This doesn’t require any replies. It is very much a rant.
The incompetence shown over the last 5 years since my transfer back into the white hot environment of central London, has both angered and confused me. I am nowhere near perfect, but parts of me are excellent. I manage staff by consent. I ask them and they oblige. They want to work for me (even those that I rather they wouldn’t).
I have very little ego at work and I don’t play office politics. This has probably held back my progress, but I like to sleep and I’m not devious enough. If I fuck up, I hold my hands up rather than covering up. If I have work to do, I get on and do it. That seems really obvious to me, I’m certainly not getting paid because of my looks ! But it seems I am a rarity. Every day there are excuses for leaving work for me to finish, or follow up, or whatever. I’m far from a pushover, but some of this work is just so simple it takes no time out of my usual day. It surprises me on a daily basis that they can’t (or won’t) finish this stuff.
What further surprises me is that some of the management team seem to think playing at being a thicko will get them out of work. “I don’t know how to do that, will you finish it ?” “No mate. Find out how to do it and finish it yourself !”
This is my approach to constructive laziness.
I am frequently approached to get involved in various projects. Partly due to my skill set, mostly down to actually being able to finish them in time. However, when pressed to complete a major project, I will refuse depending on who is going to get the credit. I don’t care about my profile but I hate elevating cunts’ profiles.
Out of 7 Duty Managers, only only 3 of us do any actual work. We work hand in glove with our supervisors, have their trust, and work well together. The other 4 fail regularly to meet targets or competencies. And yet, they are still here.
Sunday Nights fiasco, highlights my plight. Due to Covid, I was teamed with a fellow manager (not a supervisor). Needless to say, he isn’t one of the 3 ! His indecisiveness, obfuscation, and incompetence caused issues that we really didn’t need. I made a formal complaint about his performance.
Today I find out he has blamed me for his fuck ups.
Sadly, our Area Manager is too thick and self-centred to be able to decipher his lies.
No reference to previous performance, no investigation, no consultation. We are now both been given Action Plans to improve our performance. While initially, this seems a bit unfair, I see it as a win. He obviously thought that he could cover up his incompetence. However, my colleague will fail to meet his targets. Also, I may have told a few too many people about it.
It’s been very quiet in the office this evening. I believe he may be sulking. Frosty is an appropriate word.
It does ask the bigger question though…How thick is acceptable in the modern office space ?