Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Have you ever noticed ...

Have you ever noticed similarities of your workplace to the "Dilbert" office ... or, even Dunder-Mifflin? Why is it that many of us - across all walks of careers, in so many different career fields - can relate to Dilbert and The Office? Have you ever noticed how ridiculous your work is sometimes? Or - what about your boss? Is s/he a dumbass? Or, is s/he a visionary? How can you tell the difference? Jelly wants to know. Hell, we all want to know. What's it like where you work. What kind of a boss do you have?

These are just a few of the questions on Jelly's mind tonight. Why CallMeJelly? I work in a predominantly male field at a large "Peanut Butter" factory (PBF) that is trying hard to 'be' or 'appear' diverse yet one often wonders whether or not diversity will ever truly be achieved. (When you look at the executive leadership of the PBF, it's really hard to find more than token women or even minority types in major leadership positions - that's all I'm saying. Sure - PBF put a 'senior' woman in to run HR but the big division leadership positions are not nearly as diversified as they should be, imho.)

These questions have been on Jelly's mind for some time. In fact, Jelly is beginning to think the Kool-Aid injection is wearing off as Jelly navigates the treacherous waters at PBF. There was a time when Jelly thought PBF was the greatest thing to ever complement sliced bread. Now, Jelly looks around and thinks PBF is poised to implode as Jelly watches great talent attrit or on the verge of attrition while the 'fruitcake' maintains power or gains power. Why does it seem that mediocrity and often lack of good results profits? Jelly hears that this is not isolated to the PBF either. Some have speculated to Jelly that it's easier to get rid of a Milk Dud via promotion versus tackling the performance issues head on - reduces risks. Jelly wonders - is the damaged caused costing more than a payout due to the alledged risk? Jelly's just saying ... maybe in the long run PBF and other companies pay more with this model versus a potential 'settlement.'

Jelly has wondered over the last number of months whether it would make sense to seek out greener pastures. As Jelly has talked to many folks across PBF, it has been nearly impossible to find anyone who thinks they have a great gig in a great group. In fact, Jelly hears things like:
  • Don't come to my group. We are in the process of our 3rd or 4th reorganization in 6 to 8 months. It's a mess!
  • Our group is completely broken. Those who can get jobs outta here are doing it. You'd be a sucker to join us, Jelly.
  • Wow, Jelly, I have zero confidence in my management chain. They just don't get it and they just don't listen to those in the trenches with the most knowledge and domain expertise. Our project is destined for the FUBAR hall of fame. You'd be crazy to look at our group.
  • Hey - you're thinking about finding greener pastures? Me too! Tell me if you find anything good, Jelly!
  • Jelly, our group has one of the lowest Organizational Health Indices (OHI) at PBF. In fact, the Executive leadership cherry-picked managers out of the group as being responsible for the OHI problems. Funny thing that ... the folks that should have gotten the boot (especially our General Manager) are still in play here. I wonder if they'll get the boot if OHI doesn't improve or will the new leaders coming in take the fall.

Come on - share with the class . . . tell us about your boss. Tell us what things are like where you work.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey Jelly - not sure whether the boss or the employee is the problem here: http://jawbreaker2delta.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-happens-when-your-boss-is-ass.html.

What do you think?

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