Great expectations
April 9th 2012 00:41
A great employee is always their own harshest critic. Or should that be, someone who is their own harshest critic is bound to be a great employee?
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Little Fish
AUSTRALIA
Joined April 5th 2010
Number of Posts:
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- About Me
- No details about me yet :(
Recent Posts CRMs: Friend or foe?March 2nd 2012 03:02
That fine line between good customer service and creepiness is increasingly finer as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems become more prolific in businesses.
Yesterday I sat through an engaging presentation of a CRM system that has all the bells and whistles to have our business chugging away, fuelled by tiny tidbits of information about when you last called, when you last read one of our emails and which links you clicked on and for how long. We can make sure everything is in order for you when you call up and you won't have to explain yourself again, and we won't have to manually bring up all your info. It'll store you number when you call up through our softphone system and we'll be able to say, "Hi Sophie," as soon as we pick up the call. Hang on. Not sure about you, but this creeps me out as much as an Aphex Twin filmclip running to the sound of Simian's We are your friends (remixed by Justice for your increased pleasure). It reminds me of walking into David Jones and having the black clad, sperm-browed women hand back my credit card and thank me by name. I'm sorry, when did I introduce myself to you? Did I greet you by name when I saw your name tag? No. Why? It's creepy and feigns friendship and it violates my right to an anonymous transaction. Likewise, if I comment online about a company's services, I don't want a callback five minutes later (as suggested by Mr CRM presenter) to see how I can help them improve their services to me - maybe a letter a week or two later, but five minutes after commenting, I'm working on something else and need a cooling off period. If they call me five minutes later, I'm going to back away slowly and then run, telling all my friends to come with me. So CRMs can be excellent, but sleazy marketing tactics will still be sleazy regardless of the technology underpinning them, and people will abandon you for another service provider if you cross that line between pleasant and creepy. When considering investing in a CRM, be prepared to also invest in good people skills, and you will never be alone again.
There's always oneFebruary 1st 2012 12:17
Every workplace has one: the lazy, life-sucking, shortcutter who seems to need a pat on the back for everything they do right while other people continue to do the right thing as a standard part of their everyday work. The LLSS gets reprimanded for poor effort on some occasions and follows this up with feigned sickness followed by feigned renewed enthusiasm on their return. Their work is performed at an absolute minimum standard, just scraping into the acceptable range, so that when they do lift their game, they get that pat on the back of encouragement. They are the first to comment on other people's mistakes, yet they never notice their own. They make more demands for perks than any other employee, and take liberties well beyond what is acceptable. LLSS also takes pleasure in jokes at other people's expense.
I work with an amazing and dedicated team of people, except for my LLSS. In the period after bad management left the building and before LLSS came along, work was great -- everyone just got on with things, helped each other out and didn't complain. In came LLSS and suddenly a team of happy people found themselves grumpy and venting by the water-cooler, and complaining to management who always seemed to have bigger things to deal with. Everybody was stressed, and I became angrier everyday and started stooping to the levels of LLSS, talking behind their back and venting to my team, and they would vent to me. The poison spread and everyone started to let their performance slip just a little. Management has finally started to address the issue but it's all a little too late. Why reprimand someone the tenth time they've done something wrong when they haven't been reprimanded the other nine times for the same thing? I'm thinking that this outbreak of toxic behaviour could have been prevented if management had just addressed things in the first instance. Management can now only do so much after all the lead-up. So, as a fellow employee, what to do now? Stop being toxic. The toxic LLSS who hates their work enough to disrespect it this much will soon move on (I hope), but there's no point in taking their place.
The sweet irony of workplace errors and micromanagingNovember 23rd 2011 02:27
With editing aspirations running through my veins since my early years, I can't help noticing other people's errors. I correct my colleagues' errors everyday, some colleagues more than others, and it infuriates me to see the same mistakes made over and over again, and misinformation leaking out all over the place. My boss does very little about it and all I can do is keep mentioning it to him. He tells me that he really should get around to addressing it, but we'll need a complaint to bump it up on the list of things to do.
But, the back of my mind houses a tiny me that knows every editor needs an editor, while another teeny me screams out, "but *you* don't make mistakes". This is bollocks
Retail..June 26th 2011 08:57
...the gig I never wanted to return to but which I now find myself in for one day a week. It drains me just thinking about it. But there are things that keep me there and, I confess, it's not because I am a mover and shaker in the company but it's because it gives me some nice weekly cash flow, I have a great boss who gives me time off whenever I want it, and sometimes there a little moments when customers put a little shine on my day. This last thing happened just last week.
To set the scene, the store I work in is a fancypants homegrown designer store with designer prices and designer customers. I am a tiny person in stature and when larger ladies walk in they usually take one long look at me - up and then down - and scowl their way out of the store. Then there are the friendlier ones who spend time looking through the racks and soon realise that there are maybe two things in the entire store that are for people like me, and 50 things for people like them
Reconciling the bitter divide between retrospect, nostalgia and moving onMay 28th 2011 11:16
It's easy to leave a workplace on great terms and carry away a sack full of unresolved injustices and a heavy heart. I have learnt a great many lessons from some terrible situations that resulted from standing up for myself as the lowest rung of the company.
When reflecting on my time there, it is very easy to swim in sweet nostalgia, but this does me no good if I want to advance professionally
Do as I say...October 2nd 2010 13:30
Enjoying my new job as much as I am, I was surprised to receive a letter from my past job services provider requesting an interview with me to assess my job skills "in order to find further employment". The interview date was set for 9am on a Monday morning and according to the Receptionist when I called to confirm, would take a mere fifteen minutes of my time. While I was reluctant to attend since I had to be at work soon after the appointment, I decided to go.
I arrived, and the person I was to meet was 10 minutes late, ignored me (although we had met before), had to be told by the receptionist "this is your client", and then proceeded to go behind some screens and talk to other staff about his weekend for another 15 minutes, without rushing at all to meet with me. Twenty five minutes into my wait, I left to get to work on time
Keep up the good workAugust 18th 2010 11:34
When you attend a job interview, you dress the part, you speak the part, and you behave the part. But what happens when you get a taste of confidence in the job and start feeling comfortable?
While the stress of the initial interview probably shouldn't be carried over everyday on the job, it's important to still uphold all the professionalism you took into the interview that made you the successful candidate. You were hired because you suited the job perfectly. Why let your performance slip as your confidence and comfort increase
Uphill writingJune 10th 2010 06:09
After months of being between jobs and countless hours of writing job applications, it's easy to become complacent in giving the love and attention to each and every application. The desperate struggle for something, anything, can make it tempting to trudge through letters and resumes and CVs as if they are all from the same mold. Every application becomes increasingly generic, and so do you.
So, breathe. Take a couple of days off the hunt. Think carefully about what each employer is looking for, and think about how you're going to tell them that you really are a cracking good applicant to consider. In fact, think about how you're going to tell them that you are THE person they've been looking for, AND how you can exceed their expectations
Here I amJune 5th 2010 05:45
I did it. I moved states. Shiny and refreshed from relaxation, with a positive outlook, fingers ready to type all the application letters it takes, and a pocket full of leprechauns. But, contrary to popular belief, I haven't left my skeletons behind, and I'm not searching for a new self. Call my a cynic, but the idea of escape through uprooting one's life from one place and replanting it in another seems far fetched. You move from here to there, and there you are - you are inescapable.
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