thinkPhD

On Friday, I was notified that one of my employees was suspended for harassing another employee. I was stunned. This is serious and human resources is reviewing the case. The company has clear guidelines regarding these issues and we have all been through training. The employee made a very bad decision and now must suffer the consequences. My heart goes out to this person who clearly did not consider what the results of the actions would be. I am just sick about the embarrassment this person is experiencing and his/her fear of dismissal. This team consists of two people which also means that the other person on the team must pick up the slack.

Our actions everyday affect other people. We don’t realize it until something like this happens - and someone complains. There will be a terrible toll on the person, the team, the company and the victim. There may also be litigation down the road. As the manager, I am placed in a difficult situation…I support my employee but must also uphold the values and rules of my employer. I can only speak to inquiries about work contributions.

I have never experienced this with an employee. I just can’t believe this is happening to this person for whom I have a great deal of work-respect. A simple (but stupid) act has skyrocketed to become catastrophe.

It seems that some of the folks at work are taking the holiday season a little too seriously! We have cubes which sit in a very large room so the noise can get a little out of hand. One group is having a decorate-your-cube contest and believe me, some are getting pretty elaborate. I have seen some individuals who are spending a lot of time during the work day decorating. At this time of the year, we are crazy busy and it is hard to understand how these don’t have enough work to do. And of course, it takes at least three people to stand in the aisle right outside my cube to tape and staple and talk loud.

Now, don’t get me wrong - I am NOT humbugging the whole thing.

After all, I hung my little red store-bought stocking with care on my cube wall!

 Is there a special Santa that comes to the office and fills your stocking?

Work was very tough today as the Company is pushing for good numbers for the end of this period. There have been many emails and orders to get inventory to a certain level. Everyone seems to have just discovered that it is almost December and they are releasing inventory to my group. You see, we are responsible for selling off all the damaged, rejected, obsolete and aged inventory into the seconds market. Now that it is late in the year, the prime group is dumping their problems on us. Back in October, I sent a note to the supply chains advising them that we needed their obsolescence lists within two weeks. Most of the ignored me and now they are pushing their junk to us, telling us to “get rid of this” before the end of the year. However, we have had so much move to my section that my customers are “full.” Plus, at the end of the year, equipment (trucks, railcars) becomes scarce - and expensive. Being “down hill” of all the processes means that we deal with this type of stuff all the time. It is tough and it really taxes my patience. All I did today was fight fires and I am tired, tired, tired. I was not able to spend any time working on my 2008 strategy.

Sometimes I do some side work for a marketing research firm, including some in-store merchandising, retail auditing and mystery shopping. On Friday, I set up some POS (point of sale) material and removed the old POS at a local Bank of America branch. This type of work does not pay a lot but it gives me a change from my normal activities. I find that it gives me some active experience in the field of business.

A lot of people are most familiar with mystery shoppers or the little lady that beacons you over to her table at the grocery store to try a new cracker or something. Most of the time, I don’t chose the mystery shopping or taster jobs. I prefer the revealed jobs, such as replenishing calling cards or counting racks of items. The job on Friday was a new one for me and the instructions were clear - bring no tools. However, I quickly discovered that I should have brought a stool or small ladder because I had to climb up on a counter from a chair to reach a sign to swap. I had taken a screwdriver and pliers, but I also need a 1/2″ crescent wrench to remove a bolt on an outdoor sign. Luckily, the bank employess had swapped the signs in the past themselves and they had a crescent wrench. In addition, I needed a pair of scissors to open a box. I will definitely bring my own tools next time!

thinkPhD now has its own web domain: www.thinkphd.com ! I decided to host it independently rather than stay on Wordpress so that I can have more flexibility with content and file size. If you are subscribed to this blog, then you should continue to receive blog post updates. Celebrate! Woo hoo!

This is a catch up post because I have neglected thinkPhD! I finished up the last course with an “A” and have completed three assignments out of five for MGT5016, Managing Change, with Dr. Arthur “Lee” Smith. This is my fourth class at Northcentral which leaves about 13 more. Today I am working on Assignment 4 and frankly, delaying the inevitable….writing!

Work has been going fairly well but some things that have made the adjustment difficult. Employees in the corporate office tend to be just that - employees. A number of them have little or no engagement in the business. After coming from a mill setting where everyone had personal buy-in, this has been difficult for me. There are a bunch of little fiefdoms all around the office with conflicting goals for each group. For example, one group wants me to do something (that will increase numbers on my side) that will decrease numbers on theirs. They don’t even want to entertain thinking about what would be best for the company as a whole. They are so afraid of not meeting imposed metrics. Indeed, there have been a number of firings and leavings ….enough to make anyone worried. It is sad that there is so much division and competition among the groups.

Mom and Dad have decided not to move to our City, but to remain in Alabama. Daughter is adjusting to her teaching work schedule and Son is adjusting to his Senior Year at the University. Daughter’s Boyfriend has gotten a job new near their new home in NC and is enjoying the work. Step-Daughter has a new job as a Police Dispatcher and she is doing great. I am very proud of all of them.  

This month we started on a path to remove debt from our lives. Dave Ramsey’s website is a great resource and I highly recommend it. My Sister-in-Law recommended that I check out the resources there, and we used September to create a budget. October we will start cash-basis only with no credit.

This week, I started teaching a GEN300 with the University of Phoenix here. I have been working for them in our previous town for several years. It has taken a few months to get in on the rotation. With all of my other responsibilities (work, Northcentral PhD, home, etc.) I am going to go slow and only teach one or two classes at a time.

I suppose I need to get started on the next paper….

I am taking about two months off of my studies. My company has reassigned me to Richmond, VA, and we have been very busy trying to sell this house and find a new one there. In addition, I have been traveling much more than usual as my work is now there in Richmond. I am also taking a hiatus from my work with the University of Phoenix because of all of these new responsibilities.

We are truly going to miss our lovely home in the country. This is probably the hardest part about deciding to accept the reassignment or not. We are just sick that we must sell this home.

 Click here to see our House for Sale.

Today I was asked to be the Lead Faculty Area Chair for our University of Phoenix campus. I am so excited! I was surprised when I was asked to fill out the form yesterday which listed ten questions about our campus, such as ”What are the biggest areas for improvement with our current faculty body. Explain your reasoning” and “How do you feel you have contributed to the campus in your current capacity?”

I will have the opportunity to assist with training sessions and developing “best practices” for our campus. I am pleased and honored to have been selected for this post.