Two memorable work life lessons?

[Rroff]

What job is this? I’m at 0 work deaths in 20 years.

In around 20 years I've fortunately not directly encountered it but with a few people getting on at work and some having to delay retirement wouldn't surprise me if it happens at some point

In one job an on-site electrician managed to electrocute themselves pretty horrifically apparently - I was aware of the incident and resulting power cut and emergency vehicles arriving but around 200m away and not someone I really knew - said hello to them like twice in passing.

One person I worked with died outside of work (suicide) and a couple died shortly after leaving us in road incidents.

 

[schnitzellkeppel]

Being nosey now.... What happened exactly?

Can't say otherwise the men in dark sunglasses will probably arrange an accident for me.

 

[Rroff]

Knowing when to not rock the boat - just saw a situation where I don't think the resolution of it was optimal but if I put my oar in and reopen the situation I risk showing my boss up or at least it would look that way, making extra work for myself and in a couple of weeks time no one is going to care anyhow.

 

[Felon]

Never type anything about someone you wouldn’t say to their face. No matter how private you may think the audience is you have no control over where those words go.

Also - I'd never say anything about anybody online, especially relating to anything employment related.

I think the stupidest thing I ever saw, was a senior exec writing negative things about George Floyd on LinkedIn after his murder. This is a senior exec getting paid huge sums of money, and to this day - I don't know what was going through his head, it would be dangerous enough talking like that with friends these days - but on LINKEDIN?

The whole thing blew up, and he got fired in about 2 seconds, very embarassing.

It's interesting, as AFAIK - nothing he actually said was factually incorrect, however the way he said it generated a huge **** storm, and people were out and out calling his employers 'Hitler' for employing him, dragging their name through the mud.

Often people think you can write what you like on your own personal social media - but it's no the case, if the company suffers - you absolutely can be fired.*

* There's usually a clause in almost all employment contracts, which can terminate your employment if you 'damage the reputation of the company' or 'bring the company into disrepute"

 

[Mr Badger]

Also - I'd never say anything about anybody online, especially relating to anything employment related.

I think the stupidest thing I ever saw, was a senior exec writing negative things about George Floyd on LinkedIn after his murder. This is a senior exec getting paid huge sums of money, and to this day - I don't know what was going through his head, it would be dangerous enough talking like that with friends these days - but on LINKEDIN?

The whole thing blew up, and he got fired in about 2 seconds, very embarassing.

It's interesting, as AFAIK - nothing he actually said was factually incorrect, however the way he said it generated a huge **** storm, and people were out and out calling his employers 'Hitler' for employing him, dragging their name through the mud.

Often people think you can write what you like on your own personal social media - but it's no the case, if the company suffers - you absolutely can be fired.*

* There's usually a clause in almost all employment contracts, which can terminate your employment if you 'damage the reputation of the company' or 'bring the company into disrepute"

Some people are just dumb. I remember a real life example that was used to raise awareness. Young woman started a new job and before long decided to post on social media that the company was crap and her manager was a creep who was trying it on with her. Her manager responded pointing out that:

1) He was gay and was not trying to chat her up.
2) He had previously accepted the Friend request that she had sent him and so could see her posts.
3) She had just breached the company IT policy and committed gross misconduct, so disciplinary action and dismissal would follow.

 

[malachi]

Also - I'd never say anything about anybody online, especially relating to anything employment related.

I think the stupidest thing I ever saw, was a senior exec writing negative things about George Floyd on LinkedIn after his murder. This is a senior exec getting paid huge sums of money, and to this day - I don't know what was going through his head, it would be dangerous enough talking like that with friends these days - but on LINKEDIN?

The whole thing blew up, and he got fired in about 2 seconds, very embarassing.

It's interesting, as AFAIK - nothing he actually said was factually incorrect, however the way he said it generated a huge **** storm, and people were out and out calling his employers 'Hitler' for employing him, dragging their name through the mud.

Often people think you can write what you like on your own personal social media - but it's no the case, if the company suffers - you absolutely can be fired.*

* There's usually a clause in almost all employment contracts, which can terminate your employment if you 'damage the reputation of the company' or 'bring the company into disrepute"

We had to send out so many emails telling Police Officers and Staff to beware of their digital footprint. Some still posted dumb stuff on social media leading to their P45 being sent to them.

 

[schnitzellkeppel]

Some people are just dumb. I remember a real life example that was used to raise awareness. Young woman started a new job and before long decided to post on social media that the company was crap and her manager was a creep who was trying it on with her. Her manager responded pointing out that:

1) He was gay and was not trying to chat her up.
2) He had previously accepted the Friend request that she had sent him and so could see her posts.
3) She had just breached the company IT policy and committed gross misconduct, so disciplinary action and dismissal would follow.

Yeh, I learned never to friend or connect with managers on any social media or linkedin. Keep work and personal stuff completely separate. After you leave fine, but not while employed.

 

[Orangeade]

Networking is such a huge one if you actually want to progress.

Working smart than blindly. Seen so many people over the years so so much smarter than me struggle to get ahead because they get too bogged down with day job, don't play the "politics" right etc. Oh and don't network like above.

No one likes an ass kisser but showing your cureent and future potential value isn't that.

 

[jaybee]

1: Remember it's a job. There are other ones out there where you don't have to work with toxic people or feel depressed for example.
2: Do your job. Have the confidence to not care that much more than doing the requirements of fulfilling your role. Leave on time. Try not to have your employer be in debt to your efforts in terms of what you give. i.e. You give way more than what you are paid for.

 

[subbytna]

Work to live, don't live to work

 

[newuser]

1: Your good staff have options, treat them fairly.
2: Screw you guys I'm going home.

 

[Tykey]

Do what's required, do it to the best of my ability, while I'm being paid actually work hard, don't stand around chit chatting & gossiping and never **** off work mates, be polite, take nothing for granted, everybody including me is totally replaceable. Personally I will go the extra mile especially if I enjoy the job. If things are going well i.e. payrise, promotion etc, it can all get taken away very quickly so don't get complacent.

 

[NickK]

1. Roles/Jobs
* <1.5 years - you have finished delivering, no need for your role and they can fire you under the short term employment because you'd done what you need or some other random reason (sold the company etc) plus you have no rights..

Hehe.. got fired today ... precisely this.

When you have 3 FTE in the office and the company doesn't back fill other leavers.. it's only a matter of time..

 

[Felon]

Another one I learnt recently:

If the culture of your company sucks, hiring decent competent people won't change it - they'll likely just get annoyed and leave around a year later. Change needs to always come from the top, from the senior leadership team, if that part is lacking - the whole company sucks.

 

[NickK]

Another on I learnt recently:

If the culture of your company sucks, hiring decent competent people won't change it - they'll likely just get annoyed and leave around a year later. Change needs to always come from the top, from the senior leadership team, if that part is lacking - the whole company sucks.

Indeed - when your company has a below 25% OHI report and -47% recommendation response due to the culture, hiring great people will simply result in a fast churn. In fact it was so bad they ended up having to hire a third party partner because they couldn't upskill.

 

[Felon]

Indeed - when your company has a below 25% OHI report and -47% recommendation response due to the culture, hiring great people will simply result in a fast churn. In fact it was so bad they ended up having to hire a third party partner because they couldn't upskill.

Yeah, aside from the low-morale of churn - it's miserable because everything we try to build has had 2-3 different sets of people involved. There's no consistency - good people have options and would rather just move on, than sit and take the pain, especially in tech - where many of us class the job as a hobby rather than a chore.

 

[HangTime]

Also - I'd never say anything about anybody online, especially relating to anything employment related.

I think the stupidest thing I ever saw, was a senior exec writing negative things about George Floyd on LinkedIn after his murder. This is a senior exec getting paid huge sums of money, and to this day - I don't know what was going through his head, it would be dangerous enough talking like that with friends these days - but on LINKEDIN?

The whole thing blew up, and he got fired in about 2 seconds, very embarassing.

It's interesting, as AFAIK - nothing he actually said was factually incorrect, however the way he said it generated a huge **** storm, and people were out and out calling his employers 'Hitler' for employing him, dragging their name through the mud.

Often people think you can write what you like on your own personal social media - but it's no the case, if the company suffers - you absolutely can be fired.*

* There's usually a clause in almost all employment contracts, which can terminate your employment if you 'damage the reputation of the company' or 'bring the company into disrepute"

I think part of it is just the fact that for some people LinkedIn is literally their biggest network, where they have the most reach, the most connections, the most people [potentially] interested in what they say. There's a big temptation to put something out there to get the dopamine hit from engagement.

Often I have many things I'd like to say and the internet is one of the few places where anyone would be listening, from what I remember I signed up to OCUK forums years ago so I could write stuff about football as I didn't get much chance to discuss it in real life (family had no interest, friends either not interested or had moved away etc).

 

[HangTime]

Knowing when to not rock the boat - just saw a situation where I don't think the resolution of it was optimal but if I put my oar in and reopen the situation I risk showing my boss up or at least it would look that way, making extra work for myself and in a couple of weeks time no one is going to care anyhow.

I did a training course once that touched on this, I think they badged it as "Accept and commit" meaning that where you have a difference of opinion, you need to arrive at a conclusion and then get behind that even if you don't agree with it, rather than keep re-opening it or looking for opportunities to say "I TOLD YOU SO!" (easier said than done sometimes!). Motivationally it can be hard to give 100% if you think you are pulling in the wrong direction, but sometimes it's better to go the wrong way and then course-correct rather than just have an impasse that's going nowhere, or a tug of war that keeps putting you back at square one.

 

[Nasher]

Work to live, don't live to work

This is the biggest one.

There is very little reason to go above an beyond in most jobs, you won't be remembered for it.

Also, your co-workers are not your friends. Be friendly, but don't mix work and your private life.

 

[NickK]

I did a training course once that touched on this, I think they badged it as "Accept and commit" meaning that where you have a difference of opinion, you need to arrive at a conclusion and then get behind that even if you don't agree with it, rather than keep re-opening it or looking for opportunities to say "I TOLD YOU SO!" (easier said than done sometimes!). Motivationally it can be hard to give 100% if you think you are pulling in the wrong direction, but sometimes it's better to go the wrong way and then course-correct rather than just have an impasse that's going nowhere, or a tug of war that keeps putting you back at square one.

Accept and commit assumes a rational, sane, functional command structure.