(Originally 'penned' November 9, 2014)
Periodically I step back into the corporate world in the form of, well, what I have heard it referred to as is a 'professional temp'. Luckily for me I have a long standing relationship with one particular Company that calls me in when either someone is on leave, it gets to a busy period, or they want to complete a research project.
So this week I have been back in the office, ultimately helping play catch up, and filling a hole left as sadly someone had a relative in a bad accident overseas and had to jump on a flight immediately.
This week has stemmed a conversation amongst those of us in this particular department I am working in, on different 'breeds' of workers. I guess it is funny to categorise people in that way, but I really can't think of a better way to put it.
There are people that cruise along in their workplace and don't think of the flow on effect that their daily work has on the person next to them. I have run across this multiple times in my previous life as a corporate lackie, along with the fact that nearly every job I have ever taken there was no instructions for. Which opens up a whole new can of worms I suppose; the old 'what if I got hit by a bus' argument. Not that any of us want to be hit by a bus of course, however it begs the question, are people too busy in their day to document what it is they actually do?
When I worked in Corporate full-time, I actually tended to stay in jobs quite a long time... 4 1/2 years I think was the longest, in a job I actually truly loved with a great team of people who were like family. But the great powers that be in Government, back in the time when they never wanted to make anyone permanent and forced them to annually apply for their own jobs in a long-winded application (I'm talking 12 pages here), ousted me from my own job. They decided to pass it on to someone who I knew for a fact actually had no real direct experience in how we were developing this division of the Agency. I'm all for learning new skills but this was a little different. They gave me four days notice that I was unsuccessful in my application to retain my own job and said 'there's talk of you perhaps wanting to stay on a little bit longer' (as they understood it was not much notice, or some such fuckery). I strongly replied 'I think it's more in my interest to go and find another job, don't you?'. They wanted me to stay on and train the person. Well fair enough; I have done a myriad of training and hand-overs in my life, when moving sideways or upwards or whatever. But when someone actually decides to pull one over in you in that manner, giving so little notice, sorry but they're on their own.
I had a new job about 5 days after leaving that one.
I also had a Corporate relationship that was very toxic, and after 3 1/2 years I declined an offer from Management to simply take a break (I'd fallen down a staircase and screwed up my lower lumbar too, that didn't really help sitting at a desk every day). I ended up over the few years following my departure often being poached when they found out, somehow (little birdies?), that I was in between temp jobs. In this instance I had the power to negotiate - which was always received well - and make some small demands. IE. 'I can come for X period of time, but 2 weeks before I leave I want you to find me someone to fully train' or 'I want to work 4 days in December, in the new year I can go to 5, but at X date I must leave because I have a contract with Y.'
I do leave VERY comprehensive instruction manuals in any job I move on from, whether it has been a short fill-in project, or a longer permanent full-time job I have had. When I have been given the opportunity to hand-over properly I give training to the best of my ability, which I actually think I am quite good at.
(new notes 20 March 2015): Wow, this is actually pretty good I think. Anyway it goes a small way to explain as to why I moved from full time Corporate universe into Festival CarnieLand. As many of you know, I spent most of my extra curricular hours in those early working years volunteering for the excellent Three D Radio, clocking up ten years in total between 1994 & 2004. I also put my hand up to assist with many local events in Adelaide, anything from being a door bitch, to organising Three D's 21st birthday when everyone else had thought there was not enough time to do so. And after many years of sitting in an office, I applied for a job with Falls simply because I wanted an excuse to go back to the beauty that is Tasmania.
And the rest is history...
xJ
No comments:
Post a Comment