Professional Darwinism: Update to OP on p.74

[MrTango]

New Coworker got a job that used materials that would normally have Process A performed on them, but was a bit unusual and in fact required Process B to be used. This was noted on the tag. She did not read the tag and started off blithely with Process A. Our supervisor had to charge across the room yelping "NO NO NO NO NO STOP!" to get to her before she'd totally burked the whole thing up.

I know disciplining an employee is something that's supposed to be done in private, but as the supervisor, I'd make an example of this employee.  I'd make her stand there and explain to me why she was doing what she was doing in front of everyone who happened to be there.  Then I'd send her to HR to collect her final paycheck.

[Winterlight]

Maybe regular Darwinism, not just PD? This picture was taken outside my office today. OSHA has been emailed a copy with date and address. Will let you know if any updates are noticed.

EEEKK!!

[greencat]

Two of my coworkers appear to be heading for PD.  They are deliberately not doing part of their job, to the point where they told me as a new employee that they were intentionally not doing it because they expected that some of the other employees would pick up the slack, and as a result, they are not retaining some of the skills they need to do other parts of their job properly.  They tend to end up floundering when they have to do some of the more complicated tasks.  Not to mention, the burden of actually completing that part of the job has ended up falling on myself and another employee.  We're currently trying to work out how best to approach this to management, since the two of us that are doing all the work are two of the newest employees and the two who are slacking are two of the more senior employees.  I'm probably going to spend part of my lunch break making pie charts one day soon.  One of the two PD employees also frequently chooses to take her afternoon break at the worst possible time, causing our staffing level to drop below the minimum needed for the fifteen-twenty minutes she's usually gone.  These two employees are also almost always the last ones in the door in the morning.

[Diane AKA Traska]

Two of my coworkers appear to be heading for PD.  They are deliberately not doing part of their job, to the point where they told me as a new employee that they were intentionally not doing it because they expected that some of the other employees would pick up the slack, and as a result, they are not retaining some of the skills they need to do other parts of their job properly.  They tend to end up floundering when they have to do some of the more complicated tasks.  Not to mention, the burden of actually completing that part of the job has ended up falling on myself and another employee.  We're currently trying to work out how best to approach this to management, since the two of us that are doing all the work are two of the newest employees and the two who are slacking are two of the more senior employees.  I'm probably going to spend part of my lunch break making pie charts one day soon.  One of the two PD employees also frequently chooses to take her afternoon break at the worst possible time, causing our staffing level to drop below the minimum needed for the fifteen-twenty minutes she's usually gone.  These two employees are also almost always the last ones in the door in the morning.

I don't suppose it would be advisable to slip up slightly on the work they should be doing.  Just enough to make the higher-ups notice.  They get confronted, and either they're incompetent or they're slacking.

[Mel the Redcap]

Two of my coworkers appear to be heading for PD.  They are deliberately not doing part of their job, to the point where they told me as a new employee that they were intentionally not doing it because they expected that some of the other employees would pick up the slack, ((snip))

I don't suppose it would be advisable to slip up slightly on the work they should be doing.  Just enough to make the higher-ups notice.  They get confronted, and either they're incompetent or they're slacking.

My suggestion: wait until they're out on break, then go ask a supervisor an 'innocent' question about the job. See, Slacker A and Slacker B passed this job to you and you're not quite sure about this detail, but they're not around to ask right now... 

[Mel the Redcap]

New Coworker got a job that used materials that would normally have Process A performed on them, but was a bit unusual and in fact required Process B to be used. This was noted on the tag. She did not read the tag and started off blithely with Process A. Our supervisor had to charge across the room yelping "NO NO NO NO NO STOP!" to get to her before she'd totally burked the whole thing up.

I know disciplining an employee is something that's supposed to be done in private, but as the supervisor, I'd make an example of this employee.  I'd make her stand there and explain to me why she was doing what she was doing in front of everyone who happened to be there.  Then I'd send her to HR to collect her final paycheck.

Our supervisor is a very nice woman. She corrects and points out mistakes as soon as they're found, but she does it politely, and I guess New Coworker doesn't get that she's serious. Methinks she needs to have a sit-down "this-will-get-you-fired-if-you-don't-straighten-out" talk with New Coworker. Soon.

Today's update!

1) New Coworker continues to not follow instructions, do things in the wrong order, and 'fix' things that don't need to be fixed. Every time she gets corrected on something, her 'excuse' is either "That's how I've always done it" (well it's not how you're meant to do it NOW) or "Oh, I'm too lazy to do it that way". NOT a good thing to say to your BOSS.

2) Today, New Coworker removed a small and apparently insignificant item from her machine and put it in a random location. This small and apparently insignificant item is actually necessary; without it, her machine will misbehave. I found it, and asked our supervisor what it was (luckily, since I had no idea and my first impulse was to throw it away - my machine is newer and uses something different for the same purpose). Supervisor went *blink*blink*, checked New Coworker's machine, and discovered that not only was it indeed her small-insignificant-part, she'd put some other items in an unapproved location where they were likely to interfere with the machine's proper operation. (Sorry for the vagueness there, but I'm a tad paranoid about identifying details! )

When New Coworker returned from lunch, Supervisor pointed out the small-insignificant-part and the things-in-bad-location. New Coworker's response? "Oh, I didn't do that. I wouldn't put those there. It wasn't me."

Nobody else uses that machine. Nobody else touches that machine. Apparently we have workroom fairies moving things. Supervisor is now getting kinda ticked off!

[Outdoor Girl]

Two of my coworkers appear to be heading for PD.  They are deliberately not doing part of their job, to the point where they told me as a new employee that they were intentionally not doing it because they expected that some of the other employees would pick up the slack, ((snip))

My suggestion: wait until they're out on break, then go ask a supervisor an 'innocent' question about the job. See, Slacker A and Slacker B passed this job to you and you're not quite sure about this detail, but they're not around to ask right now... 

I think this would work.

[Mental Magpie]

Two of my coworkers appear to be heading for PD.  They are deliberately not doing part of their job, to the point where they told me as a new employee that they were intentionally not doing it because they expected that some of the other employees would pick up the slack, ((snip))

My suggestion: wait until they're out on break, then go ask a supervisor an 'innocent' question about the job. See, Slacker A and Slacker B passed this job to you and you're not quite sure about this detail, but they're not around to ask right now... 

I think this would work.

I agree.

[greencat]

Update to my story above:

Today, our management took some notice of the problem.  Heads did not roll, but there was a meeting in which those of us doing all the work got praised for it and the ones not pulling their weight got smacked down, especially when they tried to defend themselves with circular logic - basically, "the good employees are doing all the work, so there is none left for us to do, so we shouldn't have to try and do any of it."  The boss was having none of that.  Then the worst offender had the audacity after he left to start lecturing at all of us to the tune of "no one should be tattling" and I ended up having to cut her off with the idea that, in fact, bringing up workflow problems to the management was professional, and trying to act like we're children on a playground who should be dealing with our own squabbles was the opposite.  Come to find out, no one had actually brought it to management attention - either he had been reading the not-really private chat exchanges I had with the other coworker doing all the work, or the supervisor overhead the squabbling that occurred this morning when we tried to get the slackers to do part of their job and brought it to the manager's attention.

Oh - and the kicker - the worst offender, the one who lectured the rest of us, took two hours for lunch break today without clearing it with management ahead of time or even calling to say that she was delayed returning.  The supervisor had to call her to find out where she was.

[blue2000]

Oh - and the kicker - the worst offender, the one who lectured the rest of us, took two hours for lunch break today without clearing it with management ahead of time or even calling to say that she was delayed returning.  The supervisor had to call her to find out where she was.

Ooh, ouch. That's NEVER a good thing. 

She's really going for the gold in that smackdown contest, isn't she?

[Carotte]

Update to my story above:
Oh - and the kicker - the worst offender, the one who lectured the rest of us, took two hours for lunch break today without clearing it with management ahead of time or even calling to say that she was delayed returning.  The supervisor had to call her to find out where she was.

Do you think she's so delusional that she thinks she's in the 'good workers' group? So that she thinks she's in a period of grace ('well, I've just been praised on my work ethic, surely I can take a break, they'll be focusing on the bad workers')?

[greencat]

Update to my story above:
Oh - and the kicker - the worst offender, the one who lectured the rest of us, took two hours for lunch break today without clearing it with management ahead of time or even calling to say that she was delayed returning.  The supervisor had to call her to find out where she was.

Do you think she's so delusional that she thinks she's in the 'good workers' group? So that she thinks she's in a period of grace ('well, I've just been praised on my work ethic, surely I can take a break, they'll be focusing on the bad workers')?

Oh, no, the manager ended up having to be very clear when it became obvious that the two not-so-good workers were going to not quite get it.  She knew that she was not in the 'good workers' group.  The lunch break thing was prior to the talk.

[nutraxfornerves]

I thought for sure I had posted this, but it appears I hadn't. It's long, but the end  is a definitely PD.

About 20 years ago, I took an adventure travel trip to Mali, in West Africa. (There have been major social & political changes there since my trip.)  It was with an American tour company that provided a Tour Leader (TL) who was fluent in French, the official language. He had lived & traveled extensively in Mali and was familiar with laws & customs. He also had some very heavy-duty political connections.

The American company contracted with a local tour company for logistics. They provided transport, camping equipment, and a crew. They also provided a fabulous local guide (LG) who spoke English, French, and Bambara, the most common local language. The crew members mainly spoke French and other local languages.

There were about 15 of us clients on the trip, all American and all very experienced with this kind of travel in developing countries.

We had been camping in the bush for a week and were on our way to a large city for a welcome hotel stay. We stopped in a small town to buy gas & stretch our legs. Suddenly there was trouble. A public spirited local citizen had informed a local police officer that one of our group had photographed the police station, something that was illegal and taken very seriously. It was a false charge. LG took over the discussion and the rest of us, including TL, retreated to the bus. TL explained that it was better to have a Malian do the talking.

They went round & round for some time, then LG came on the bus and said that the police officer wanted the film from the supposed photographer (pre-dgital age), so it could be developed to prove we were guilty. The "photographer" was upset--she was afraid of losing some important photos. I had just put a new roll of film in my camera, so TL came up with a plan. The "photographer" took my camera out and dramatically ripped out the film, exposing it to the sun so there was no way of knowing that it was blank.

At that point, the police officer declared that he was taking us all to see his district commandant, who was based in the same big city we were headed for. He and the informant boarded the bus and off we went. We took out cue from TL and stayed quiet & subdued.

It was a two-hour drive and we arrived after dark. We stopped at a police station and the officer got off. He returned to say that the commandant wasn't there & we had to go to another station. When he got off there, TL tuned to us and said "I'm being quiet, because I have to deal with these people again. You don't. It's time for you to get angry." He suggested that we demand the US Ambassador because the law said we had to see him (there was no such law.)

So, when the officer reboarded the bus, we exploded. We said it was an outrage. We demanded the Ambassador. One person demanded that everything be translated, which disconcerted the officer. Someone remembered that I'd complained of heartburn earlier in the day, so he pointed to me and said "This lady is sick, She needs to go to the hotel and lie down." I immediately clutched my stomach and began moaning.

It took a couple more stops to find the commandant, while the riot on the bus continued. Nothing physical, no threats or personal attacks (i.e. we didn't call the officer names or scream obscenities at him), but we were very loud and very angry. Except for me. I was irritatingly whine-y about my "illness."

It turned out the commandant was home having dinner, so that's where we went. The officer, the informant, LG, most of us & a couple of crew went inside. Negotiations went on for some time, in several languages. The upshot was that the "photographer" agreed to sign a statement that she wouldn't sell photos of Malian police to American newspapers. And off we went to the hotel. The officer & the informant stayed behind.

Now the PD part. When we gathered in the hotel bar later on, LG told us the Rest of the Story, some of which he'd gotten from a crew member who knew the local dialect. The public spirited citizen was either mistaken or, more likely, made it up, as an opportunity to ingratiate himself with the local police. The police officer, in turn, decided that this would be a perfect chance to impress his regional commandant with his diligence and refusal to be intimidated by rich Americans. Which he did by interrupting the commandant's dinner table with a busload of irate American tourists demanding their Ambassador. Oh yes, he made an impression on the commandant, all right.

The commandant invited the officer to remain for a "chat." TL told us that had we been guilty, we would have been ordered to pay bus fare home for the officer and the informant. As it was, after the "chat," they would be out on the highway, trying to hitch a ride home.

Unbeknownst to the officer, things were going to get much worse. Remember I said that TL was very well connected? One of the connections was Extremely Influential Elder Statesman. And the local tour company? It was owned by Elder Statesman's brother, who was furious about what had happened, and told LG that a few phone calls were going to be made the next day. The police officer would be very lucky if he still had a job. The informant would probably be permanently on the police station blacklist, which is never a good idea.

[TeamBhakta]

A restaurant in Australia is selling an expensive version of a bacon and egg roll. I guess nobody told the head chef to play along with promoting it

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2013/05/12/Sydney-restaurant-offers-120-bacon-and-egg-sandwich/UPI-70861368401022/

[Iris]

A restaurant in Australia is selling an expensive version of a bacon and egg roll. I guess nobody told the head chef to play along with promoting it

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2013/05/12/Sydney-restaurant-offers-120-bacon-and-egg-sandwich/UPI-70861368401022/

Or the head chef is realistic and knows that a bacon and egg roll from a beach cafe after walking your dog on the beach is truly the food of the gods and you can muck about with truffles and whatnot to your heart's content, but unless the $120 includes a beach and a dog then it's just never going to cut it. At last, a top chef who really understands food.