I've found it extremely interesting to listen to those in the news and community these days complain about "unemployable" people who have parked on their dime. You've heard these complaints - "They" don't want to work..." "They" just want to live in public housing and get welfare." "They" keep having children that "they" can't take care of and milking the system..." "They" are unemployable..." I'm here to tell you this is all a bunch of BULLCRAP." Let me dish you the real on the MESS that happens in the workplace that leads to people totally capable of doing the job checking out instead to the comfort of the support of the taxpayer.
Once upon a time, I believed very much in the "American Dream." It was all that many of us who grew up with less than had to look forward to as adults. We were sold on the premise that if we get an education and obtain the skills to join the workforce, we would eventually be able to purchase our slice of America - white picket fence and the whole 40 acres and a mule (remember?). But what this life has taught me is that I've been sold a lie, or someone changed the blueprint without bringing me up to speed. The truth is that many people are capable of doing any job that they have hopes to obtain and keep, but there are those on the job that have built an arena for special interest groups, cliques and/or social organizations and personal bias to drive you right back to the poverty that "they" claim is destroying the country. I mean, really? Make up your mind! Do you want me to work? Or do YOU want to work for both of us?
If you review my previous blog posts, you'll see that I've taken a hiatus from posting..., a hibernation... Ok, I've been away for a little more than 3 years. And it wasn't because I didn't want to blog or because I didn't have any subscribers (I know you were visiting because the blog tracks the traffic. Why didn't you commit to subscribe?) Honestly, I just had quite a few changes that didn't allow as much opportunity to blog. I finally found the opportunity to relocate. And although it was a compromise, it is still closer to what I want for my life than staying in the same place. I secured employment that has allowed me to exit the public housing and welfare system. And although I haven't realized all my goals at this time - and very possibly might have to return from whence I came (haha) - I've had the opportunity to try and propel myself to where I should actually be at this stage in my life. Yet, with all that hard work and commitment comes a huge disappointment in what I was told and what I have learned to be true.
This bookmark in my career has opened my eyes to an unsettling reality. I've had many places of employment. Heck, I've been working for somebody ever since I turned 16 yrs old. I have never, NEVER experienced this kind of nonsense in the workplace. The day to day grind has become a platform for some type of soap opera rather than a place where we are working towards a common mission and goal. I've experienced workplace bullying. I've experienced blindsided attempts to either demote me or terminate my employment altogether. I've experienced harassment by management. The list grows with each week. There is always another opportunity - not to learn more about how to effectively do your job - to learn how to invite a person to no longer work there or escort them towards an early retirement.
At first I thought I was being paranoid and insecure. But... Nah.... I had the opportunity to read the article How To Make An Employee Want to Leave from ToughNickel.com and discovered that these are the EXACT tactics to which I had been subjected. It's almost as if the boss read the manual and used each one by the book word for word. At first I was in awe. Why would you want me to leave? You hired me. I listened to Human Resources croon about how each candidate was carefully selected and for every one that made it there were at least 5 others who didn't get the job. If you are so skilled and competent at employee selection, how did you make such a gross error? Then I had to rewind and realize that management has changed. At the time I was hired, there was high turnover and not quite enough employees to meet the demand. But... as sad as it is to admit, I seem to have been used to get the numbers down and get the business "even" so that the cycle can perpetuate itself again. And I do say it's a cycle because I've talked with the "veteran" staff who say that this company has a reputation for doing this kind of thing and that it happens methodically every few years. Thus, the management that hired me has left or moved on, and the management that is in place now would like to resume "their way" of doing things.
It would seem ideal and too much like right to just have an open discussion with an employee, share your concerns, talk about why things aren't working out and reach a consensus. The fact that this element is missing from the process is all the confirmation you need that you are employed somewhere where there is a backwards and upside down way of doing things, meaning that there has probably been some similar dishonesty or backwards way of doing things that has caused a stink in the past. And if you get down to the politics of it, forcing you to leave on your own is a much more desirable outcome than discharging you and having to pay unemployment insurance. I mean, how ridiculous is it to not want to pay you to do the job, fire you, then pay you not to do the job? (HaHa)
Really, it doesn't matter what the reasons are. That's a whole part 2 to this post. The facts are that management makes a conscious decision to build the kinds of employees that they desire to carry out their business, or they make... enemies, I guess. That seems harsh, but no matter how much one would claim you don't know how to do your job, there are others who were discharged under similar pretenses that were employees at one point and equally as qualified to continue to work there with the right leadership.
The meat of this post is that those who want to work are working because that is what they desire to do. In the end, if you are one who has minimized a person's potential and made it appear that the duties are beyond that person's capabilities or understanding, don't then out of the other side of your mouth complain that the people you say don't want to work have decided instead to take the helm and whip you to support them.
Thousands in Georgia finding out they are no longer eligible for food stamps
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