Laziness in the work place
Discussion
As said, a range of reasons. I always made sure my staff felt motivated by praising their work, valuing their opinion and publicly recognizing their achievements. In meetings where I had to present I'd try to get each one to do a bit, not always possible but I ran my teams as exactly that. I used my position to get the best from my team and whoever had the best idea or solution 'won' and we did that. In my last role I was given 'problem workers' who had fallen out with management, had poor work ethic or were simply 'doing their time to retirement'. Guess what? I didn't have a single problem with any of them. I'm not saying I had all the answers but it's never seemed hard to manage people generally, although you will at some point need to get tough with those who simply won't ever respond.
Could it be that the UK workforce as a whole is too difficult to fire? I work in a non-unionised and very 'alternative' industry. We can be fired at a moments notice without any good reason. It can make for some uncomfortable meetings but it does lead to real team spirit and a self-policing attitude to slackers. If you don't pull your weight it will be noticed and you won't last long. I don't have much experience of the rat-race, but from what I gather, it can be very difficult to sack someone, especially if their only 'crime' is lethargy (and even more so in the public sector).
mybrainhurts said:
I know someone who passed comment about a lazy colleague.
He now has a mark against him because the colleague was Asian.
The world has gone mad.
Depends what he said... did he say anything that could be seen to be even remotely racist?He now has a mark against him because the colleague was Asian.
The world has gone mad.
Like about their culture and work ethic that is usually nonexistent and s
te... working double the hours to produce the same work, but as long as they are seen at their desk thats all that counts?If so I can see why, no matter how much its true.
Du1point8 said:
mybrainhurts said:
I know someone who passed comment about a lazy colleague.
He now has a mark against him because the colleague was Asian.
The world has gone mad.
Depends what he said... did he say anything that could be seen to be even remotely racist?He now has a mark against him because the colleague was Asian.
The world has gone mad.
Another employee was in trouble for sexism after holding a door open for a woman.
Guvernator said:
The majority of jobs especially "office work" or most things in the service industry are just mind numbingly boring.
I don't think we were really designed to sit in a metal and glass building for hours on end staring at computer screens.
I am not in the least surprised therefore that the majority of people do as little as possible, take their pay cheque and can't wait to go home and do something more interesting.
Work on the whole is boring and not many people would do it if they didn't have to, are you therefore surprised at the lack of motivation?
The above is the absolute standout quote of the thread for me. It's just so true.I don't think we were really designed to sit in a metal and glass building for hours on end staring at computer screens.
I am not in the least surprised therefore that the majority of people do as little as possible, take their pay cheque and can't wait to go home and do something more interesting.
Work on the whole is boring and not many people would do it if they didn't have to, are you therefore surprised at the lack of motivation?
Most people I've worked with have been decent people, but utterly, utterly bored and disinterested beyond belief by their jobs, and as such, they just do the absolute minimum not to get fired.
I've previously been one of them for a number of years. I've spent year after year employed in 'really good jobs' where in reality I would sit at my desk in my fancy office for a national company, wanting to claw my eyes out just to relieve the absolute and total crushing boredom that I faced on a daily basis.
Many of my colleagues were similar, and would do anything to simply relieve the boredom of what they were getting paid to do. Making cups of coffee, talking about what film they watched last night, texting friends, reading the news on the Internet... Anything.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
It's not that easy is it?I went self employed doing something I now really enjoy, but when I quit my job from hell in the office, my colleagues said they wished they could do the same as they pretty much hated their jobs, but at the end of the day, they were getting well paid and had a mortgage to pay, several children to feed, etc. The basic financial requirements of modern life meant that they simply just had to suck it up and keep taking the money.
When you have pretty much maxed-out your Skills/qualifications Vs Salary, and there isn't anywhere else you can move to that will pay you similar money for something more interesting, then you are pretty much stuck:
A straw poll of any office will tell you that to most people, sticking out a hated job for decent pay is better than doing something you enjoy for less money.
If you're bored then do whatever you can not to be.
I could very easily do the bare minimum and collect a cheque on the basis "everything works" but I don't want to get home every night and think I've achieved nothing that day whilst looking forward to waking up tomorrow morning and setting off to another 8 hours of achieving nothing.
I get that some people are in more mundane jobs where they don't have a choice.
I get that I'm lucky enough that I'm not and my god is it annoying when you see others in that position not seizing the opportunity.
I could very easily do the bare minimum and collect a cheque on the basis "everything works" but I don't want to get home every night and think I've achieved nothing that day whilst looking forward to waking up tomorrow morning and setting off to another 8 hours of achieving nothing.
I get that some people are in more mundane jobs where they don't have a choice.
I get that I'm lucky enough that I'm not and my god is it annoying when you see others in that position not seizing the opportunity.
There can be lots of reasons, many mentioned above. In some cases you could do the job with your eyes closed so there's no learning, no excitement and it all gets a bit boring so you end up only doing what's necessary to get by. I've worked at a few places where long term, knowledgeable staff weren't engaged in anything new and they quickly got bored and productivity slipped. Despite knowing the job inside out they were routinely outperformed by newer staff and this got the attention of their manager who started them on a PIP rather than realising that they were more than capable but didn't give them any reason other than pseudo-threats of disciplinary action. I've seen it time and time again too.
I honestly believe smaller companies are better for engaging staff than big ones. Larger companies seem more focussed in results, stats and figures than smaller ones. Big companies also find it almost impossible to promote for a job consistently well done as every role is advertised and interviewed for rather than simply offered to a good performer who would fit the role. Often the person best suited for the role doesn't apply or needs to be asked to!
I honestly believe smaller companies are better for engaging staff than big ones. Larger companies seem more focussed in results, stats and figures than smaller ones. Big companies also find it almost impossible to promote for a job consistently well done as every role is advertised and interviewed for rather than simply offered to a good performer who would fit the role. Often the person best suited for the role doesn't apply or needs to be asked to!
A third of British people think their jobs are meaningless...
Not surprised as I look around many offices and it all seems to be just admin, emails and looking at graphs. Jesus, even marketing has started going that way, the importance becoming less about creativity and more about staring at Google AdWords and Analytics.
In no way is that exciting or fulfilling.
Not surprised as I look around many offices and it all seems to be just admin, emails and looking at graphs. Jesus, even marketing has started going that way, the importance becoming less about creativity and more about staring at Google AdWords and Analytics.
In no way is that exciting or fulfilling.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I found out, maybe about 5 or so years ago, 12 years into working life that not everyone cares as much about the job, the employer or the general state of employment as other people do. What's bullst to you is 'whatever' to him. It's not as important. The company I work for is Swedish. In Summer, they go on holiday. Holidays are more important than work, and that's from the CEO down, they still have a factory mentality in how they put their holidays together, so we may as well have closed the company last year as there was no-one really in the office in Sweden to do much, other than skeleton crew Support and the cleaners, who were also on reduced hours. Important things get dealt with, anything that's not going to stop the world from turning can wait. The bosses view is there's no point working yourself into a heart attack
drophead said:
A third of British people think their jobs are meaningless...
Not surprised as I look around many offices and it all seems to be just admin, emails and looking at graphs. Jesus, even marketing has started going that way, the importance becoming less about creativity and more about staring at Google AdWords and Analytics.
In no way is that exciting or fulfilling.
I sometimes feel that way, but I think it's just the fact I'm suffering from depression that makes me think that way. I try to think of the positives of my current job; for 10 years I've worked in various roles for a leading supermarket chain, then spent 18 months in sales at a dealership. Work in marketing now for said dealership, and I don't think I'd ever go back to working with customers. I'm left to my own devices; don't have to work with muppets or get shouted at by tw@ts, and the prospects in this line of work are looking pretty good. And to think, a few years ago, I told myself I'd never work in an office!Not surprised as I look around many offices and it all seems to be just admin, emails and looking at graphs. Jesus, even marketing has started going that way, the importance becoming less about creativity and more about staring at Google AdWords and Analytics.
In no way is that exciting or fulfilling.
drophead said:
A third of British people think their jobs are meaningless...
Not surprised as I look around many offices and it all seems to be just admin, emails and looking at graphs. Jesus, even marketing has started going that way, the importance becoming less about creativity and more about staring at Google AdWords and Analytics.
In no way is that exciting or fulfilling.
That does not surprise me in the slightest.Not surprised as I look around many offices and it all seems to be just admin, emails and looking at graphs. Jesus, even marketing has started going that way, the importance becoming less about creativity and more about staring at Google AdWords and Analytics.
In no way is that exciting or fulfilling.
I think company direction and goals are also a big part, staff need to know what they are doing and why they are doing it and be reminded of it regularly. And "to make the director more money" isn't a good vision.
A lot of jobs are mundane and boring and it's easy to forget why you're even doing it.
Some people just want to do their own thing and won't be happy until they are their own boss, but can't/won't/too scared to make the move and pay their own way. Bills to pay, children to feed etc...
A lot of jobs are mundane and boring and it's easy to forget why you're even doing it.
Some people just want to do their own thing and won't be happy until they are their own boss, but can't/won't/too scared to make the move and pay their own way. Bills to pay, children to feed etc...
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