This is a recording. Because of a situation that surely must make sense to some accountant or high executive somewhere, I worked late tonight and will go in earlier than usual tomorrow. There are a couple of crash-urgent, must-be-done-by-Christmas projects going on, neither one of which needed to be an emergency and one of which is really warm-weather work and yet, here I am, needing to be in two places at once. Again. Mind you, other than not having any time or energy left for actual Christmas, the extra pay does sort of constitute as close to a Christmas bonus as I have ever seen from these people.
The pay is good, yet in my line of work, the people who do the hands-on stuff are considered more of a bother than ever -- and then higher-ups ask you to do even more. I've checked and it's the same everywhere else. That actually doing actual things with your hands, even at a keyboard? It's considered horrid, untouchable stuff, the sort of thing no decent person would do. Somehow, those of us who do what I do are both an utter necessity and of no great value. Why is this? I don't know. I really don't know. I probably wouldn't want to know if I did.
I get the impression that they would really like to do station engineering on a contract basis, same as they call a contractor when they need the HVAC or the plumbing fixed. The problem is, in your business, they need a full-time engineering department (read, "person", I guess) to handle all their stupid last-minute urgent ordered-by-non-technical-people requests and to fix stuff when it breaks, particularly if the latter results in off-air time, because FCC. Balancing wants against needs makes them prickly when they realize they can't always get what they want. "And hilarity ensues."
ReplyDeleteSorry :( If it helps, I actively hate my boss, but I can't afford to throw in the towel with him yet. So I kind of get where you're coming from.
How neatly you sum it up. I'm a contractor, not exactly necessary, working for a water company, so I'm not in that position myself, but I work very closely with the people who are. I've watched over the last few years, that exact attitude come down from above. It's killing guys, literally. Some day, it may mean no water.
ReplyDeleteOh, it's not just "person," Fuzzy, it's one tech on the morning shift, three or four on the day shift and two on the night shift, plus our manager, his manager, and one extra salaried guy who does "special projects." On that's just Engineering Maintenance. Operations is another dozen slightly lower-level techs, who operate equipment instead of installing, calibrating or repairing it. And everyone is plenty busy.
ReplyDeleteAnon: I don't understand it. How did fantasy come to overwhelm reality so thoroughly?
The disconnect between management and the actual 'hands-on' worker has grown huge over the last 30 years.
ReplyDeleteThe movie 'Office Space' is funny (darkly so) because it is so true.
My last job I worked for 4 internal bosses, 2 co-business bosses, and answered indirectly to 2 Federal agencies.
Yet I was accused several times of 'not having anything to db'
When I finally got fired, for not being able to split myself into 23 completely different people, I was replaced by 4 people. Now that's cost savings!
Nothing beats a 3 am call out, during a flipping typhoon. And havnig to drive 45 miles, then up the side of a mountain to a hill top site.Been there, didn't even get a T-shirt.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, those of us who do what I do are both an utter necessity and of no great value. Why is this? I don't know. I really don't know. I probably wouldn't want to know if I did.
ReplyDelete...And "Utter Need" and "No Great Value" are at different, variable and unknowable frequencies and amplitudes. That's why life gets complicated.
The answer is that you are dealing with management types. They do not think as you and I do. They live in their own world. People with actual hands-on skills are very rare in that arena. Well, other than play-skills, like boat sailing and such.
ReplyDeleteFor a more complete explanation, find the book "Neanderthals at Work". (It's out of print.) It explains why they do the things that are so perplexing to mere mortals in a company. Dealing with bosses is much easier if you understand how they think, and what actually is important to them (not always what you would think is important).
Need a promotion, or want to move into management? Job hunting? Get the book.
https://www.amazon.com/Neanderthals-Bernstein-Albert-Market-Paperback/dp/B010IKN5B2/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1482431006&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=Neanderthals+at+work