Misery loves company......please make me laugh

[jime444]

Back again after a hiatus, actually just working my buttcheeks off......70 hours per week, the "new" normal.

A couple of years away from RE, man.....it's just painful. I mean just absolutely awful. The mega MEGA corp that assimilated us a year ago (hostile, btw) is absolutely insane. The management is nuts, grape koolaid guzzling psycho's, full of non-value added fools and "auditors". It doesn't ever stop, non-sense work, impossible goals, no compensation hours, hostile work environment, etc., etc. Metrics and check boxes are the name of the day, it's all I can do to pull myself out of bed in the morning and head to the asylum............

So, I need a little pepping up, let's hear those stories about those crazy bosses, co-workers and nut jobs in the last years of your so-called "working career". My funny bone thanks you in advance.
Cheers.
jimmy

 

[Onward]

My final resignation letter to management referred to someone as a "morose, pompous dipsh*t" (without the editing). In hindsight, that letter was the shining moment of my career.

 

[jclarksnakes]

Maybe it is time to retire?

 

[jime444]

actually, already started my resignation letter, two quotes from it,
"....bored of directors, pissing away the wealth made by their daddy's and grand-daddies", "...I didn't think it was humanly possible to have promoted or hired so many non-value added, waste of space morons in one organization.............like begets like, I guess"

 

[Onward]

It's your one chance to tell it like it is. Both guns blazing, say I.

 

[jclarksnakes]

A resignation letter like that goes against the long held belief in not burning bridges but in your case it may just be the right thing to do.

 

[comicbookgujy]

Back again after a hiatus, actually just working my buttcheeks off......70 hours per week, the "new" normal.

A couple of years away from RE, man.....it's just painful. I mean just absolutely awful. The mega MEGA corp that assimilated us a year ago (hostile, btw) is absolutely insane. The management is nuts, grape koolaid guzzling psycho's, full of non-value added fools and "auditors". It doesn't ever stop, non-sense work, impossible goals, no compensation hours, hostile work environment, etc., etc. Metrics and check boxes are the name of the day, it's all I can do to pull myself out of bed in the morning and head to the asylum............

So, I need a little pepping up, let's hear those stories about those crazy bosses, co-workers and nut jobs in the last years of your so-called "working career". My funny bone thanks you in advance.
Cheers.
jimmy

Sounds like my place! You're not alone!!!

I keep saying, 5 more years...5 more years

 

[obgyn65]

+1. I would not burn bridges, though. Just the way I am.

Maybe it is time to retire?

 

[braumeister]

Refreshing attitude!

But in the meantime, we need you to be sure to put the new cover sheets on the TPS reports.
Office Space TPS Reports - YouTube

 

[heeyy_joe]

Resigning from a company like that just does them a favor. Why not just slowly lower your performance, starting with not putting in those insane extra hours. Miss a few deadlines, make a couple of mistakes. It will take them quite a while to get around to canning you - in the meantime you can make sure that when you leave the intellectual capital leaves with you to the legal degree that it can. Be sure to rattle your own sabre in the meantime that being over age 40 you are in a protected work class.

 

[zedd]

Resigning from a company like that just does them a favor. Why not just slowly lower your performance, starting with not putting in those insane extra hours. Miss a few deadlines, make a couple of mistakes. It will take them quite a while to get around to canning you - in the meantime you can make sure that when you leave the intellectual capital leaves with you to the legal degree that it can. Be sure to rattle your own sabre in the meantime that being over age 40 you are in a protected work class.

Hmmm, protected work class. Let's draw this out a bit. What exactly might this mean?

Zedd

 

[jime444]

heyyyy joe.............., though I'm not quite "coded" that way, I find myself doing that very thing, already. Apathy and numerous coffee breaks are the name of the day.
It truly is miserable and 90% of the people here feel that way, they just asked for an e-tronic employee survey, full of tailored questions not blaming the takeover. You know, 3rd party, no names, no blame. Sure. No one trusts them, knowing all IT transactions are highly scrutinized. Anyway, I ripped them a new ass, let's see if that starts the early retirement process for me. lol.

 

[MichaelB]

We always talk about the bad bosses we had, but never the bad bosses we were. Wondering about that.

 

[ER Eddie]

I'm a cautious person by nature, so take this fwiw, but my strategy in working in a dysfunctional work environment is to keep my head down, not try to step on toes, and keep my eyes on the finish line. I wouldn't be writing any angry resignation letters (unless just for emotional release), ripping people new ones, etc. When I'm feeling angry and resentful, I need to be careful I'm not shooting myself in the foot. So I typically "put on my game face" and keep my feelings to myself -- although it is better to have at least one confidante who you can vent to, and who will keep things under his hat.

 

[Amethyst]

I feel for you. My work life is dysfunctional right now as well, although not for the same reasons as you cite.

I'd echo ER Eddie's advice with a bit of heey joe's...do what you're paid to do, to the extent you can, try not to get crushed in the gears of ever-rising performance expectations, and don't bother telling people "what you think of them" - they don't give a rat's patootie about that, so don't kid yourself. Oh, and continue to save like crazy for retirement...

Amethyst

 

[inky]

I'm a cautious person by nature, so take this fwiw, but my strategy in working in a dysfunctional work environment is to keep my head down, not try to step on toes, and keep my eyes on the finish line. I wouldn't be writing any angry resignation letters (unless just for emotional release), ripping people new ones, etc. When I'm feeling angry and resentful, I need to be careful I'm not shooting myself in the foot. So I typically "put on my game face" and keep my feelings to myself -- although it is better to have at least one confidante who you can vent to, and who will keep things under his hat.

Agree with ER Eddie. I would write an angry resignation letter to vent but not send it.

When given an opportunity to give feedback, I would try to stay positive and give constructive, specific suggestions. People are much more likely to respond to that kind of feedback.

However, there's a limit to how much influence you can have in this type of situation, so if it were me I would try to focus on the things I *can* control. I would still do the work to the best of my ability, but take off at 5 or 5:30 each day.

Anger is toxic, but if you focus on the steps you can take to set boundaries and get your life back, maybe you will start feeling better about your last couple of years.

 

[ER Eddie]

...if it were me I would try to focus on the things I *can* control. I would still do the work to the best of my ability, but take off at 5 or 5:30 each day.

Anger is toxic, but if you focus on the steps you can take to set boundaries and get your life back, maybe you will start feeling better about your last couple of years.

Good advice. I would focus on that getting 70 hour work week down. That is nuts, especially at a job you hate -- a sure recipe for burnout/exhaustion. Can you negotiate reasonable work hours with them? Explain that you don't have time to do everything they're asking in a normal work week, and so you need them to tell you which things they would like you to focus on and which to eliminate? That's a manager's job, after all.

 

[Lurking]

...they just asked for an e-tronic employee survey, full of tailored questions not blaming the takeover. You know, 3rd party, no names, no blame. Sure. No one trusts them, knowing all IT transactions are highly scrutinized. Anyway, I ripped them a new ass, let's see if that starts the early retirement process for me. lol.

Back in the early 2000s, I was at a startup that had prematurely replaced the "visionary" management with the "execution" management. We were spinning our wheels, trying to take the product in six different directions at once. Morale was low, money was running out, and frustration was high. To better understand the issues from the masses, management put out an anonymous employee survey.

I tried to be open and honest, and I listed my concerns and complaints. Lo and behold, two days later I'm in a private meeting with the COO to go through my responses to the "anonymous" employee survey. I'm sorry to say I handled it poorly and became quite defensive, as I had taken them at their word and had trusted them that it would be anonymous. Instead, they had gone through the responses and assigned each of the bad ones to whom they thought they were from.

In retrospect, I wish I had seen this as the gift that it was. The fact that they couldn't hold their word for more than 48 hours and clearly were more interested in punishing the malcontents than addressing any fundamental issues was a very clear sign that the company was beyond salvage. I regret that I missed the opportunity to publicly call them on their duplicity and vindictiveness, but that was the kick in the pants I needed to mentally move on from that company and start looking elsewhere.

In your case, I'm glad that you are in a position where you won't have to put up with any reprisals. No one should, but most aren't in a sufficient position to walk without something else lined up.

 

[heeyy_joe]

Resigning from a company like that just does them a favor. Why not just slowly lower your performance, starting with not putting in those insane extra hours. Miss a few deadlines, make a couple of mistakes. It will take them quite a while to get around to canning you - in the meantime you can make sure that when you leave the intellectual capital leaves with you to the legal degree that it can. Be sure to rattle your own sabre in the meantime that being over age 40 you are in a protected work class.

Here is a link to the ADEA.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)

 

[DeborahB]

Good advice. I would focus on that getting 70 hour work week down. That is nuts, especially at a job you hate -- a sure recipe for burnout/exhaustion. Can you negotiate reasonable work hours with them? Explain that you don't have time to do everything they're asking in a normal work week, and so you need them to tell you which things they would like you to focus on and which to eliminate? That's a manager's job, after all.

I could have worked 70 hours a week at a job I had come to hate, in a company where I was undervalued. I decided I could work hard but stop after 8 hours and LEAVE every day at that point. Of course there were exceptional days but mostly I did my hideous tour of duty and left.

I also did what is quoted above: "I have these 5 important things to do - could you prioritize them for me so that the most important get done first?" That's the manager's job. And if she didn't have time - I had tried to get in to see her and made sure she knew it (sent an email, for example).

It was rough, but it doesn't need to be rougher. Expecting you to work 70 hours is nuts - and I'm guessing you're working at top speed, too, which adds to the stress.

 

[jime444]

Thanks for your responses, had a interesting phone call with my boss's boss today, on a Saturday by the way. He called me (first time) at home. We weren't getting enough response to the anonymous, not mandatory survey. But, the "goal" was 85% participation!! In fact, his sections had the lowest participation in the mega mega corp. Less than 50% of the staff had filled it out. You could hear panic in his voice and maybe just a little anger. He wanted me to call each of direct reports at home and MAKE them do it over the weekend. I told him, "no, I would not do so, sorry; but first thing Monday, I would meet with them, personally to discuss the non-mandatory, anonymous survey". Plus, I told him the results would probably be bad and that the corporation "shouldn't ask the questions, if they didn't want to hear the answers". I could tell he was pissed and he actually hung up on me. I think I've finally now got the impetus to get looking for another job or at least get the process started.

Did I fall down a rabbit hole and end up in Wonderland? Or, is this the new normal in corporate America? If so, let me off right now. It's insane.

 

[heeyy_joe]

I would see Personnel on Monday and tell them you need a personal leave of absence. Do a trial retirement.

 

[inky]

Thanks for your responses, had a interesting phone call with my boss's boss today, on a Saturday by the way. He called me (first time) at home. We weren't getting enough response to the anonymous, not mandatory survey. But, the "goal" was 85% participation!! In fact, his sections had the lowest participation in the mega mega corp. Less than 50% of the staff had filled it out. You could hear panic in his voice and maybe just a little anger. He wanted me to call each of direct reports at home and MAKE them do it over the weekend. I told him, "no, I would not do so, sorry; but first thing Monday, I would meet with them, personally to discuss the non-mandatory, anonymous survey". Plus, I told him the results would probably be bad and that the corporation "shouldn't ask the questions, if they didn't want to hear the answers". I could tell he was pissed and he actually hung up on me. I think I've finally now got the impetus to get looking for another job or at least get the process started.

Did I fall down a rabbit hole and end up in Wonderland? Or, is this the new normal in corporate America? If so, let me off right now. It's insane.

That's really messed up. Good for you for sticking to your guns.

Two years might be too long to stick out at a place like that. I work for a megacorp and there is BS but nothing like that.

 

[eytonxav]

My beloved mega corp went through a so called merger of equals (what a farce, our CEO sold us down the river for personal gain) with an evil empire many years ago. I lasted 3 years under that regime and decided to take a voluntary early retirement package back in 2003, as I couldn't stand it any more. HR was projecting that 11,000 would sign up for the package and in the end over 21,000 took it. That essentially ended all future voluntary programs as they lost significant management experience in the process.

 

[jime444]

DFW_
your situation is exactly the same as mine, the bored of directors in cahoots with the CEO sold us down the river. Guess what they're all gone now, even if they had a position in the new regime. The "new" company is nothing but check the box, auditors of impossible metrics and formentors of a hostile work environment. I'm at a saterllite facility, 3000 mi from corporate and it ain't far enough. It's all about outsourcing and kick'n ass, now; completely short term thinking.

It's been less than a year from the takeover and time has come to a crawl. My previous 10 years flew by, now the clock moves backwards some percentage each day. Unfortunately, at my age, it'll be hard to find other work, I'm assuming. No one wants a burned out, mega, mega corp dude; even with good technical skills.

Anybody gonna make me laugh?