QUOTE (potbelly @ Sep 20 2007, 10:35 am)
Oh, that is so true. Certainly in my company... And the management do nothing and totally accept it... in fact, the management are often the worst culprits in our company, who have misunderstood that the concept of empowerment is not just to delegate all your work to someone.
I work in Research & Development - IT/Entertainment branch.Lots of the people spend at least half an hour in the Kitchen, twice a day to make sure their "Überstundenkonto" grows at a nice rate - some come in very early and hang around doing nothing and drinking coffee until the normal people arrive and then spouting "but I`ve been her since xxxx o`clock!" Attending very important meetings (Coffee, biscuits and soft drinks on the table) that last for hours and when you request info you`re told that nothing was said/decided/discussed. We officially have a 15 minute Breakfast break..its around 30 - 60 mins and Lunchbreak can be extended to an Hour and a half. There are a couple of people who I know have no work to do...nuthin...zilch...and whenever you see them they`re always in a rush and so terribly busy and "stressed".
The best one I`ve ever seen is a guy that only worked three days a week and the rest from home. Whenever he moved from his Desk he always took a Notepad a Pen and a Mobile Phone and used very Strident and purposeful walk. With a look of absolute concentration on his face he would stride from his office to the Kitchen where he would sit for an hour drinking coffee, chatting and "being creative" - If you asked him how he was he would always reply " Snowed under with work, stressed..he even had to sacrifice some of his weekend so that the work was delivered on time.
The output that he generated (Computer Graphics) was Minimal. He eventually left the company in mutual agreement - nothing to do with his work ethic by the way...and took a wad of cash with him! Had he just kept on doing his thing he would still be with the company today! Doubtless he has found another company that fits the bill for him.
About two years ago I complained of having nothing to do - that was a mistake - I was told - don`t rock the boat...just close the office door and do your own thing.
I must add without being cocky that I`m in a pretty privileged position - I`m the only one that does what I do, its a creative job and it would be a bit of a problem to replace me (having said that I´m quite well aware that no one is indispensable!). They pay me to be there to produce on demand and thats what I do. It would be too expensive for them to outsource my job (they`ve done it before and it didn`t work) so here I am.
So...I close the office door and do my own thing - sounds like a dream job huh? - Sometimes yes - a lot of the time no - ex squaddie...I´m a pretty active type of person, both mentally and Physically and sometimes it drives me up the F**** wall!
I`m a trained Carpenter and spent lots of years on the Buildings - so I know what hard work is about - but to hear some of these "intellectuals" winging because they`ve actually got to hit a couple of Keys and do some coding winds me up sometimes. They don`t know how good they have it.
I, on the other hand know exactly how good I have it. I have more pay and more perks than I`ve ever had and I know that I´d have to spend a lot of time doing "Nachbarschaftshilfe" in my old job to earn what I do. When it is cold and rains outside I am warm and dry inside...we have an excellent canteen so its no "Butterbrote" for me and if I feel like knocking off early or coming in late then I just do it.
I am guilty as charged - a lazy office worker - but it isn`t my fault!!
The Management don`t care - There is no carrot and no stick - "Kein Lob und keinen Tadel"...everyone just sort of does whatever they want.
I used to get uptight about this and got into discussions (must be my military background - Skiving is no fun when its allowed)- it was starting to cause me problems until I realised that this was the way they wanted it. I now keep my trap shut and my door shut. Im 46 now and if I behave myself then I should be OK for another 10 - 15 years. Then I`ll retire.
I am also in the fortunate position of having my own business on the side which keeps me occupied 24/7. I think if that weren`t the case I´d become a zombie or go nuts.
and no - I´m not gonna tell you the company I work for.
