movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Jan 28, 2016 13:28:27 GMT -5
This is what I tell the people who report to me. If they need to stay late from time to time that is fine but in general they shouldn't have to work more than 40 hrs a week.
EVERYBODY is replaceable. There is one person who thinks she is not replaceable and she is probably the MOST replaceable employee in the office. She doesn't report to me, but more than once when she has eluded to the fact that she is irreplaceable I have pointed out the fact that Apple still runs without Steve Jobs so I am pretty sure our office wouldn't cease to exist without her.
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Jan 28, 2016 13:34:57 GMT -5
This is what I tell the people who report to me. If they need to stay late from time to time that is fine but in general they shouldn't have to work more than 40 hrs a week. EVERYBODY is replaceable. There is one person who thinks she is not replaceable and she is probably the MOST replaceable employee in the office. She doesn't report to me, but more than once when she has eluded to the fact that she is irreplaceable I have pointed out the fact that Apple still runs without Steve Jobs so I am pretty sure our office wouldn't cease to exist without her. We have one of those here too. She drives me BSC. She wears it like a badge of honor that she "needs" to be here 50 hours a week. Umm- no you don't. I know what you do. You should be able to finish in 35- so you're either incompetent- or trying to snow your boss.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Jan 28, 2016 13:37:38 GMT -5
DH has encountered people that think if you aren't staying as late as they are you must be doing something wrong.
He said on closer inspection you often find they are really crappy at time management or are choosing to milk the clock.
Sometimes unfortunately the work culture is geared towards how many hours your butt is in your seat. Instead of asking why you can get the same job done in 40 hours compared to 60 they expect you to "find something to do" so you're there fore for an extra 20 hours a week too.
When that happens it's best to start looking for another job, you can't win. Eventually someone will get on you for playing solitaire all day and your claims that there is no work to justify 60 hours a week will fall on deaf ears. Or they will make up some BS busy work to keep you occupied.
I don't get it myself. It's one thing I agree with Paul on, it really should be about working SMARTER, not harder.
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movingforward
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Joined: Sept 15, 2011 12:48:31 GMT -5
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Post by movingforward on Jan 28, 2016 14:11:32 GMT -5
This is what I tell the people who report to me. If they need to stay late from time to time that is fine but in general they shouldn't have to work more than 40 hrs a week. EVERYBODY is replaceable. There is one person who thinks she is not replaceable and she is probably the MOST replaceable employee in the office. She doesn't report to me, but more than once when she has eluded to the fact that she is irreplaceable I have pointed out the fact that Apple still runs without Steve Jobs so I am pretty sure our office wouldn't cease to exist without her. We have one of those here too. She drives me BSC. She wears it like a badge of honor that she "needs" to be here 50 hours a week. Umm- no you don't. I know what you do. You should be able to finish in 35- so you're either incompetent- or trying to snow your boss. The one at my place of business has been protected by our CEO for several years. The CEO is retiring in June 2017 so my guess is this person's days are numbered.
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Jan 28, 2016 14:16:49 GMT -5
Mines going to be let go with the shut down. I do take some satisfaction in that. She'll be someone else's problem soon.
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bartman72
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Post by bartman72 on Jan 28, 2016 18:00:29 GMT -5
Once we had wrapped something up at what would be a decent quitting time, and I tried what you suggested. You would have thought I had asked for a huge raise. She let me go, but grudgingly, to where I didn't want to go through it again. The power to dismiss me holds some kind of meaning for her.
I assume your boss is working just as long or longer hours than you are?
I worked for the Bitch Manager from Hell... she would religiously came in at 8:00am and left at 5:05pm every weekday. She never came into the office on the weekends. This was not the problem. She expected her staff to be at their desks working at 8:00am and we couldn't leave before 5:30pm - in fact if we were leaving at 5:30pm we had to clear it with her before hand. She also expected us to work the weekends - on next to no warning. She would often contrive situations to enforce this work ethic. She'd hand down a 5 or 6 hour assignment that "must be done by 8:00am tomorrow" at 4:45pm (oddly enough if you requested to leave at 5:30pm on a particular day - you could pretty much be assured that some "hot project" would land on your desk between 4:30 and 4:45pm. She would notoriously drop 'busy work' on our desks early in the week - and then come Friday morning - we'd get "Oh, jeez we're behind schedule - you all will have to work this weekend to make up the short fall". That woman was pure Evil.
I'm hoping you don't have a Bitch/Bastard Manager from Hell if you do - I would NOT give up your job search. This person is Toxic. ESCAPE as soon as possible. Yes, I will say that for her, that she at least works the same hours and a lot more. But thank goodness she has a "no work on weekends" policy; otherwise, I wouldn't have made it this far.
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bartman72
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Post by bartman72 on Jan 28, 2016 18:41:28 GMT -5
DH has encountered people that think if you aren't staying as late as they are you must be doing something wrong. He said on closer inspection you often find they are really crappy at time management or are choosing to milk the clock. Sometimes unfortunately the work culture is geared towards how many hours your butt is in your seat. Instead of asking why you can get the same job done in 40 hours compared to 60 they expect you to "find something to do" so you're there fore for an extra 20 hours a week too. When that happens it's best to start looking for another job, you can't win. Eventually someone will get on you for playing solitaire all day and your claims that there is no work to justify 60 hours a week will fall on deaf ears. Or they will make up some BS busy work to keep you occupied. I don't get it myself. It's one thing I agree with Paul on, it really should be about working SMARTER, not harder. Or they're terribly disorganized - my supervisor's office is a disaster area, and the paper piles have fallen on each other at least once. It was funny because she thought someone tipped them over deliberately. The solitaire comment is spot on - when it's so late that I know I'd mess up anything I'd touch, I'll browse the net. I prefer the ALT-F4 method of closing applications - much quicker than the mouse and less awkward.
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Jan 28, 2016 18:49:18 GMT -5
The solitaire comment is spot on - when it's so late that I know I'd mess up anything I'd touch, I'll browse the net. I prefer the ALT-F4 method of closing applications - much quicker than the mouse and less awkward. Dang I'm going to remember that one. I'm probably quicker with the mouse, but the left hand may be less conspicuous. Been doing a lot of job hunting lately.
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bartman72
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Post by bartman72 on Jan 28, 2016 19:07:29 GMT -5
Why would you put up with that as an accountant? There are so many accounting jobs out there. I've been unemployed 3 times in the last decade, and the longest it took to find work was 1.5 months. The problem now is that interviewing at the end of day is impossible, so I have to do it in the morning, and as Tennesseer pointed out, that's a risky proposition. My supervisor let someone go for attendance related issues AFTER I started this thread, so now I'm really nervous.
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Jan 28, 2016 19:20:38 GMT -5
Do you have enough leave that you can take a day off or a partial day when you are interviewing?
And are you in an area that there aren't many jobs? I couldn't stand that type of micromanaging.
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Works4me
Senior Member
Someone responded to your personal ad - a German Shepherd named Tara wants to have you for dinner...
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Post by Works4me on Jan 28, 2016 20:07:16 GMT -5
Regarding the interviews - dental work or PT are also good for a series of early morning appointments.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Jan 28, 2016 22:07:32 GMT -5
And in my shoes, you would probably do just fine. I have issues with being assertive - as a youth I would put up with things for far too long and eventually respond inappropriately. Plus, I mentioned in a prior response that I feel like my supervisor's personal assistant. The ridiculous hours, in a perverse way, are a form of job security in my mind. That is to say there aren't a lot of accountants who would put up with this situation for any length of time. I'm gonna be harsh here - you need to re-write the script in your head. It's NOT job security -it's getting stuck in a Dead End job. In the short term it is giving you possibly valuable "skills" or "knowledge" - but stay more than a few years and you're behind - both skill wise AND salary wise - and you will be exhausted and possibly thinking that you won't be able to find another job (the devil you know is better than the devil you don't). It's also putting in a lot of hours (and missing out on life events) for maybe not enough compensation AND it's potentially holding you back from doing other things with your life or your career.
I am of course, assuming you are young-ish and that you aren't being 'groomed' to step into your boss' shoes within the next year or two OR that you are old and planning to leave the workforce in the next couple of years and this 'secure' job is lining your pockets/setting you up for a better retirement in some way.
FWIW: I've witnessed a couple of accountants (always women) suffer thru what became more than 10 years of horribly long hours - crappy pay - and general doormat status at work - all the while feeling like they were being 'loyal' and that it would one day pay off... they also felt they had 'job security' - after all who else could do their job as well as they did (all the hours)? One got laid off - her department was downsized and she did get transferred but she and the new manager had a lot of clashes (the new manager wanted someone who could think on their feet - not just take orders.) One also became jobless when her manager moved to another position - my friend tried for the open management position but didn't get it - the company 'cleaned house' and revamped her department - and there was no place for my friend.
My advice - look hard at what YOU want for the long term and DON"T get trapped.
Listen to Tina. I let myself get sucked and into the I'm indispensable. My boss can't function without me for too long. Finally I realized that I was holding myself back. If I wasn't doing what I really wanted to in my career, I needed to go out and find a job that did it. I interviewed for my current job a year ago and I have been in it since March. The last 2 months I've stepped up and taken charge and my new company is letting me roll with it. I'm not stagnant here. I'm learning new stuff every day. I'm so darn productive I can't even putz on the net and no one cares when I am me into work and when I leave. They are pretty relaxed as long as your work is done.
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