OFFICE SPACE

When I moved up north, I was the director of marketing for a retirement community. It was an amazing job and I loved it every single, solitary day. After I had my son, I had post-partum depression. I didn't make the best decisions during that time and chose to resign my position and go into media sales. For some reason, it made sense to me. Bad decision.

At first, things were fine. I was making money hand-over-fist. Then the economy began to slow down. Businesses pulled back on their spending and I began to stress out. It was absolutely awful.

As the economy began to get progressively worse, the first thing businesses cut was their advertising dollars. As a marketing professional, I felt that was a really poor move, but when a business owner shared with me that he either pay his employees or my television station, I understood his point.

My company was in the process of being acquired by another and there was a lot of tension and pressure to perform. Most people in media sales at the time were struggling, but you add bosses calling you 25 times a day to see if you could sell a $1,000 spot during NASCAR and it can get pretty darned ugly. My heart would race, my eye would twitch. I couldn't sleep. I was crabby. So. Very. Crabby to my husband and son.

One day, I just quit. I knew the affects on my health, my family and my friends wasn't worth it. I felt immediate freedom. I didn't have a job to go to, but I wasn't worried. I knew everything would be OK. Tom tends to worry about situations like these, but he powered through and supported me and hid any worries and fears.

After two weeks of unemployment, I accepted a temporary position at a large logistics company. I worked there for ten weeks and loved the stress-free environment. Going in and doing my job and then going home and not.thinking.about.my.job. Who knew?

I was grateful every day. I remember walking up the stairs to my office one morning thinking "I am making 1/3 of what I used to, but I am so much happier." I would joke about how little money I made with my husband and sisters, but was seriously thrilled to go in every morning, work hard and then go home. I loved it.

Some of my fellow temporary workers didn't see things that way. I would walk past their cubicles and see them reading books, chatting on the phone, playing solitaire online, etc. instead of working. They didn't hide it from me and they didn't hide it from our supervisor.

When we would have a slow period, they would complain that they had to stay there. We were getting paid to be there for when things got busy, and yet they would rather go home and earn nothing. Instead of asking our supervisor to find them a project (like filing or helping another department) they would sit around and talk about what a waste of time it was to be there.

One of our sisters is a health care executive . Recently, she was frustrated by the poor attitudes of some of her staff members who were being handed every working woman's dream scenario.

"Due to lack of space,I’m transitioning two of my departments (total of 10 employees) to begin working from home. These are positions that do not have direct patient contact and can be monitored by each individual's productivity.

These employees will be given a computer and have their high-speed internet access paid for by the company. They will continue to be paid as they currently are and will receive full benefits; health insurance, dental insurance, bonus, paid time off, holiday pay, etc. They will not have to get up in the morning, drive to work, buy lunch and work clothes, etc. Nor will they have to buy gas, at $3.00+ a gallon.

Instead of being thankful they have a job that allows them this flexibility, some have the nerve to question what else we will do for them. They asked, 'Will I get reimbursed for my office space?' and 'Will I be reimbursed for parking when I am required to attend a meeting at the office?"'

If they are not satisfied with the freedom of working from home and continuing to earn up to $19.00 per hour, then they can choose to sit home and watch TV and be unemployed. Either way, they won't be here."

When I accepted my current position as a property manager, I was stunned to learn about the work ethic of my predecessor. She complained that she was "bored", yet she had no systems in place for the next phase of development, warranties ran out on appliances that need repairs and upgrades that were promised were never delivered. Condo owners were not being assessed their fee for several months, and paperwork was not completed. I got to clean up the mess.

When she realized she wasn't long for my company, she deleted all the important files from the computer. Shredded essential documents. Did away with management agreements, contracts, marketing history-things I need to learn my job and perform well.

The condo owners shared with me that she was rarely on-site. Our corporate office is three hours away. My boss wouldn't know if she was at the mall, or in a meeting; getting a manicure or giving a property tour. She was being trusted to do her job. She was compensated with a comfortable salary, health insurance and generous vacation package and she gave nothing in return. And felt no remorse for her behavior.

Where is the work ethic of today's employees? Where is the guilt for messing around on the job? What makes them think they "deserve" more time off, demand a raise, a bigger office, paid parking, health coverage? Those are benefits a company can offer, not something an employee is entitled to have. If you want more, perform to the level which is expected and beyond.

If you don't like your job, quit. But first, check the economy in Michigan. There are thousands of people who would give anything to earn your paycheck so they can buy groceries for their family, have health insurance, put gas in their car and pay their mortgage. So shut up and get to work. You'll feel better about yourself. I promise.

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