And by “ban” I just mean “avoid.” Here’s a new list of words to avoid. An excerpt of my favorite jargon:
3. At the End of the Day It’s omnipresent. Google shows 15+ million hits. One source says it was the most written cliché of 2006. Otherwise respectable people use it like Sarah Palin used “ya know,” and chances are you’ll hear it several times per meeting–if you don’t just run away to get to the end of your day without screaming.
Additional discussions of workplace jargon at Surviving the Workday here and here.
From Scott’s shared items, I see that FedEx has a promotion for 25 free black and white resumes today. Details. (Thanks, Scott!)
I am all discombobulated today. Not only was there that lost hour, making me almost run a red light in my exhausted disorientation this morning, but I changed desks on Friday (as did most of my department) so my poor brain is having trouble processing things.
But change is good, right? Right.
If you have worked in the food service industry (notice my lack of segue? That’s DST for you…) then you know that it sucks. It sucks in a unique, smelly, abusive way that few other jobs besides maybe trash collection suck. Which is why I am not surprised to see several stories related to food (mostly fast food, naturally) in my WWN folder:
*A frustrated customer assaulted a fast food worker with a sandwich in Peoria. A hot, greasy sandwich. Yum.
*A Dairy Queen worker in Washington is accused of poisoning the malt mix with cleaning solvent, then serving it to customers. But hey, looks like there’s a new job opening at Dairy Queen.
*Meanwhile another customer assaulted Chuck E Cheese, accusing him of pinning his son against a video game machine. I think if I went into an actual Chuck E Cheese I might be similarly inclined.
In other restaurant news, Hooters is testing the China market–but there, it’s called the “American Owl.” China also is home to “Bucksstar Coffee,” “Pizza Huh,” and “McDnoald’s.” But those aren’t officially linked to the American counterparts, unlike Hooters.
Two teens admitted to pranking Taco Bell customers through modifying the drive through radio so they could shout obscenities from the parking lot. Ah, youth.
And, finally, The Pita Pit in Hyde Park FL is confused by the theft of a chair. There’s even a drawing and a reward poster. Since this happened back in January, I hope they got their chair back. That’s just tragic.
All this talk of food has made me hungry, though it’s possible that I have that reversed and I was already hungry and wanted to talk about food. Either way, time to go grocery shopping. Have a great week and may we all recover from this Spring Ahead nonsense.
I’m listening to commentary on a fictional case study on lay-offs. As you probably know or can intuit, there are three main strategies that are generally used to determine who gets laid-off:
- First-in-first-out (get rid of the expensive and sometimes unproductive older workers).
- Last-in-first-out (get rid of the inexperienced younger workers).
- Rank-and-yank (get rid of the C-players from the most recent performance evaluation).
However, there are definitely alternatives to laying off workers in the first place, including getting everyone together to brainstorm cost saving ideas (and then implementing them), investing in a video conferencing system rather than in business travel, re-negotiating contracts of all sorts, and re-valuating insurance needs. It’s definitely worth a listen particularly if you’re a manager facing decisions about lay-offs.
Some of us enjoy business travel and meet new people with whom we stay in contact for years. Some of us hunker down and wait for it to end. Social Media Tools can help you enjoy business travel a bit more by scheduling lunch and dinner chats ahead of time (Who likes to eat alone in a new city? At least who wants to eat alone all the time?) and staying connected once you’ve returned home.
One of the issues many face in current recession is deciding whether to take a job that pays significant less than the one that we left. But when you’re facing an extended period of unemployment, some would argue that it sometimes it makes sense to settle for less:
What’s more important to you these days, working or money? If you had a guaranteed job opportunity that offered less money, would you take it? My recommendation is that you consider taking it.
I actually believe that it is easier to get a job when you have a job. I also believe that when money is an issue, when your bills are stacking up, and you start avoiding your phone, you might want to consider taking a job that pays less in order to get back out there. And you will find you that job opportunities seem to come out of no where when you actually have a job.
If you’ve ever survived a lay-off and been kept on by the company, you know that lay-offs can take a toll on the folks who weren’t laid-off (this is not to minimize the toll that they take on those were actually laid-off). It’s a sort of shell-shock really and lay-offs affect survivors in a variety of ways. Here’s one of the more interesting ways that you might not foresee:
Turnover. Our own research shows a substantial increase in voluntary departures after layoffs, even if the downsizing was small. The costs of being understaffed, as well as of employee replacement and training, are unwelcome expenses when a company is attempting to save money. All of our recommendations above can help limit voluntary turnover. And for the future, institute HR policies promoting a sense of justice, such as confidential problem-solving avenues and an effective grievance or appeals process; companies with those practices had lower rates of post-downsizing increases in voluntary turnover.
Some of my coworkers have been with the company almost a decade. So when they say it’s “historical” that the offices were closed today for a snow day, I believe them. Long Island Schools were also closed, so I had figured I was justified in saying I was working from home in the first place. Then we got the email saying it was all closed down anyway.
“Good!” I think, smelling the cinnamon rolls in the oven. “A nice quiet day.”
Alas, people seemed to think “The Show Must Go On” and I had to work anyway. AND cover for those coworkers who either unthinkingly or cleverly left their laptops at work. But I wrapped things up as fast as I could and just rebelliously signed off before my boss could IM me with more pointless crap.
I wish I could say I had a themed WWN for you today but I don’t.
The most horrifying story I read recently is about a Walmart (NOT Wal-Mart) worker immolating himself in the parking lot.
Almost as horrifying, the web site selling wifebeater T-shirts that gave a discount to convicted wife beaters.
Also horrifying, that there are parents out there who don’t realize it is their JOB to teach their kids about things like disabled people and that the rest of the world isn’t always perfect or exactly like them.
Funny, and horrifying, is the man who was attacked on the job by a Komodo Dragon. Not funny to him, I know. But… my god. Of all the animals.
And finally, just plain funny. A grocery store plagued by balsamic vinegar thieves takes things into their own hands.
Well, that was depressing. On that note, I’m off to enjoy what is left of my snow day. Have a good one.
Do you have a snow day today at your workplace?
And will you still be working?
My answers: no, and yes.
One trend in the current recession is shrinking the five-day work week to four days or three days. It’s an interesting phenomenon. On the one hand, it sort of equalizes the loss (if everyone works reduced hours) rather than laying off a few people who had poor reviews or happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But on the other hand, if you rely on your total income to pay the bills, which many of us do, working less days for less money (and less benefits) is an awful thing.
Here’s how salary-cuts from a shrinking work week can play out in real life:
Ms. Christopher, who is single and does not have children, says that while most of the five Vera employees are taking the three-day week in stride, a single mother is very concerned about supporting a family on such a reduced paycheck.
Elsewhere, Nancy Hoffman, a senior development associate at the House Ear Institute, an organization based in Los Angeles that advances hearing science, recently went from a four-day to a three-day workweek and is concerned about the loss of income.
“I thought I would help the budget in my department and take the 40 percent pay cut, but the reality of that pay cut is much worse than I imagined,” said Ms. Hoffman, who is divorced and has two grown children. “I’m digging into my retirement money.” The bright spot, she says, is that her benefits have not been cut.
I suppose that’s a positive aspect, but the shrinking salary doesn’t seem like much of an alternative for most families.
From U.S. News Best Career 2009: Clergy:
Overview. Religion anchors millions of Americans’ lives, and their clergyperson is their ship’s captain. That’s especially true at life’s critical moments: birth, coming of age, marriage, crisis, and death. Most clerics spend far more work hours off the pulpit than on. And not all clerics have a congregation. Some, for example, are chaplains in prisons, hospitals, or the armed forces. Being a cleric isn’t a job—it’s a life. Your nights and weekends are often spent officiating at events or ministering to parishioners in crisis. To succeed, yes, you must be an inspiring speaker, but you should also be an inspiring human being, able to motivate people to be their best selves, even in crisis. And in America’s slowing economy, more people will be in crisis. Surprisingly, what isn’t required is an unquestioning faith in God: Many clerics experience periods of doubt.
It is striking how much people project onto clergy as if clergy are somehow immune to doubt and periods of faithlessness. There’s more here on clergy, and more here on other top careers (Note that “editor” has been dropped—no surprise to me).