How much effort should you give your employer?

[Deja Q]

Poll question: How much effort should you give your employer?

As employers become more obsessed with profits and less concerned about the well being of their employees (in terms of pay, health benefits, and re-training of a valuable asset to the organization), how well should employees work?

I usually do #1 and many of the people I support have noticed I actually care while other co-workers merely do #2. But I am now considering dropping my standards. :-( The new management is one step below the Nazi party as far as I'm concerned, a lot of people have already left because of the new management, and the new management has also increased my workload even they know how high my workload has been before the increase. One mistake would have them forcing me to resign as well. :scared:

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. Interesting question.

I had my annual review yesterday. O8)

However, company-wide they are only giving 3 percent raises and bonuses only to the holy of holies -- the upper echelon vice presidents and upwards. My immediate supervisor -- who is a lower level VP -- started slamming management for being "uninvolved". This was the first time I had ever heard criticism of management from her (though I have heard plenty from many other people) and she complained about being unmotivated and was entirely pissed off at what is happening. It is sad the way employers have us by the short hairs.

[Capablanca]

2. Work Ethic

You owe it to yourself and to your employer to give a maximum effort. I particularly enjoy the feeling I get after a productive day. I also can look myself in the mirror knowing that I did not steal time. As far as obsession with profits, I do believe that is what people go into business to achieve.

Tell me this. When you interviewed for employment did you pledge to work hard? Did you say you were dedicated and dependable? Most do.

They do not have you by the short hairs if you are a valuable and productive worker. Do what I just did. Offer your services elsewhere when you are not properly compensated.

Why do we democrats always have to sound like victims?

[Ellen Forradalom]

7. Welcome to DU Capablanca

Let me offer you a tip: the combination of "We Democrats" or "I'm a democrat but" followed by a Fox-News talking point is classic Freeper trolling.

[Deja Q]

11. I suspected as much...

Spelling "democrats" with a lowercase "D" stuck out as well...

It could be miscommunication, I suppose... Dunno, but the infiltrators eventually blow their gaskets anyway and get banned. O8)

[Deja Q]

9. That's a very rosy, smurfy picture.

Yes, America is about making money. Corporations, being a cornerstone of American infrastructure, have a responsibility to make sure their good workers (who ARE America's infrastucture as there are far more of us than there are of them) are well compensated, respected, and kept. Not abused. Not thrown out just because the job they were doing is no longer necessary. People are not cattle nor are they a mere commodity to be exploited for somebody else's personal gain. x(

And money is also the root of all evil. Since when is it the root of anything good?

You obviously didn't read my message. I am a valuable and productive worker. And people have noticed and said this to me and my management. As such they will continue to give me more work until I'm unable to cope and write me up negatively in the annual review. (fortunately, I have a union to turn to if I start feeling excessively pressured or intimidated. Most aren't though. x( ) And I also know they have plans to eventually replace us. That makes them feel good. Sure as hell doesn't make me feel good.

It's not about money. It's about taking care of your employees who ARE valuable. My company, like most in america, prefer to use people and discard them. Many people are naive like you, thinking that if they always do their all, they will be respected and kept. That's a lie.

How's America going to survive when there's nothing well paying left for the middle class? Corporations will survive, but as the republicans don't want them (or the wealthy) to pay any taxes of any sort, there's going to be nobody left to pay the taxes so that Georgie Pordgie* can play with his tanks and troops.

Why should I give myself an ulcer and more mental problems? Why should I assist in my own murder?

Welcome to DU, BTW.

[RandomKoolzip]

10. Ah, the "we democrats" phrase.

Some thinner-skinned than I would call that word phrase a "dead giveaway."


I don't give a shit what my employer expects of me, I will work according to how much I am paid. You pay me 9 bucks an hour, I'm not going to work like a 12 buck an hour guy, because I know I won't get recognized for my hard work by most bosses, cuz they're assholes. Ask any working class wage slave out there, and they will tell you exactly the same thing. Having been both a manager and an employee, I know how the scam goes. You work too hard, and employers start EXPECTING shit from you, relying on you to cover shifts, pick up others' slack, etc.

I'm working two full time jobs as a cook, and it's hard fucking labor. I'm not so much of a wage slave to say that they've broken my will, but I'd be lying if I said I gave a shit whether I "stole time" or not. Fuck, they're stealing "my time," right?

Until we ALL have a living wage, there will perpetually be this semi-antagonistic attitude between employee and employer. As it stands, the working class is getting screwed day after day, yet all I hear about in the media is how people are upset about paying too much taxes. Hard for me to feel sympathetic, you know?

[Deja Q]

12. Wow!

If "All in the Family" (1970) was accurate, America used to be a land where one man could do grunt work and still be able to buy a house and raise a family.

In 2003, people need TWO jobs in order to even stay afloat. (indeed, Archie probably wouldn't have any job of any sort. And if you thought he was pissed back then about how he felt misused, he'd be that much angrier now... and not at blacks or jews or gays but his own white counterparts.)

I used to be in the cooking profession. It was hard work.

Absolutely and utterly disgusting, that is... two jobs. I know many who have to and it's disgusting.

[RandomKoolzip]

16. I don't want to "sound like a victim,"

like "we democrats" often do, but I'm definitely not pleased with how my life has turned out. It's been this way for five years with me, and I'm fucking sick of it.

I can't save up enough money to go back to school, and because I can't go back to school, I can't improve my situation. So what am I supposed to do? Feel good we got Saddam? Is THAT supposed to keep me motivated?

I refuse to go on welfare or unemployment, either. I don't want a hand out, I simply want to be compensated for my labor in an amount commensurate with my needs.

LIVING WAGE NOW. N O W.

26. boy, do I know what you mean -- keep the faith

hey, random.
I was a cook for 20 years. I finally got out. I think the restaurant business is particularly insidious in regard to this disregard. Particularly if you're a cook. Hell, even the waitresses look down on you, because you're always "greasy"
Class distinctions even among the downtrodden!
On the economic front, my tip, which I'm sure you already know is to eat your difference. That's one advantage of being a cook, you can always even things out a little by "accidentally" overcooking something or by having to test the product or every 20th strawberry you destem gets eaten.
Not that I'm advocating such steps....

[toddzilla]

3. i gave it my all..

only to watch people that had more seniority and pull with the boss get gravy jobs and ignored when they did shoddy work. I had a run of bad apartments (i used to paint vacant units) over the course of a few days where they loaded me up with a massive workload. What did i get for busting my ass and doing 3 a day? Laid off/fired - "call me in 4 months"

I know it's a generalization, but i've fucking had it with busting my ass for people that don't give a shit and don't seem to cut you slack when you need it, even though you'll work as hard as you need to in order to make the company look good. I've spent entire weeks going back and fixing bad quality work from people with 15+ years in seniority, it's just bullshit. eventually i'll work for myself again, and won't have to put up with favoritism and nepotism in a company.

yes, i had a shitty year!..

[Deja Q]

4. Normally I'd say people should work always at the best of their ability

But given corporate america and how it exploits and maltreats people, I have to evaluate at my own concept of morality. Too many companies use and abuse people and shamelessly chuck 'em out when their usefulness ends like they would an empty beer can, hence the often-heard comment of "You're getting rid of me after all the years of hard work I've given you?", et cetera.

It's disgusting that only the upper-eschelon are giving themselves raises and nobody else. It's everybody else who does the actual work; CEOs only go to meetings, watch their mini tvs, and go play golf. :eyes: :thumbsup: for your immediate supervisor slamming the upper management.

Very sad how employers have the upperhand. We workers need to revolt someday. :cry: Ditto for the exploited around the world. (does the 9/11 attack symbolize that? The World Trade Center was an icon of capitalism, and NOT a "building of peace" as an misguided 6 year old child had said to Diane Sawyer on 20/20...)

[kdmorris]

5. I used to be a number 1

And still am, to a certain extent, but I voted for number 2. If I worked for a different company, I would have voted for number 1. But this last year, so many people have been laid off in my company and there really isn't much work to do. I still try to do my best, but it's quite frustrating. Now they tell us that we may not get any raises.

It is hard to keep motivated in the climate I work in right now. I still try (I mean, dang, I worked from home yesterday morning, even though I was supposed to be on vacation), but most mornings I just find that it's hard to care. However, being a number 1 for the past 5 years is probably what got me through the 10 rounds of layoffs last year.

Maybe 2004 will be better, but my company needs to do a lot of healing right now.

[donco6]

6. Other

If you can't ethically support the organization, it's time to go. No other choice.

[Deja Q]

15. But if there's nowhere to go

The economy is shit right now. Any jobs that do exist for my line of work pay much less. Given my expenses, I can't quit right now.

And having tried dozens of retail outlets (the bulk of the people who ARE hiring right now), I can't seem to pass their profiling tests.

Which means I'd be out of work, homeless, worse than dead.

I can't ethically support all sorts of things. Do I just leave? For real? Just to go away so the exploiters can continue to be unChristian bastards? Fuck no. I'm going to fight back. Passively or actively, that is what I am going to do until suicide becomes the only option.

Well, tempted to fight back. I still have a moral weakness, even if I know what they will be doing in the end (readily discarding me despite my excellent record of support and creativity).

I'm just pissed off at the world in the way people allowed it to become.

[donco6]

23. I just don't think you can keep going . . .

. . . forever working someplace that you believe is - well - EVIL.

I had to leave a job because of that about 10 years ago. I just couldn't take it anymore. And my influence on THEM was so much less than they're influence on ME. It was killing me.

I ended up moving to Denver, found another job in a different line of work altogether. I was lucky, I know. I can understand your situation and I hope for the best for you.

[VelmaD]

8. My opinion of my employer...Fuck 'em

They pretend to pay me so I pretend to work.

Seriously, I couldn't be more demotivated. I hate my job and I'm looking as hard as I can for something else. *grumble mutter fucking Bush economy*

[philosophie_en_rose]

13. Sad, but true.

I agree that number 1 is the ideal choice. However, there is a level of dedication that can't be given without at least some reciprocation from the employer.

Employers have some responsiblity for the motivation of staff. Cutting benefits, increasing stress, and rubbing the Bush economy in our faces does not improve morale.

[RandomKoolzip]

14. Exactly.

To my employer, I'm just a "part," so why should I care? What is my incentive? The end of the shift?

Go into any decent-sized restaurant in America, and you will not find a single smiling face in the kitchen.

[mike_c]

17. HP, I've worked in a lot of jobs over the years....

...but I've ultimately come to understand that I always work for myself, one way or another. If I'm selling my time to the man, then it's MY time I'm selling. What greater commodity do I have to offer? At the end of the day, we only have ourselves as benchmarks. Do your best. Then you'll never have anything to be ashamed of.

[bratcatinok]

18. I work to the best of my ability

because I always want to know I've done the best I could regardless. That doesn't mean I have to kill myself or give myself a nervous breakdown just because the employer decides to keep piling the work on. I'm one person and I can only do so much without cutting corners or doing shoddy work. I refuse to cut corners or do shoddy work because I want to feel I've done my job well.

And yeah, the pressure to do more and more and more can be a killer if you let it. What I did was to document the 'shortcuts or statements made that would suggest cutting corners' as well as to document what I'd accomplish each day. I developed a sort of code I could understand and would add it to my calendar each day.

[MercutioATC]

19. I'm an air traffic controller and I voted for #1. Hope you feel safer now

:evilgrin:

[FloridaJudy]

20. To the Best of My Ability, But...

I provide essential services to low income people. I actually have one of those jobs in which a liberal actually *can* make a difference in people's lives (I'm a Public Health Nurse). My clients deserve no less. These folks have drawn the short straw all of their lives, so if there's any way I can help, I'll knock myself out to find it.

My employers? Screw them; I work for the Repuke State of Florida. I'm way under-paid, and my bosses treat me like a dim kindergartener, and not a professional with a Master's degree and over twenty experience in my field. Jeb Bush has been doing his damnest to reduce the state budget by making morale so low that state employees are leaving in droves. I threaten to quit every other week.

*Sigh*

I'm not going to do it. A dear friend and good colleague refers to us as "the cockroaches". No matter how hard they try to get rid of us, we still keep coming to work.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

21. Always work to the best of your ability but

if you are being taken advantage of, quit and find something better.

[101 Proof]

22. I work at a job that I truly HATE...

and, to quote Peter Gibbons of Office Space, "I only do just enough work to get me by."

[camero]

24. The best you can do..with a caveat.

If it's not illegal or immoral. If you are asked to do either one of those...sayonara.

[Nikia]

25. The most that I can give at any given moment

I do go through periods of being more motivated and less motivated. When I am am more motivated, I really can do more. It really isn't about being lazy. Since I didn't get a raise last year, I am trying to be more careful to be in "more motivated mode" most of the time and remember the little things that count to them. I am a competitive type person. In other jobs where I could compete, I tried to be the outstanding person at my job. In my current position, I have no one else who has my position it limits my ability to judge my abilities and efforts. If I don't get a raise this year, I am giving two weeks notice on the spot. I have faith that I will be able to get another job, but it will probably pay significantly less. It's the principle of things though.

[rbnyc]

27. always do your best...

...but if you work for someone who takes advantage of you, quit or make sure that changes.