I was just talking to some co-workers about one of the girl’s recent trip to Germany (she just got back) and our supervisor came over and told us to break it up, unless we were all taking our breaks, in which case they were about over.
Over the last few months, we have been noticing more and more that we are back in third grade. Even though I am one of the highest performers in the department, I have gotten in “trouble” for “socializing” with my co-workers. Does it affect my volume of work? No – even though I have more assigned to me than anyone else, I can usually get everything done in about two hours. I am literally paid to sit here, and do nothing (that’s why you’ve been getting so many long, long blog posts lately, gentle reader).
Frankly, being able to see other people is one of the main reasons that I work outside the home, instead of having a home-based job. I did that for a while, and I got lonely. I’m an extrovert – I like to have people around me. But the corporate culture that we are in is making it harder and harder to have even casual relationships at work…”socializing” is stealing from the company, and not to be tolerated.
(That being said, because my supervisor is a really nice guy, he just sent us all an email apologizing for breaking up our chat, and that he only came over because someone complained. Seriously? First, get the fuck over yourself. Second, if you have an issue with noise, then stand up and tell us to shut up yourselves. Don’t go running to Daddy to take care of it. I’m not only in third grade, but in third grade in Edina.)
Considering that Organization For Which I Work prides itself on being an organization that “builds relationships” with our members, the very fact that we are not allowed to build relationships with each other is confusing. This is a company of about 200 people, and I can probably only name about 50 of the people that I’d run into in the halls. The departments do not intermingle, and fraternization is not encouraged. In fact, a new policy just took effect that you if you get married to another employee, one of you has to quit. Married people or relatives are not allowed to work here…even in entirely different departments, different roles, with no supervision over the other. So, even though I work with customer service, my husband could not work in the mailroom, and my dad can’t be the corporate trainer.
Is this normal? Are other companies simply expecting you to sit in your cubicle, never talk to you co-workers, and yet build “relationships” with the members? How can I be the best friend of the member in
Give me your thoughts on this!
1 comment:
in a department of about 15 people, i work with 2 sets of siblings. my whole office teased me about the hickey i had on monday. sometimes on friday afternoons we gossip in my coworkers office instead of working.
by which i mean, i realize i am insanely lucky to have a real but not-corporate job. the socialness keeps me sane.
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