tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post1700282689398451091..comments2024-03-13T07:34:24.149+00:00Comments on The Age of Uncertainty: Private LivesSteerforthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-69307033044881932172012-02-14T19:28:14.648+00:002012-02-14T19:28:14.648+00:00Donna - So much for leaving a comment. I always wo...Donna - So much for leaving a comment. I always wonder if I've written complete drivel and it's a huge relief when my posts strike a chord with others.<br /><br />Richmonde - I'd forgotten about the phone problem, with colleagues playing to the gallery so that we could all hear what a remarkabe life they had. Awful. We still have it on trains though.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-7748068867167480482012-02-14T05:04:24.624+00:002012-02-14T05:04:24.624+00:00You know, I read your column all the time, and I&#...You know, I read your column all the time, and I'd like to say something pithy...but all I can think of is that I love your writing. I absolutely love it.<br />Thanks,<br />DonnaDonna McKinnonhttp://www.32pages.canoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-52320712026897915502012-02-07T21:08:19.964+00:002012-02-07T21:08:19.964+00:00Two things I don't miss from the days before m...Two things I don't miss from the days before mobile phones and email: 1) colleagues spending hours on the phone talking about the minutiae of their life. Everybody listened, and discussed what they'd heard. 2) People phoning me and going on for hours either just bending my ear or trying to pressure me to do things.<br /><br />Not much work got done!<br /><br />Again, my colleagues used to listen to my end of the conversation and laugh at what I said and the way I said it. (That's a third thing I don't miss.)<br /><br />The people who rang me up and talked at length never quite believed that I occasionally did some work at work.Lucy R. Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-91043835964054781622012-02-06T23:47:00.836+00:002012-02-06T23:47:00.836+00:00Lucy - It must be wonderful to be one of those peo...Lucy - It must be wonderful to be one of those people who end up earning a living from something they're passionate about, rather than regarding each day as a sentence. I don't know how people can stand jobs like working in a call centre, or sitting at the checkout of Tesco for seven hours. <br /><br />I'm pretty happy with my current job, but I'll be even happier when the money starts to come in.<br /><br />zmkc - Yes, I think these courses do produce a 'Dunkirk spirit'. I feel a little guilty about the way I behaved on some occasions, but everyone has their breaking point.<br /><br />I remember one course in which someone droned on incessantly about the importance of keeping a folder in the office of weekly fire safety checks, so that if the place burned down the employer could avoid liability. My question was innocent enough: "If the building burns down, won't the fire safety checks be destroyed?" But from that point on, I was the troublemaker. <br /><br />Biscuit - I think it caused quite a stir at the time, particular as an innocent man was hanged before the police caught up with Christie.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-45309994529246021662012-02-06T18:57:05.784+00:002012-02-06T18:57:05.784+00:00I agree with every word in this entry. Repeatedly....I agree with every word in this entry. Repeatedly.<br /><br />Also, the John Christie angle actually made me gasp.Biscuithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09943228742048113256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-92153481890382887222012-02-06T06:30:35.604+00:002012-02-06T06:30:35.604+00:00The last time I was sent on a day's team build...The last time I was sent on a day's team building, we did all become much fonder of each other by the end, but only because we all encouraged one another to get progressively sillier and to send up the team building man, who was a jerk, but I still felt we were rather meaner than we should have been to him. On the other hand, he was, as people who do that kind of job really have to be, extremely bumptious and almost totally insensitive, and I think he just decided we were all some kind of weird category of personality that he'd read about in some training manual, which had warned him that the only thing to do with that type was humour them. He may have been mildly disappointed that he never persuaded us to all jump in the air, whooping, like those people in your picture. I would have been prepared to give it a go in an ironic way but others said that, even in an ironic way, it would be the thin end of the wedge, and in hindsight, I realise they were absolutely right.zmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-29124685970890073082012-02-05T23:47:00.378+00:002012-02-05T23:47:00.378+00:00I have always worked in female-dominated workplace...I have always worked in female-dominated workplaces. The cat fighting, tantrums and back-stabbing (just from senior management)constantly got in the way of progress. HR had to get involved in some really petty staff disputes, such a waste of their time. <br />I never went out on the staff nights out lest they see the real me. I've said it before, I miss NOTHING about having a job. Every day in my last job, I walked in knowing I'd get nothing constructive done. After 7 years it kind of gets you down.<br />I envy those who get enormous satisfaction ordering £11.99 worth of tat from the Book People in the staff room and eating a ham sandwich, yoghurt and ready salted crisps every day. No, I don't really. I envy those who enjoy their work.lucy joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04863146546863419637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-77197675246175435742012-02-05T21:22:00.187+00:002012-02-05T21:22:00.187+00:00Richard - Like you, my experience of the HR world ...Richard - Like you, my experience of the HR world has been largely negative - people who contribute nothing to a business and justify their positions by creating a lot of unnecessary, time-consuming work.<br /><br />However, in fairness, I've also been lucky enough to work with two HR people who were a model of impartiality, compassion and honesty. If only they were the norm.<br /><br />Laura - I agree. My personal time is my own. I really don't appreciate being coerced into giving up an evening to spend time with people I have nothing in common with. Why do we all have to be friends? Isn't professionalism and mutual respect enough?<br /><br />John - I bet Google has a lovely HR department, populated by people with smiley, bobbing heads who say 'Hey!' when they meet and talk about Google's brand values.<br /><br />I wonder if you're able to leave at 5.30 without feeling like an outsider.<br /><br />I've no idea, but so many companies and corporations remind me of descriptions of life in the USSR, where it wasn't enough to work hard and obey the law - you had to share the same values as the Party, otherwise you were an Enemy of the People. <br /><br />It's odd how so many businesspeople, who generally expound rightwing, libertarian views, run their companies like Soviet Russia.<br /><br />I'm ranting now. My apologies.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-28857802809263753802012-02-05T20:21:14.445+00:002012-02-05T20:21:14.445+00:001. "Human Resources" has always sounded ...1. "Human Resources" has always sounded to me like a euphemism for "slaves". Perhaps that explains a lot about modern corporate culture.<br /><br />2. It's also odd that department called Human Resources employs so few actual humans.<br /><br />(So far I've had to submit this form four times each with a different Captcha. Nothing went wrong, apparently that's just the process. I bet they've got a great Human Resources department at Google.)John Peacockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12503821022449512583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-3384488154443878112012-02-05T19:06:41.782+00:002012-02-05T19:06:41.782+00:00Hear hear! I often dread socials with my colleague...Hear hear! I often dread socials with my colleagues, not because I don't like my colleagues but because they have such radically different tastes to me. My idea of hell is a tribute band night or an amateur abortion of 'The Sound of Music' at the local musical theatre. An hour's bowling followed by a chinese meal is just about do-able, but any other activity they come up with makes me flinch!The Poet Laura-eatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07779308486569849157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-22233255948121382452012-02-05T17:49:48.905+00:002012-02-05T17:49:48.905+00:00Human Resources departments are the single, most s...Human Resources departments are the single, most significant factor in the collapse of British industry, in my experience.I generally get to see them from the outside ( but alas, not always ) and the fear, misery and dissension they create is depressing and destructive, and they have SUCH POWER! It's also strange that they are populated with people who appear to have no social skills whatsoever. I'm sure that there are very responsible, well trained and committed HR folk out there doing their best, but they are a tiny minority. Most of the ones I have had the misery to meet are motivated by loathing of their fellow men. One of the problems is that they don't actually 'do' anything for an organisation. They don't produce anything, create anything or contribute in any way to industry or the economy - so go to a lot of trouble to stop anyone else from being able to.Grey Areahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18240869670530738753noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-32943142409813257802012-02-05T15:36:39.526+00:002012-02-05T15:36:39.526+00:00Sarah - Agreed. I've often had discussions wit...Sarah - Agreed. I've often had discussions with bosses about promoting staff and invariably, people's personal circumstances are mentioned. Employees should have the right to ask for flexibility when personal problems arise, but shouldn't be compelled to give information about their private lives as a matter of course.<br /><br />Rog - That's why I don't share some people's unreserved adulation for Steve Jobs.<br /><br />Nell - Do you remember the documentary about some executives who were sent on an outward bound course in Dartmoor? One man refused to join in because he asserted that it had nothing to do with his job. He was the one that got promoted.<br /><br />Annabel - I could never take these courses seriously either and used to see what I could get away with, using the role play to subtly ridicule the course. It annoyed the trainers but kept the rest of us sane.<br /><br />Chickadee - Yes, that's what I try to do now. It's easier as I get older, as there isn't the same pressure to be friends with colleagues. One lesson I have learned is to avoid socialising with the boss.<br /><br />As far as separating working and private lives, it used to be called 'being professional'. Good for you for trying.<br /><br />Martin - It was your example and those of others that helped to convince me that self-employment was worth the uncertainty. I can't stress what a relief it is to no longer have to pay lip service to corporate attitudes.<br /><br />Kid - Yes, the very fact that someone wants to be a leader usually makes them unsuited to it.<br /><br />Kate - Self-employment is a bit of a roller coaster and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's up to their neck in debt. I hope the roller coaster analogy doesn't include suddenly plunging down after reaching great heights!Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-4087272928933983982012-02-05T14:54:35.738+00:002012-02-05T14:54:35.738+00:00This post really rang true with me.
I also left ...This post really rang true with me. <br /><br />I also left my "safe" job recently and am experiencing the roller coaster of self employment. I like the freedom of calling my own shots and creating my own work environment.<br /><br />Glad you are posting more often. You always write something worth reading.Kate Richbourghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07396948110796836722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-77658155295164042802012-02-05T10:37:54.738+00:002012-02-05T10:37:54.738+00:00I'm always suspicious of the type of person wh...I'm always suspicious of the type of person who want to be "team leader"...or any kind of leader, in fact. Sometimes you'll hear them describe themselves as a "born leader", which one wag once described as "someone who's too scared to go anywhere by himself." Great post.Kidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07224781868125924337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-22484905561163510572012-02-05T09:55:50.648+00:002012-02-05T09:55:50.648+00:00You paint a scene I know too well, and miss not on...You paint a scene I know too well, and miss not one jot.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13494219959077922220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-49901118227156307822012-02-04T19:42:42.324+00:002012-02-04T19:42:42.324+00:00Amen. You have given voice to something I've ...Amen. You have given voice to something I've long felt. Often what passes for conversation in today's world comes under the heading of what texters refer to as 'TMI" -- too much information!<br /><br />I always tried to keep my private and my work lives separate, but as you can imagine, this didn't always work. But I tried!Canadian Chickadeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12995693884248628958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-29972743712320786402012-02-04T19:14:25.734+00:002012-02-04T19:14:25.734+00:00I used to dread the team-building 'fun' da...I used to dread the team-building 'fun' days at the multi-national I used to work for, and the motivational courses where you had to assess yourselves and others. I never treated them seriously enough, which is probably why I never got anywhere!Annabel (gaskella)http://gaskella.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-72678815745159880522012-02-04T17:59:54.892+00:002012-02-04T17:59:54.892+00:00...and the role play, spare me the role play....and the role play, spare me the role play.Little Nellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11862657943846727987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-48161411386424710672012-02-04T15:24:47.908+00:002012-02-04T15:24:47.908+00:00The Savings Bank sounds like the place iPhones are...The Savings Bank sounds like the place iPhones are made in China.<br /><br />I used to work with Bob....Roghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09430706557035189147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-85548968829063668412012-02-04T14:32:47.191+00:002012-02-04T14:32:47.191+00:00I can understand that. It's a double-edged swo...I can understand that. It's a double-edged sword, revealing yourself at work. You never know if your situation/weaknesses will then be used against you by the more unscrupulous member of your haha team.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13195684182481935384noreply@blogger.com