I’m in the market for a new bag of some kind, and I realized after sorting through hundreds on Etsy (wrong color, wrong style, or wrong size) I realized that I have retained one and only one lesson from my first job: buy a bag the size of your butt. Yes, that’s the lesson I’ve retained from the Cobbie Shop, home of shoes for women with problem feet in search of comfortable shoes (and ugly handbags for all). Your handbag must match your butt size. And, if you don’t know the rule, you will gravitate toward a butt-size handbag anyway.
Readers, do you have any lessons learned from former jobs that you apply today?
Usually, I don’t feel the urge to shop on the day after Thanksgiving and instead observe Buy Nothing Day. I don’t particularly like the idea of consumerism at all costs and certainly not the idea of consumerism replacing compassion (I could really embrace the Advent Conspiracy).
However, today, I’m feeling quite shop-worthy. I mean, I don’t want to drive to the mall, but the idea of supporting another small business in this economy strikes me as a good one. Perhaps I’ll try Etsy for Handmade Christmas items.
Here’s the results of a particularly damning study of the effect of your boss on your work:
Swedish researchers report today that workers saddled for four years with managers who were inconsiderate, opaque, uncommunicative, and poor advocates were about 60 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack or other life-threatening cardiac condition. By contrast, employees whose managers exhibited robust leadership skills were roughly 40 percent less likely to suffer heart emergencies.
And the boss effect appeared to trump other considerations, including workload and whether the employee smoked, exercised, or had weight problems, researchers found.
My thoughts:
1. 60% more likely to suffer a heart attack! My lord!
2. I bet that the “opaque” and “uncommunicative” boss behavior raises levels of adrenaline (the article mentions this), which makes for all sorts of stress. Remember that if you’re a boss!
Your thoughts?
Dear Ms. Theologian,
This year, due to a cruddy economy and the fact that we’ve gone from 150 to 95 people at my office (30+ of thsoe were laid off in the past two months), we’re having the office party in our office, which actually is a neat place (an old warehouse). The party is a Friday night in mid-Dec. I emailed the party committee chair and suggested a “Mad Men” theme–y’know, late 50s/early 60s, a time of slick suits, constantly-lit cigarettes, and constantly filled martini glasses. Class!
I find out today that a) the committee wants me to help with the party and b) they want to group up the folks in the office and have each group build a putt-putt hole with an assigned theme (Madonna, Salvador Dali, Alfred Hitchcock, etc.). The idea behind this is that morale has been really low and they want to raise it.
This feels like forced fun to me, and it feels like not what a nice, relaxing, professional, holiday office party ought to be. Nothing says, “We’re nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs” like grouping up people that don’t usually work together and making them build something on their own time. It seems to suck the fun out of a party, instead of give everyone a chance to breathe and relax.
Or perhaps I’m being a crab because I’m already crotchety at the ripe old age of 33, and my mom made me a REALLY nice dress from a 1952 Butterick pattern to wear to the office party? (I’ll show the dress on my Tuesday post on WAD.)
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Loving Mad Men
Dear Loving Mad Men,
First, let’s note that Ms. Theologian had to google putt-putt hole to make sure it was what she thought it was. Now that Ms. Theologian is sure that we’re talking about mini-golf, she is trying to envision a mini-golf hole built around the theme of Alfred Hitchcock. Birds fly out of the hole and attack you? Yes? And this is fun?
Trying too hard to have fun isn’t fun. And perhaps it is the time of year, but the idea of coming up with any sort of extra time and money for a project such as this makes Ms. Theologian grumpy and unmotivated. Motivation in the workplace isn’t necessarily made in themed-mini-golf holes.
David Robinson of the Haas School of Business has this to say about morale in the cruddy economy:
In the current time of economic uncertainty, while your staff members may grumble, they are probably relieved still to have jobs. There are two general approaches you can take that will keep morale up.
First, avoid inciting a riot by spending money on other things that your staff sees as irrelevant — nothing upsets people more than being told that there’s no money for raises and then seeing a new piece of art work being displayed in the corporate lobby. And while client relationships are important, this is not the time to be throwing gala dinner parties.
Then, within your own work group, think about what non-monetary rewards you can offer your staff. These include the opportunity to rotate assignments, taking additional training during work hours and showing extra flexibility on vacation dates. Often the smallest piece of consideration on work schedules can make front line staff feel appreciated.
So let’s note that he says nothing about themed mini-golf activities. This doesn’t fall under morale-boosting. Why? Because it may seem completely irrelevant and wasteful in this economy.
On a broad note, the problem with forced fun at work is a. it’s involuntary and b. what is fun for one person is not fun for others—this is why some people collect stamps, some people bowl, and some people watch birds. We don’t all enjoy the same things. For some reason, people don’t seem to understand a and b above.
-Ms. Theologian
P.S. To write to Ms. Theologian, send an email to ms dot theologian at gmail dot com.
Happy people watch less TV than unhappy people*:
“We looked at 8 to 10 activities that happy people engage in, and for each one, the people who did the activities more — visiting others, going to church, all those things — were more happy,” Dr. Robinson said. “TV was the one activity that showed a negative relationship. Unhappy people did it more, and happy people did it less.”
But the researchers could not tell whether unhappy people watch more television or whether being glued to the set is what makes people unhappy. “I don’t know that turning off the TV will make you more happy,” Dr. Robinson said.
Still, he said, the data show that people who spend the most time watching television are least happy in the long run.
He goes on to suggest that increasing unemployment figures may lead to increased TV time, so be careful.
*A reader points out that correlation is not causation. The article notes this too. We don’t know if TV makes you unhappy or if unhappy people watch more TV. Or both.
A few months ago, I officially closed my Facebook account. It will never be deleted because Facebook seems to keep your information indefinitely. But I finally decided that I just couldn’t handle the combination of people from all stages of my life mixing together along with hundreds of shared twenty-year-old photos popping up for everyone to see. Nothing bad happened with the mix of work contacts and friends (and work contacts who are friends), but I think the lack of compartmentalization was pretty confusing for my psyche. (Other workplace stories of Facebook on this blog here).
I thought this video summarized it fairly well:
I’m going out of town for Thanksgiving, so no post next week. I guess I’d better make this a good one.
Things I am thankful for: A husband who loves me and tells me so every day. Firefox 3 tags. My cats. Coffee. Effective heaters. Friday.
Things I am not thankful for: Having to bite my tongue. Windows. Cats who steal my chair when my back is turned. My stupid coffee pot. Windchill factor. Monday.
Actually, it’s more like vote for the workspace most deserving of a makeover. And what’s especially odd is how they all look similar. I guess we are all slobs in the same sorts of ways (and that way seems to be “piles of crap”). I’m leaning toward voting for this one because of the folding chairs amid piles of crap. Any votes? Post in comments.
And, yes, that’s my own workspace in the photo. Coffee? Check. Manuscript? Check. Laptop? Check. Calculator? Check.
Alana at the LA Times answers questions on giving “holiday” cards in the office (Must I give one to everyone?) and stolen mail (What should I do when my coworker steals my Amazon gift box?).
I’m wondering who these coworkers are. Man. They want to snub you with holiday cards and steal your mail. It’s tough out there.
Speaking of knowing when it’s time to go, Sprint is offering a voluntary separation package to its employees. For employees who are ready to retire or entering a period of non-paid work (child care or elder care, perhaps), this seems ideal. For the rest? I’m guessing they’ll pass on the package unless they have been interviewing for a better job:
“No one is being forced to do anything,” she [Lisa Zimmerman-Mott, a Sprint spokeswoman] said. “There are no forced reductions. There are no layoffs in store. It’s a matter of employees having the option to exercise discretion. No targets have been announced.”
If you chuckled knowingly upon reading “There are no layoffs in store,” you’re on the same page as me. Yeah, right. But still. Voluntary separation packages seem like a better way to begin downsizing than involuntary lay-offs.
And speaking of nothing in particular, I would really like a cookie right now. I’m wondering why I have Sprint (or lay-offs) associated with cookies.
I’m fascinated by the moments in people’s lives in which they sense that they need to change in some fashion, and in this case, leave a profession entirely. John Smith, writing anonymously, is a professor at a small liberal arts school, and he’s at one of those moments in his own life:
After too many years at this job (I am in my mid-40s), I have grown to question higher education in ways that cannot be rectified by a new syllabus, or a sabbatical, or, heaven forbid, a conference roundtable. No, my troubles with this treasured profession are both broad and deep, and they begin with a fervent belief that most of today’s college students, especially those that come to college straight from high school, are unnecessarily coddled. Professors and administrators seek to “nurture” and “engage” and they are doing so at the expense of teaching. The result: a discernable and precipitous decline in the quality of college students. More of them come to campus with dreadful study habits. Too few of them read for pleasure. Too many drink and smoke excessively. They are terribly ill-prepared for four years of hard work, and most dangerously, they do not think that college should be arduous. Instead they perceive college as an overnight recreation center in which they exercise, eat, and in between playing extracurricular sports, they carry books around. If a professor is lucky, the books are being skimmed hours before class.
Can you remember a turning point such as this? Anyone care to share in comments?
And I should note that this professorial rant about students seems as old as the hills….
A survey: Would you like to know if you’re going to be laid-off?
For employers, a quandry: speak of woes or wait? explores reactions of employees to being laid-off. Apparently DHL employees learned that they were going to be laid-off when their customers told them during deliveries. Nice job with employee communications, DHL.
In any case, would you like to know ahead of time that you were most likely going to be laid off? Or not? Or know partial information?
I thought the article 12-year-old’s a food critic and the chef loves it was a nice example of how career interests can present themselves early on, and be encouraged and nurtured (vaguely though in the article) by parents. David Fishman is 12. He sometimes dines alone. And he takes notes on his food in a notebook. He wants to be a food critic.
However, the first item that gave me pause in the article was when the kitchen sent out tripe soup for him. Can that really be a gift of any sort? But then I’m just not a fan of tripe. And then I began to think that perhaps one did not need to be a critic at age twelve….
I’m separating some of my interests in the blogosophere, and as a result, last week I started a blog, Santa Clarita Homebirth, of general resources on childbirth, homebirth, and midwives as well as specific details on homebirth in Southern California. So if that’s of interest to you, feel free to add it to bloglines or your google reader or however you read blogs. I’m trying for one post a day, but that depends on what’s in the news.
I’ll point out that the most recent post on that blog is actually Motrin’s pretty insulting on-line advertisement on baby wearing that offended a lot of people (Motrin has since apologized). I don’t really have enough energy to be offended.
Down the rabbit hole? Never Never Land? Oz?
Oh, my, no. It’s far worse than those mythical places. Apparently losing members of Congress are sent to the basement:
Mere weeks after losing power, defeated or retiring US representatives move to this temporary basement setup from the comfortable office suites where they previously worked. Here they pass their final days in office, each soon-to-be ex-legislator and his or her staff issued a single work space measuring approximately 5′x5′. The cramped cubicle accommodates little more than a tiny desk, a laptop, a phone, and a box of Kleenex.
It’s enough to make me reach for some Kleenex too. But what do they do in the basement?
For departing members, these transitional weeks are less glamorous. While their replacements are rubbing elbows with the party leadership, the departees are offered resume writing and retirement planning seminars—even therapy sessions, if needed. Overnight these members go from dealing with issues of national import to attending to administrative minutiae. Among other things, they must ensure that all the equipment in their office, which technically belongs to the citizens of their districts, is accounted for.
At least they’re not escorted out by security….
For most of elementary school, I was in speech therapy once a week. I have a lisp. I can’t hear it, but it really bothered the speech therapist. Every speech therapy session, I would repeat, “Sally sells seashells by the seashore,” and she would move a dried lima bean from one plastic cup to another. Over and over for an hour. Sometimes the speech therapist would make an encouraging remark, “Good!” or “Excellent!” and occasionally we talked about the position of my tongue, but mostly we moved those beans between cups.
I hated speech therapy. I didn’t think I had a big problem. It was incredibly boring. The encouraging remarks felt condescending. And the lima beans were not particularly a reward. Oooh! I managed to move another lima bean.
I thought of those lima beans today. My mom is in the hospital. She had a stroke and is more or less okay. However, today she was visited by the speech therapist, who made her read something silly out loud and then suggested speech therapy for her. Mom didn’t think she had a problem. And I don’t think she has a speech problem (at least not from the stroke—apparently I belong to a whole family of lispers). I asked my mom if there were lima beans involved when she read out loud. She said no, it hadn’t come to that. Yet.
Beware the presence of dried lima beans, friends.
Is it possible that if I want a job in the Obama administration, I have to hand over everything I’ve ever written? I’ll assume it’s just everything that is published in some fashion.
Jobseekers are being asked to supply copies of all résumés for the last decade - presumably to screen out people inflating their credentials.
Applicants are also being asked to hand over all written material - from books and articles to lowly comments on blog posts. They must provide all internet handles, and the URL of professional and personal networking sites.
All resumes in the past decade? Do people actually keep old resumes? All blog comments? Possibly that’s just everything google-able. I’m not sure that would be possible for me to find all comments. The rest of the requests makes somewhat more sense:
Applicants are asked to list any legal offences, including traffic violations punished by more than a $50 (£34) fine. They are asked to list any gift worth over $50 they or their spouse have received from anyone who is not a relative or close friend. They must reveal whether they or anybody in their family owns a gun.
A good portion of the questionnaire is devoted to seeking financial information -down to the rate of interest the applicant is paying on his or her mortgage.
Legal offenses? None. Gifts over $50 from anyone who is not a relative or close friend? I don’t think there are any of those, but who the heck knows. Would I even remember? Oh, maybe gifts from clients? Guns? None. Mortgage rate? Extremely low, thank you very much.
That’s a lot of information in the name of avoiding scandal. I think I’ll skip the application.
If the office party is in decline (at least the catered part of the party), what is your favorite dish to bring to a potluck? And why? Assume it’s a workplace potluck with a fridge, but not necessarily an oven.
I have to admit that I always try to bring dessert, and most often cookies, using the Famous Amos/Nordstrom’s recipe. They are easy to transport and I don’t worry about them falling into the “danger zone” when food becomes poison.
What do you bring?
I won’t be mourning the loss of this particular tradition: office holiday parties are getting downsized. The most obvious cause is economics. However, perception is also killing the office party. Companies do not want to be perceived as throwing money around (particularly taxpayer money) in this economy:
“Even if they can afford it, nobody wants to be seen as being profligate,” said New York restaurant magnate Danny Meyer. He said some big financial firms have canceled big catered year-end parties, but there is new demand for smaller gatherings in his restaurants’ back rooms.
Prepare for the potluck, people.
The Boston Globe investigates the phenomenon of underemployment, a burgeoning facet of the recession:
This struggle to find “good” work - matching or improving upon experience or salary - is one that career counselors are seeing more often. Workers without a college degree are being bumped down the jobs ladder by new grads. Former midlevel managers can’t find similarly challenging or rewarding positions. Many take part-time jobs to get by.
“These are people who need to pay their bills, so at least for the time being are willing to take a job with fewer hours that gives them less responsibility than their previous job,” said George Moriarty, executive director of Career Place in Woburn, one of 37 state-administered “one-stop” career placement centers in Massachusetts.
This is a brief article, but I should point out that there are two definitions of undermployment. The Globe is examining underemployment mostly defined as employment of less than full time hours, but we also use underemployment to refer to someone who is overly qualified for his/her position.
Folks, I have to tell you, this was Annual Reviews Week and boy am I pooped. Six reviews given, one review gotten, a truckload of talking and not enough chocolate. Pile that on top of the six different crises we had this week, and I’m just not in the mood to amuse the masses.
So I’m taking a break but I will leave you with my favorite news story this week:
Girl Takes a Crack at Suing Over “Coins Down Butt” Though, gee, why any woman would take issue with having her butt crack used as a coin slot is beyond me… (Note that this is probably my favorite due to some Mark Ecko shadenfreude… I can never spell his name right and his style numbers make my data suck.)
To all our Santa Barbara readers: Stay safe, we’re praying/sending good vibes/crossing our fingers etc.