You would think that after two unexpected losses that management would have learned (or even taken classes on) how to deal with these situations. Yes it is true, most of us know that these companies could care less about us. But we generally just feel this way. To have it outright displayed conjures up a lot of other emotions. So what do I mean by outright displayed...the way they (management) decided to tell us (keeping in mind that the office just lost someone a little over a month ago) about our co-worker was in an e-mail that read:
I'm sorry to let you all know that yesterday at 3:15, [he/she] suffered a major cardiac event. [He/She] is currently at [name of hospital]. It is reported that as of yesterday [he/she] was in a coma. We don't know what [his/her] condition is this morning.
While we hope [he/she] has a complete recovery, it is pretty clear [he'll/she'll] be out of the office for an extended period of time. We are therefore reassigning [his/her] backlog this afternoon. This reassignment will count as intake, but examiners won't see the relief on intake until tomorrow.
As additional information becomes available, we will try to keep you all informed.
Are you serious??? I could point out many things that are wrong with this presentation but I will only say this...cases sit longer when people are on vacation!! In every effort to keep my mind in business mode I really have to move on...
But what should YOU know (because I am trying to find the positive in EVERY thing):
1. Know your worth. If you depend on others to show it to you, you may never know it.
2. Know that your actions/comments affect other people.
3. Know that people are human even if they don't act like it (do you see the consequences of forgetting this?)
4. Know how important it is to stay healthy and listen to your body (while we don't know what caused the health problems, we do know that stress, mandatory overtime, enormous backlogs and careless people didn't help the situation).
5. Know that your job will go on without you (so you better do what you gotta do!)
6. Most importantly, know that God is still on the throne. We are overwhelmed with negativity and with that it is sometimes hard to remember this. The word is true and is being fulfilled whether we know it or not. There is a reason that we needed a savior.
It is a lot to not let fear set it (especially considering that these people are all African-American, work in the same office and under 60 years of age) but fear is not of God (He has NOT given us the spirit of fear!). But I cannot stress it enough. Take care of yourselves people! Learn your bodies and listen to them. Yes we have to work to earn a living but don't let the job work you (you see that they don't care and will go on without you)! Pause for a moment...think about it! Stop chasing it and learn to enjoy what you have!
and seriously...have you shown love today? I sure hope so because tomorrow really isn't promised.
Good word and much to think about. For whatever reason, management tries to avoid becoming too personal in certain situations because they believe it may cloud their judgment and behavior. The State of Michigan has a program for employees to help them deal with situations like this. It's called the Employees Services Program (ESP). Managment may feel that since ESP is set up for this type of thing that they will let them handle it if employees are struggling with the situation. I can't speak for them at all as to why and how they're suppose to deal with situations like this. But it happens everywhere unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteExcellent word. GREAT POSITIVES on the situation. I sometimes to forget to find the positive. It sounds like management also forgets. Maybe management could have informed people about ESP. Maybe, just maybe that could've softened the blow... Well, at least we know you'll be an excellent boss to work for. SDR
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