Workplaces and ‘Workplaces’

Let’s first quantify my experience. Just so you know that I am speaking from experience.

I started my working life some 20 years ago. I think I have been unemployed for 1 week in that entire time and that was only because I didn’t take a job that was 2 hours by car from my front door. So you could say I have never been willfully unemployed in my entire life.

There is not much I haven’t done, from packing boxes, to balancing tills, to managing companies, to organizing procedure manuals. I can do anything you throw at me. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve waited on tables. Sometimes I have one job, sometimes I have two . Just depends on what is on offer at the time.

Mostly my work has been contract, but there has been some full-time positions thrown in for good luck.

I’ve had some good employers, I’ve had bad.

I find that companies that insist that because they pay you, they own you, are those companies that have a tendency to fall over.

Companies that treat each and every employee as an asset, are an asset to themselves and create a better work environment and consequently the employee is a better employee.

Companies that use the mushroom policy (Keep you in the dark) tend to think that they are in control, but are in fact companies that are so full of politics and bad apples, that once again, are not worth working for.

I’ve worked for all 3 types of companies, I worked for the controlling boss,(not happy unless everyone is tip-toeing around) I’ve worked for the seagull (Flies in, shits all over the place and leaves). I’ve worked for the tortoise, (The boss that hides in shell the minute something goes wrong)

It is hard to find a job where you can care – simply because if the people around you don’t care – they bring you down.

I’ve left jobs simply because the boss has crapped once too often on the front door step and made the whole company smell. I’ve left because the darkness is just too oppressive. I’ve left because other employees don’t care and I got sick playing salmon and fighting for my life going upstream all the time.

I have found that a majority of the people only turn up to work because they get paid. They don’t care about the work, they don’t care about the company. They can’t see that their behavior/actions/inaction can create a work environment which is pleasant to work in.

Many people only start to care once their jobs are in jeopardy and by then it is often too late. Why must people be threatened when they know what has to be done, but choose not to do because they don’t want to?

Personally, myself I prefer working for a company that cares about the customers and the company’s image and not about the money – yes money is important, but it is secondary to the company. Failure to look after the image of the company, means that the money will not come in the front door.

I have seen customers abused, I’ve seen customers shamed into accepting goods that are not 100%. I’ve seen customers intimidated. I’ve seen customers abandon a company because the one person they could turn to for answers in that company, no longer works for that company.

A good employee will not stay with a company that does not care. A good employee will not stay with a company that can only see dollar signs and not the ultimate goal of business, which is to service the customer. Without customers a business does not exist.

And a good boss, isn’t a seagull, a tortoise or a stand-over man.

A good boss understands that sometimes things don’t go to plan. A good boss understands mistakes do happen. A good boss understands that customer relationships are just as important. A good boss will address customer concerns and complaints and not sweep them under the carpet as ‘just a problem customer.’

A good workplace is reflected in the employees and this gives the customers a sense of well-being and value that often is missing in the dog-eat-dog world of commerce.

A good workplace will value its employees along with its customers and treat both equally.

Here is a toast to all the good business owners, the good managers, the good employees. Keep up the good work and remember you are not alone.

There are other oddities out there just like you.