The Joys of Working for the Mouse

[Moosenogger]

I work for a rodent... A very popular rodent. As such, I deal with a lot of different people on a daily basis in the shop. I had a good day today, but also heard something from a coworker that got me thinking.

You see, our management and the company as a whole likes to compliment us lowly grunts whenever we give great customer service. Since it would cost too much to give us a bonus or reward every time we're seen doing something amazingly over and above what's required of us, the company has management give out little cards stating what we did that was so awesome. We then put these cards into a box and a winner is drawn every week or so. You win, you get a prize. Huzzah~

A coworker of mine said that she and a manager were talking about how great I am with customers. The manager then wondered out-loud why I don't work at the store very often.

You know why I don't work at the store very often? The pay is awful. Horrible. Terrible. So low you couldn't even pay your monthly bills, let alone rent. I feel like I'm wasting my time whenever I work there. Shit, I worked a 40 hour week once and only made $200 after taxes. This company expects me to stay? Seriously?

I think the above is the reason that hard workers are not drawn to this particular company. I work my ass off and try my hardest to make customers happy, but I'm not willing to live in a slum in order to have that privilege. If another job is willing to pay me a livable wage, then hell yes I'm choosing that job over the Mouse.

Thank goodness I have a job interview on Monday. I hope I get it - I need to find a decent job. D:

Edit: Just to elaborate, I'm not angry at my manager. I like this manager - they're very nice. It just hit me as a bit entertaining that no one understands why I don't spend more time in the store.

[Pixilated]

Good luck with your interview; I'll cross my fingers for you!

Gotta love management members that seem to think compliments will somehow pay your bills or fill your fridge, eh? And then there's the response of so many of them, when you explain that it just ain't so and you need to find a job with a liveable wage, which is usually

Don't get me wrong, I like to be told when I'm doing a good job ... or given a heads-up when I'm not (my last 10 years at the local newspaper were 10 years in a vacuum; you got no feedback at all. This, we were told, was a Good Thing: "If nobody says anything, you know you're doing OK." Um ... thanks?)

But I also like to have a decent wage. With the compliments, not instead of them.

[Racket_Man]

Quoth Moosenogger

You see, our management and the company as a whole likes to compliment us lowly grunts whenever we give great customer service. Since it would cost too much to give us a bonus or reward every time we're seen doing something amazingly over and above what's required of us, the company has management give out little cards stating what we did that was so awesome. We then put these cards into a box and a winner is drawn every week or so. You win, you get a prize. Huzzah~

:

HMMMM that sound just like what my company llikes to do ie. hand out ATTA BOY CHUMPS cards (without the chance for prizes) AFTER they cut our pay by 20% and froze it for the foreseeable future cause ya know the company is really really poor at this time.

I am willing to bet these "prizes" are some cheap little sparkley thing.

[Moosenogger]

Quoth Racket_Man

I am willing to bet these "prizes" are some cheap little sparkley thing.

It's been ages since I won anything, so I really have no idea what they're giving out right now.

[Bright_Star]

I never cared about recieving plaques or cute little metal things saying how good a worker I am. All I give a shit about when working a job is I get paid a decent wage for working a decent amount of hours AND being treated with respect.
IF management wants to make their people work at their very best then giving them a raise in pay works wonders in bosting job performance. Handing out shitty little trophies aint gonna cut it.

[Kristev]

Yes. You simply have to be able to pay your bills. These days, it seems a single job just isn't going to do it.

[Shalom]

Quoth Kristev

Yes. You simply have to be able to pay your bills. These days, it seems a single job just isn't going to do it.

I am reminded of an editorial cartoon I saw, many years ago, which still applies. It's at a dinner, and some politician is up at the podium pontificating, "My administration created 100,000 new jobs last year!" and the waiter serving the people seated at the dais is thinking, Yeah, and I've got four of them. Wish I could find a copy.

[wolfie]

Can't recall the quote exactly, but I believe one of the Dilbert books had Scot Adams saying that a manager somewhere was probably sticking a bent paper clip into an eraser and calling it the "Excalibur award for excellence".

As for the rodent, is it the one with the nickname for a 12 ounce bottle of hard liquor, or the one whose middle name was chosen in honour of a European uncle (don't know if it was his Dutch uncle "Edam" or his Swiss uncle "Emmenthal")?

[Seshat]

Quoth Bright_Star

I never cared about recieving plaques or cute little metal things saying how good a worker I am. All I give a shit about when working a job is I get paid a decent wage for working a decent amount of hours AND being treated with respect.

I have to give my parents credit for that much: our living standard when we were running a business was no better than our workers'. And the workers were welcome around our house - at first, the office was my old bedroom. So they could see it for themselves.

If I was running a business on the type of slender profit my parents did, I think I'd be careful of giving out plaques or cute little metal things. I may not be ABLE to give the good workers a raise, but I can put aside a small percentage of the profits, and give the good worker that month's bonus-percentage as the reward for the month.

Much more useful. And if he/she really does want a trinket, well, they can buy that piece of jewelry they've been eyeing. Or the Bosch power tool. Or whatever.

[cindybubbles]

Which rodent is it, though? The one whose last name is a dairy product, or the one with lots of castles?