Saturday, January 13, 2007

My Not-So-New Job at 18 Months


Looking back at my various job posts, I figured I would update the things I love about my job list and consolidate my gripes into a new list. Hopefully writing down the not-so-good will help me purge them from my system and allow me concentrate on the good things.

11 Things I love about my job (woo hoo bonus item!):
  1. 15 minute commute: This is absolutely tops.
  2. C#: I continue to love programming in this language and creating my kick ass UI program.
  3. Pay: I've finally been put on the RONA (return on net assets) program and get some nice bonuses. This is awesome, except that it isn't so much extra money, but money I need to stay solvent having a stay-at-home dad.
  4. Window: I don't have an office, but I do have window. It is totally awesome to be able look outside anytime and witness stunning sunsets.
  5. Shopping: Tax free NH is 10-15 away, satisfying this shop-a-holic.
  6. Gym: Still $7/month and 7 min away. I just wish it would take 7 pounds off me.
  7. Chair Massage: Twice a month at $5 a pop, now I can't live without it!
  8. Free food: Most lunchtime meetings are catered with plenty extra, just in time for a free lunch when I get back from the gym or shopping.
  9. Boondoggles: You do have to actually work at trade shows but it is nice to travel again. Plus there are awesome manager training boondoggles to chose from.
  10. Activities committee: I'm a member of this committee which is a fun-loving group. It is fun to plan events and learn all about catering, favors, entertainment, etc. I also get to shop because I have a P-card.
  11. HR Wellness programs: There have been lots of seminars and I have learned about all sorts of things such as: chiropractic, hypnosis, sleeping, acupuncture and The Secret (another blog post on that for sure).
Too bad most of the good things are really circumstantial and outside of the core tenets of a good workplace, such as great people to work with and a great company atmosphere. Tom fell off the list because he is now a part-time consultant, so I can't very well waste his time and shoot the breeze with him. My boss is still great, but I hardly ever see him, so he doesn't figure into my day-to-day work.

Now for the bad and the ugly. The basic issue I have is that the company treats their employees like children. Children who need to be watched all the time and are expected to behave badly. Basically it is the philosophy that they are doing us a favor by providing us work, as opposed to us are doing them favor by keeping them in business.

Here is my list of 10 gripes:
  1. The employee: Sometimes he is just fine and great, but other times... Doug jokes that it must depend whether he is taking his meds.
  2. No access to outside email: No POP, no internet email. Of course I read my gmail through a Bloglines email subscription, but I can't reply. Last minute update, I got LogMeIn to work today so I can remote to my desktop at home! I actually sent out a forbidden email! SHHHHH!!!!!
  3. Dress code: This is 2007 for crying out loud! At least it is business casual and not strict business dress. Unfortunately on casual Fridays, people go all out scaring the management into thinking that if we did go casual, people would be dressed like that all the time. That only perpetrates having to be treated like children.

  4. Constant monitoring of computers: We now have a weekly audit of our computers. In the past, I have had to justify all the programs that are installed that I use. There are logon and logoff scripts that run and sometimes it takes a good 10-15 minutes to boot up in the morning.
  5. No vacation roll-over: Is this the 1970's or something?
  6. Vacation police: At the end of last year, HR reported that I had a floating holiday left, which I knew I had taken earlier that year. I promptly signed up for an extra day and took it (it was December 26, Dova's birthday). Then they came back after the fact and told my boss that it shouldn't have been granted. It was their own mistake! Eat it!
  7. Restricted sites: I can understand gaming sites and such, but YouTube? I can't watch a 1 minute video? Luckily Flickr got on restricted list but then later got off.
  8. No telecommuting: I have an employee that I allow to telecommute, but this is still not comprehended by HR. They have called me to ask whether he actually works on Saturday. The VPN is extremely slow, and on top of that, the email servers are in Cleveland, making it painful to access email even at work. Plus I live too nearby to justify it.
  9. Mandatory screensaver: Everyone must use the same password protected Windows XP screensaver at 20 minutes. It is locked out, but luckily I know how to disable this for movies on car trips. Otherwise can you imagine having to type a password in every 20 minutes for the poor kids? We are "allowed" to have our own desktop wallpaper, thanks big brother.
  10. Unable to allow programs through the Windows firewall: Luckily I allowed Trillian on my laptop before this restriction came about. If I ever get another computer, I will be out of luck! I assume I'll be able to figure this one out when the time comes...
Basically, everyday I plug into the Borg. I have been assimilated. Resistance is futile. Good thing I still have the internet (at least the unrestricted portions).

3 comments :

Bigqueue said...

Wow...a real window with blue sky....that in itself makes up for a multitude of negatives.

I have a painting of a window on my office wall.....but it is a poor replica of the real thing. (I don't the the world outside my building looks much like Paris..though I have never seen the view just past my wall...who really knows!)

The Man On The Street said...

Hey! At least your view is better than mine!

Al

Credit Girl said...

Its crazy how big the difference between men and women is. You say you like the pay, but I wonder if you're getting as much as you should be. Take a look at these statistics.
Men Vs. Women