear. Not to mention the explosions.

[exitzero]

After 9/11 my law firm office was brainstorming ways to prepare in case our highrise was attacked (downtown in major US city, though not MAJOR city and not one attacked).  An all employee meeting was held, and our office manager demonstrated for us a method of sawing through the window and parachuting out to safety (which is absurd for a variety of reasons) and then one of the named parthers explained that "each lawyer would get a parachute."  Apparently we were supposed to just hold on to our support staff or go tandem or something? 

We didn't end up going with the parachute plan.

Our office disaster plan was to have all of management stay home, and the support staff come in and make sure everyone was notified and everything was set up to run with remote staff. The uppers were SHOCKED when it was pointed out by the support staff that if a disaster was bad enough to keep management home, they weren't coming in either! It never occurred to them.

[Jocelyn]

Reminds me of a former boss. One year for Secretary's Day, he gave the secretaries- and all the non-clinical staff- a nice package of gifts that would be valued at over $100 apiece. The clinical staff got nothing, because 'there's no Clinician's Day'.  He just couldn't see how it would affect morale among the clinicians not to get anything while the non-clinical staff were running around excited with their gift bags.

I don't get bosses like this.  I'm guessing the clinical staff also helped keep things running smoothly, etc. and to leave them out like that is just wrong.  my former employer, a law firm used to give all employees a gift on Secretary's Day, not just the admin staff. Everyone from the attorneys down to the mailroom staff.  Nothing fancy; one year it was a pair of movie tickets, and another, a small box of gourmet muffins, but at least they treated everyone the same, and the card that went out to each employee said as much.

Who got paid more?   

One of the reasons for Administrative Professionals Day is for employers to show appreciation to their support staff who are usually not paid as well, but work just as hard to keep the company going.

I am not saying the boss was right - in fact, I think it was downright rude to leave the clinicians out.   It should have been everybody or nobody.

I have been an adminstrative professional all my career.  I received exactly one house plant over all 35+ years in celebration of the day.   So, maybe I am a tad cynical about the whole thing.  In fact, I am one of those who believe in only 3 holidays - Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  All the others are Hallmark (or insert your choice of company) Holidays and exist only to profit others.

Yes, we were paid more- but then, we were not eligible for overtime. So we could be required to work a 10
 hour day, then get called out during the night for 4-6 hours, and then have to report to work for another 10 hour day the next day. We got paid for weekend call- $1 an hour.  The clinicians had had to obtain higher education, and most of us were paying off student loans. We had to pay for our own licenses, and for most of the continuing education that was required to maintain the license (including travel, hotels and meals out when we went to a workshop).  So while we got paid more, most of that money went for expenses associated with the job.
But I really don't see how it's a matter of etiquette or good business sense to justify thanking some employees for their services, and telling others that they won't be thanked because there's not a Hallmark holiday for their job classification.

[nutraxfornerves]

I was always an early-bird. On the first day after my promotion to a management job, I arrived at 7:30 AM to find that the building was closed due to a burst pipe. Staff was being told to "contact your manager" for information. Swell. I'm a manger and I have no idea what to do. Nor did any of the other managers hanging around.

Fortunately, the guy turning away employees knew me. I talked him into letting me into the building so I could retrieve my employee contact list. There was about a foot of water (35 cm) on the floor and it was actually raining in the offices. I got my list and retreated. I found out later how lucky I was--some high voltage lines had gotten loose and were discharging into the water.

I was able to get to an annex building where I commandeered a phone and tried to reach as many people as possible to say "don't come in" because that was all I could do.

I never forgot "contact your manager," as if managers were supposed to have actually been trained in Plans A, B, and C.

[iridaceae]

I have worked a lot of graveyard shifts and I can tell you that they tend to be ignored. At one job Employee of the Month didn't have a graveyard winner for 5 years. Management neither noticed or cared. And they wondered why morale was terrible for graveyard workers. [For those wondering why the workers never complained: they stopped after repeatedly being blown off.]

[Elfmama]

After 9/11 my law firm office was brainstorming ways to prepare in case our highrise was attacked (downtown in major US city, though not MAJOR city and not one attacked).  An all employee meeting was held, and our office manager demonstrated for us a method of sawing through the window and parachuting out to safety (which is absurd for a variety of reasons) and then one of the named parthers explained that "each lawyer would get a parachute."  Apparently we were supposed to just hold on to our support staff or go tandem or something? 

We didn't end up going with the parachute plan.

Our office disaster plan was to have all of management stay home, and the support staff come in and make sure everyone was notified and everything was set up to run with remote staff. The uppers were SHOCKED when it was pointed out by the support staff that if a disaster was bad enough to keep management home, they weren't coming in either! It never occurred to them.

They're in good company.  If the US came under nuclear attack, the population of affected cities was supposed to evacuate to certain areas  pre-selected by Congressional committee.  The area where you were to evacuate would be sent to you by US mail after the attack happened. 

[Zenith]

After 9/11 my law firm office was brainstorming ways to prepare in case our highrise was attacked (downtown in major US city, though not MAJOR city and not one attacked).  An all employee meeting was held, and our office manager demonstrated for us a method of sawing through the window and parachuting out to safety (which is absurd for a variety of reasons) and then one of the named parthers explained that "each lawyer would get a parachute."  Apparently we were supposed to just hold on to our support staff or go tandem or something? 

We didn't end up going with the parachute plan.

Guess they didn't want to end up as a Darwin Award eh? I would have lost it laughing in the meeting.

[Sirius]

At least the school district Mr. Sirius works for has a system where school closures, etc. are announced on the radio, and if the entire district is closed the drivers don't have to report.  There was one year when the roads got extremely icy, and rather than call school out for the day or even do a late start a supervisor who had never been a bus driver herself (so how she ended up supervising bus drivers is anyone's guess) insisted that the bus drivers come in and have business as usual.  One of the earlier buses, which had to go to a high elevation, slid into a ditch (no students on board).  She was all set to go out and chew the driver out, and as she drove up she also slid into the ditch.  The school district was closed for the day, and that supervisor was soon transferred.  Now the supervisors are all former drivers who have the drivers' and the students' welfare in mind first and foremost.

Although Mr. Sirius told me this morning that a trip he'd taken to pick up a preschooler could have gotten quite interesting, as the directions he'd been given called for him to take an off-ramp off the freeway that didn't actually exist yet (under construction).