Blessing in disguise

Recently I was almost to work when I realized I had failed to bring a plate for heating my lunch. This was a problem because my food was in a foil container which of course cannot be microwaved. I was not pleased at the prospect of no food. When I got to work I started digging through the cabinets for a paper plate, dish, etc. that I could use. Lo and behold, I not only found something, it was something of mine! For several weeks I had been missing the 4th plate to one of my sets of dishes. I could not for the life of me figure out where it could be as I never loaned it to anyone, and I only use the plates at home or work. Well, apparently I had brought it here one day and somehow left it. The only thing I can figure is I must have cleaned it, set it down, and never picked it back up. What started as a moment of frustration turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

You have not because you ask not #457

Two weeks ago I was talking with the director of the building in which our office is housed. He mentioned that someone from my organization was coming over to sign the new lease for our space. I asked if it would be possible to have weekly vacuuming service added as part of the lease. He seemed surprised that it wasn't already being done since the trash is picked up daily. He said there was no need to have it added, he would just ask someone to start doing it immediately. Sure enough, less than an hour later someone came and did it. Oh my. This just made my day. Before it was supposed to be done each week by our part time person. Let's say that in the 8 months since I started I can count on two hands the number of times I've seen it done. And I get that. It is very normal that if you rent space in an office building that the landlord provides basic cleaning services. Praise the Lord, we are there. Yet another example of "you have not because you ask not".

Run fast and far

If a potential employer exhibits anything from this list, run fast and far.

Things you should never do when you're looking for work

It is sad that people have to be told these things, but amusing none the less.

The song in your heart

Music is a powerful thing. It can speak to us on an emotional level like few other things. In a recent sermon our pastor talked about the song in your heart. This is something that has been in my thoughts as well. This time last year I was in a job in which certain members of management made my job less than pleasant. Before work in the morning I would listen to encouraging music to help me face the crazy that would be contained in my workday. Once I got a new job, there was lots celebratory music. Now that I've been in this job, my new theme song has been "Teach me, Lord, to wait". This job is super easy, and it has allowed for me to be refreshed. 

What is the song in your heart right now?

Setting yourself up to fail

Two weeks ago I had an interview for an HR position locally. For several reasons I determined it was not for me. One thing that was a definite flag to me was their attendance policy. This company was an independent entity until about 10 years ago when they were bought by a larger corporation. Some time after the purchase their sick time was taken away. Previously each employee received 5 sick days per year. If they didn't use them, they could sell them. Of course, the employees are still not happy about losing the days as they basically got nothing in return. They also have no personal time either. During the interview I asked the plant manager how they handle it when associates need time off for illness or other unforeseeable events. They can use their vacation time, but it counts as an occurrence. After 5 occurrences they receive disciplinary action. He was a nice guy, but he didn't really seem to get why this was a problem.

Hello, you are setting yourself up to fail. Life happens to us all. You or a family member gets sick, your car has a flat tire, etc. Since things like this will occur, you as a company need to make it easy on yourself and your staff by giving them an appropriate amount of time so that they can handle such things without occurrences. Your peeps are already mad, and justifiably so, over losing 5 paid days off/year. You then add insult to injury by adding occurrences to the mix. You will not be shocked to find out that for this reason and others, morale is in the toilet. I told them they need to rework this system. What I didn't tell them was they have set themselves up to fail.