My girlfriend Diana was so upset that she had to vent to me, which is rare. This was about her job. She works hard full days, in fact she works two jobs, but was actually told to slow down and settle down in her full time job.
What employer tells you, you are working too fast, unless you are making mistakes of course and then that is a different scenario. But that was not the case. The case is that she works with a couple of people from different cultures who work at a slower pace than her and the other employees were complaining to her boss that she was getting her work done too well and too fast and making them look bad. What was I hearing?
Now what employer would side with the slackers I wanted to know. It is a school dental office run by a grant. Here is the roster: Employee #1, comes in ten minutes late every day when Diana is always there early. Then she takes a longer lunch than what is given.
Employee #2 comes in on time, but then goes and gets her coffee and puts on her makeup and is finally ready to go 45 minutes after everyone else.
The last employee says she is not a morning person and not to talk to her until after 10 and then plays games on the computer all day on sites that are supposed to be restricted.
So I said to Diana, “ Have you talked to your coworkers about this and if so then have you told your boss about what is happening and why? Does the company really want you to become like the coworkers?” She said yes, they all had a meeting and in the meeting all the downfalls of the employees were discussed in an open forum and now they were told to straighten up but when it came the next morning, all three employees acted out their regular schedules.
I told her she was going to drive herself crazy if she let these other employees and their work habits get to her, but what do you do? You don’t want to become the behavior police, but at the same time you have to work with them.
I have had to deal with this at times, we all have that employee who takes two hour lunches or checks social media constantly, but you have to wonder what is driving this? Are they really just slackers or is there and underlying problem? Try having compassion with them and after speaking with them, you just have to find a way to let it go. You don’t want to turn your environment into a toxic one.
I told Diana “…on cleaning days which is what everyone was complaining about, slow down and make your work last all day if possible. Stop asking if you can help someone else when you are done because they were just taking it the wrong way. What is it going to hurt trying to slow down a bit? Just try it. Try not to get caught up in their misfortunes and just work at a slower pace that still makes you happy.”
She has agreed to try but what advice would you give her? I would love to hear it in your comments below. If you like what you read please spread the word and like us on Facebook.
