And another thing...
Anyway, sorry about the rant. Food safety and food security issues are a hot-button topic with me.
I wanted to bring up one more reason why I'm glad to be getting out of here. (There are many, but this is the one that's on my mind right now.) Last week I got my yearly review. Meh, I didn't really care - the $0.82 raise I was getting would only be for a week or so. I guess it's an extra $30, but I really couldn't work up a huge amount of enthusiasum.
My boss and I went through the review he gave me. Now, I have to give him this: he is very, very good at toeing the company line but still trying to make it seem like he's on your side. Sort of the "Well, I *have* to do this because it's policy, but I know it's going to suck for you." This happens a lot, and I might actually mention it in my exit interview... We're constantly being told by management what a wonderful resource that the company's employees are, but as soon as the shit hits the fan we're the first ones to get spattered. (I'll have to come up with a politic way of wording that, though.) For a very specific example, when they shut down the mail room several years ago, they told all of the mail reps that they could get positions with different accounts but they had to pass an aptitude test. They knew very well that several of them wouldn't pass. Worse, there was one deaf employee who was told that - well, sorry... There weren't any positions for her in the call centre. True, she couldn't answer a phone, but lots of account process emails and do online customer service chats. She could have done that, but they didn't want to have to bother with it. I really wish she had filed a complaint with the Labour board.
Back to my review... I was marked down on "Adaptibility/Flexibility." I have worked 10-day shifts to cover for people on vacation. I have done longer shifts to help out with absences. But I was marked down for two specific occurrences. First, when they were trying to give me that all-over-the-map flex shift, I went and questioned whether there was any way for my schedule to be a bit more consistent. I didn't march in there and say, "This is crap, I'm not doing this!" I calmly explained that my husband works the same shift as I do BECAUSE of my shift. If you put me on a flex shift, he has to be on a flex shift. I also said that I would work the flex shift if there was no other way around it, but that I would really rather prefer something more predictable.
I got marked down because I didn't embrace the change and work it without any comment. Because I asked if there was any way for me not to do a flex shift, I got marked down for flexibility.
The other occasion he mentioned was when I told him that I was quitting. I explained that I'd been looking for another job and that there wasn't much that I was interested in for advancement here. I also said, "To be honest, the final straw was going back to every other weekend." So because I mentioned that to him as a reason for putting in my resignation, I marked down for adaptibility.
Whatever. I was marked down from an "Exceeds Expectations" to a "Meets Expectations." If it had been bumped down to a "Needs Improvement," or if I wasn't quitting, I would have challenged it. As it is, I didn't care that much. It irritates me, but it's serving more as a confirmation of why it's good that I'm leaving rather than to piss me off.
Three more days.
I wanted to bring up one more reason why I'm glad to be getting out of here. (There are many, but this is the one that's on my mind right now.) Last week I got my yearly review. Meh, I didn't really care - the $0.82 raise I was getting would only be for a week or so. I guess it's an extra $30, but I really couldn't work up a huge amount of enthusiasum.
My boss and I went through the review he gave me. Now, I have to give him this: he is very, very good at toeing the company line but still trying to make it seem like he's on your side. Sort of the "Well, I *have* to do this because it's policy, but I know it's going to suck for you." This happens a lot, and I might actually mention it in my exit interview... We're constantly being told by management what a wonderful resource that the company's employees are, but as soon as the shit hits the fan we're the first ones to get spattered. (I'll have to come up with a politic way of wording that, though.) For a very specific example, when they shut down the mail room several years ago, they told all of the mail reps that they could get positions with different accounts but they had to pass an aptitude test. They knew very well that several of them wouldn't pass. Worse, there was one deaf employee who was told that - well, sorry... There weren't any positions for her in the call centre. True, she couldn't answer a phone, but lots of account process emails and do online customer service chats. She could have done that, but they didn't want to have to bother with it. I really wish she had filed a complaint with the Labour board.
Back to my review... I was marked down on "Adaptibility/Flexibility." I have worked 10-day shifts to cover for people on vacation. I have done longer shifts to help out with absences. But I was marked down for two specific occurrences. First, when they were trying to give me that all-over-the-map flex shift, I went and questioned whether there was any way for my schedule to be a bit more consistent. I didn't march in there and say, "This is crap, I'm not doing this!" I calmly explained that my husband works the same shift as I do BECAUSE of my shift. If you put me on a flex shift, he has to be on a flex shift. I also said that I would work the flex shift if there was no other way around it, but that I would really rather prefer something more predictable.
I got marked down because I didn't embrace the change and work it without any comment. Because I asked if there was any way for me not to do a flex shift, I got marked down for flexibility.
The other occasion he mentioned was when I told him that I was quitting. I explained that I'd been looking for another job and that there wasn't much that I was interested in for advancement here. I also said, "To be honest, the final straw was going back to every other weekend." So because I mentioned that to him as a reason for putting in my resignation, I marked down for adaptibility.
Whatever. I was marked down from an "Exceeds Expectations" to a "Meets Expectations." If it had been bumped down to a "Needs Improvement," or if I wasn't quitting, I would have challenged it. As it is, I didn't care that much. It irritates me, but it's serving more as a confirmation of why it's good that I'm leaving rather than to piss me off.
Three more days.