POST 10 Monday 6-2-14 Thoughts on when my position was eliminated - we're talking morale, here.

Below, I thought this pic was cool until I looked at the small bottom print. Then I thought it was even cooler, almost bordering on bitchin'. That's all. It's just COOL.

Some thoughts on the general mood and feelings around the org for about the last two years or so.

Morale at the corporate office as of the Friday morning I was let go 5-23-14 was cautious, pessimistic, bordering on some SERIOUS negative vibes, and I had heard before that lots of times people felt themselves drawing away more and more from the organization and especially its Mission. People were and are still afraid to speak openly to others and felt they couldn't speak about anything that even MIGHT be construed as negative, and so therefore a threat.

(I remember reading about this type of atmosphere during the 50's with the McCarthy 'red' Communist witch hunts, an example being when one dare not say ANYTHING bad about the stock market or American business in general or else be considered 'anti-business' which is tantamount to 'anti-American' which of course meant you were a Communist. For some reason, this seems close to the mood around the org. Those 28 persons I noticed that were let go/fired/left/forced out seem to be just like some of those entertainment industry persons who were accused of being Communists and then blacklisted.)

Unfortunately, 'kind and caring' doesn't work with corporate GOC. Either you make money, make your quota of people served and jobs found, save money by cutting your budget down, or you're GONE.

DEFINITION:

According to Alexander M. Leighton, "morale is the capacity of a group of people to pull together consistently and persistently in pursuit of a common purpose.". 

I feel the common 'take' on morale is usually looked at as a positive force in people, and so the positive energy of morale, to band together, is the epitome of a powerful force, a force both within people and physically as a group. SO, again in my opinion, it seems to me that in times of low morale, people are more protective of themselves than protective about the group, since the group isn't providing the security as before. Job security at my work? I had counted over 28 people who had left, were forced out or fired from February 2013 until March 2014, just with Main Facility staff alone. Those kind of events tend to make one think about oneself and one's position at the organization a LOT and become at the very least apprehensive. That type of thinking is sadly also counterproductive-you can't do your job well if you're thinking about all the people who have gone and thinking you might be the next, no matter HOW many people have told you that you won't go anywhere, you're too good at what you do!

(I saw this at Bally Total Fitness also in the late '90's/early at the turn of the century, which is why I had my resume out since the beginning of 2003 so I could escape from the Bally's corporate office.) 

Unfortunately, all those people who told me that I was too important, I do so much for the organization, well, I shouldn't have listened to them so much. I should've been a LOT more cautious and wary. 

Upper management talks of transparency, but only if information goes down to those who do the jobs. Information can and does a lot to reassure people, even if the news isn't so good. It's like going to the doctor: if it's bad, it's best to tell the patient so that the issue can be dealt with quickly. People appreciate honesty, no matter how bad the news, and if it's honest, there is more trust. Underlying rumors would be just rumors, if the trust is there. Interestingly, since the org is considered one of the most trusted companies in 2012, it's an antithesis that the org is considered that only from the outside, and that the inside with the rank-and-file leaves a lot to be desired. Again unfortunately, rumors and whispers were (and still are) flying around the place like trailer parks in Oklahoma during a tornado. I say whispers, because I experienced and saw a lot of people go into places that didn't have cameras (or so we hoped) and would whisper to each other so that others around us wouldn't hear. We'd also hardly at all move our lips, and would use winks. It was my understanding that that cameras weren't audio, they were just video, but hey, there was a lot I didn't know there, believe it or not. A lot of changes in security were made within the last 4 years or so of my employment, what with  employee badges with chips in them for not only timekeeping but to swipe for leaving and entering the buildings, an actual security office at the employee entrance, swiping our badges to even go up the elevator. 

We all realize that within all rumors lies SOME truth, and that's what made it scary.

Notice the definition of morale above: it could go either way, actually. Low morale is the lessened capacity of a group of people etc. High morale is the increased capacity of a group of people, etc.

I truly believe I was a positive force in maintaining a sense of morale at my work with people. If Lynne could make you feel good about yourself, if Lynne could make you laugh, you felt better about any organizational situation or actions and could take one more day without feeling pessimistic or fearful. You could always count on Lynne to lighten your day.

Now Lynne, 'Little Miss Merry-F'ing Sunshine", is gone. In an organization that serves those persons with disabilities and other barriers to employment to train for and find employment, so to eliminate the position of someone who tried to engender some sort of positive outlook within and for the company with clients, outside vendors and employees, is assisting a downward spiral of esprit de corps. 

I'm not tooting my horn, I've been told this quite a few times over the years, that I am a morale booster. Always have been, yet even I hadn't lately been immune to the negatively surrounding Goodwill.

There are some that say, "They didn't offer you another position in some other department?" Well, considering that I'd had a gut feeling that I was becoming sort of expendable last September 2013 when my prior boss the VP of Human Services was forced out, and a HUGE gut feeling this past March, I had a hunch that nothing would be available except perhaps a retail worker at a huge cut in salary, AND since there were no other openings that I would fit into, I'd say that we all knew that there were no suitable positions for me.  

My gut feeling also was in the last few days of that week, my manager had been going to a TON of meetings, and a lot of those meetings I now feel were about the 'restructuring'. I know he fought continuously for me, but when it came down to it, he was trumped by upper management.

I felt a kind of relief and that feeling was kind of surprising to me. No more looking over my shoulder at who was around, no more worrying about those people coming up to my office and being noticed on camera that they came to my office and stayed for a certain period of time, and if they'd get into trouble for talking to me. 

SOME READING HOMEWORK FOR YOU:
The 'No-Asshole Rule' Part I
The 'No-Asshole Rule' Part II

And your final test:
The Asshole Rating Self Exam (the ARSE test). "Are You A Certified Asshole?"

You can probably apply this test and put answers in that you feel a potential asshole would answer, and get a good idea if that person truly is or not.

The articles in the links above are courtesy of Robert Sutton, who has a book out:

The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't

This book available at Amazon.com

The link for the final test is from 
Even if the articles were written in 2007, hey, there's NO SHORTAGE of assholes in any workplace and his take on them is timeless.
Here's his blog link:
Bob Sutton 'Work Matters'