Is it really that difficult?

Is it really that difficult?

by SouthernFriedInfidel | Published on December 3rd, 2008, 10:16 am | Life

Management. At every company I've worked for, the people who spend their time working at the level of manager or above (ie -- not directly supervising the hoi polloi) have been jerks. OK -- I can recall in the past 20 years encountering maybe one or two exceptions, but those are extremely rare. Generally, management has done nothing but make lower-level workers miserable, no matter where I've worked.

I got to wondering the other day as I drove home, my abdomen muscles slowly unclenching as I drove: is it really that difficult to make work bearable? What the hell is wrong with these people?

[Sanjuro]

(ie -- not directly supervising the hoi polloi)

Um ...thanks?

[Serendipitous]

is it really that difficult to make work bearable?

Periodically take the bottle from the bottom drawer and sip.
All day.
Sip. Sip. Sip. Sip. Sip.

[A Person]

management has done nothing but make lower-level workers miserable

Management would be easy if it weren't for those lower-level workers being so miserable all the time because they have to show up and not spend all day on the Internet, blogging, day trading, surfing porn etc.

[ghost]

Is this one of those chicken-egg sorts of situations?

[Liv]

Apparent by the current situation with jobs in America... most companies were just doing it all completely wrong these last few years.....

Take care of your internal customer, and your external customer will be the more the happier.

[A Person]

Take care of your internal customer, and your external customer will be the more the happier.

internal customer <> employee

Your 'internal customer' is someone in the company you provide a service to. Your boss is one of your customers, your job is to make him/her perform better and look good to his/her boss. If you can't do that for whatever reason, then it's time to look for another job. A good manager will recognise that his employees are the key to him performing well and looking good and will support, encourage and reward them for doing that.

[SouthernFriedInfidel]

management has done nothing but make lower-level workers miserable

Management would be easy if it weren't for those lower-level workers being so miserable all the time because they have to show up and not spend all day on the Internet, blogging, day trading, surfing porn etc.

You're right, of course. I shouldn't try to communicate with friends during the work day. Sorry I mentioned it.

[A Person]

You sound seriously unhappy. Is there anything we can do?

Here's a film of how the Information Technology Department conquered the world:



I like that.

[Sanjuro]

Not to speak for him, but I can attest that the place we both work is abysmal. Dread every morning does not begin to touch it. There is no morale anymore, good or otherwise because for that you would have to give a damn.

People just go through the motions waiting for the axe to fall on their heads next... but not before being swamped with work due to the last two years of watching many of their friends take that long walk down the green mile to H.R. "Johnny had to go, don't worry you arent on this months list.. by the way here is their workload. Way to be a team player a$$hat, er, I mean valued employee!"

"More with less" is the motto of the year. And although SFI complains about mgmt, I think it might be important to look at the big picture and realize that the misdirection may not be sourced there. All too often it's trickling down from the ivory tower on-high. Believe me, I've had to implement plenty of BS during this massive company wide project we are in.

Trust me, its a sad state of affairs right now for a lot of us.

[A Person]

At my previous company there was a change in senior management, resulting in a decision to move the head office to Houston, but it was kept secret and I was instructed to 'encourage' people to leave so they wouldn't have to pay severance. I refused and left the company, but, as at your company, morale was abysmal. Shortly after I left the decision was made public, which improved things a lot. Some people took their severance, others made the move, but people can accept the decision, it's the secrecy and uncertainty that's deadly.