| Resources |
Confidence at Work
Is your lack of confidence holding you back? Do you have a hard time saying no?
Assertiveness help
Don't let your boss push you around. Learn how to be
assertive without being aggressive.
Manage your Stress
Develop new skills to deal with stressful situations.
Dealing with Difficult People
We all come into contact with difficult people from time to time, but how do you deal with them?
Interview Tips
If all else fails, and you are unhappy in your current job,
you may want to think about moving on. |
| Search |
|
|
| So much for being a team player |
|
I have always believed the idea of being a team player was best and have tried in every job I have had to get along with other people and try to share my knowledge with anyone needing to hear it in the hope that their performance would improve overall. My thought was: "shared understanding leads to better communication and more productive work." I am not sure if I read that somewhere or just made it up but it encapsulates my philosophy toward team work.
One year ago my boss gave me an assistant to work with to help me in my HR responsibilities. She is a bright young lady, eager to learn and has a good work ethic. I talked with her about her future and we determined that she is sincerely interested in HR work. I began pouring my knowledge into her, teaching her what I knew of the business.
Recently when our company's work slowed down, my boss came to me and started asking me to lay certain employees off. I did so. He came back and asked for more lay-offs, and again I did so. Then he came and asked me if I could afford to lose my assistant. I told him I could but it would be a big loss to the company because she is so helpful to me. Later he returned and asked me if I had to pick between her and a receptionist/admin to assist me which would I pick? I weighed both ladies helpfulness and productivity and determined my assistant by far was the better of the two employees. He asked me how I came to my decision. I gave him a detailed comparison of the two. In the end he concurred with my finding and asked me to lay off the receptionist/admin. I did.
In meetings we have had since, he has asked other managers: who in their departments they can afford to do without? None of them could lose anybody. I was asked if I could do without my assistant. I told him I could but I preferred not to because she is a triple-threat: she is a great receptionist, she is a good administrator and she is learning HR. In fact, I am the ONLY manager in the company who was cross-training my direct report -- which is one of the things he expects of ALL of his managers.
I reminded him I was cross-training her, and I also bragged on her progress -- all in an effort to solidify in his mind how important it was we hang onto her.
I knew something no one else knew. She is a single mother of a 2-year-old boy. Her boyfriend recently left her, and she gets no support from him, his family or her family. Having been raised by a single mother, and knowing there were other employees we could afford to do without, I could not bring myself to cut her loose and throw her out to the streets during the Holidays.
So in a need to cut our budget, and seeing how good she was doing as my assistant, he decided to lay me off and put her in my spot!
Now I am unemployed and seeking new work. Mainly because the conomy is dragging and work is slow and also becasue I gave away a lot of my knowledge in an effort to help her, and she makes less money than I did. By the way, I was the only manager in the company who made under $50K, and I was the only manager who was not only cross-training my subordinate but also developed a cross-training plan none of the other mangers ever implemented though they have been told to several times.
I have no regrets about training her. I would do it all over again if I had the chance because I have added something to her life which will make her more valuable in the future either to that company or another. But I would not have bragged on her so much. I should have bitten the bullet and offered her up for layoff when he asked me to keep my job.
What I have learend from this experience is that cross-training is a double-edged sword: if you help those under you learn your job you run the risk of losing it to them. If you help those under you learn your job theyc an help carry some of the load.
New philosophy in life: don't share what you know unless you have to.
New philosophy toward team work and cross training: being a good team mate does not mean you get to keep your job. In fact, the three men who argue and fight the most, who refuse to work well with anyone in the company still have their jobs! None of them cross-train their employees, none of them share their knowledge, and ALL of them have their jobs!
|
|