Switching Out At Work

[Ethel mermania]

Go to boss and tell him we need you reduce our staffing, be clearly we have more staff then we need or can support.

This is a business downturn. That's not the employees' fault. The business should take it on the chin.

But go on, sack some workers. Productivity follows morale down ... but that's not your fault is it. It's those damn lazy workers.

The clients thin out. They'd like to speak to Mavis please. But you sacked her, for low productivity. They don't come back.

You need to sack more workers. But you don't even need to. Your best workers are walking out, they can see the end.

Now you have four workers, and they're not the best, so you have to make them work real hard.

You listen in and hear your best worker advising a client to go to your competitor.

Now you're in your office lodging your CV and a pitch, you need a new job.

More likely I align staffing with demand allowing the business to turn a profit and hence stay in business, and not pay for people to sit on their ass and do nothing.

If I lose 10% through layoff of my staffing at least I can keep the other 90% employed.

[Ifreann]

Conspire with the workers to create the appearance of work being done, generate nonsense reports written in impenetrable jargon, the better to trick the higher ups into thinking we're still busy and thus preserve our greater leisure time until there is actually useful work that needs doing.

[Dumb Ideologies]

Too stupid making the over staffing obvious. Couldn't sack someone, mind, so they'll get away with it. Until the whole business folds like we were running an origami paper mill. Whoops.

[Geneviev]

Other, I don't ask them to work so long. I also wonder why I am the manager.

[Infected Mushroom]

Other, I don't ask them to work so long. I also wonder why I am the manager.

My understanding is that you’ve gotten the position because you’ve shown Loyalty to the company.

When HQ and the previous manager wanted things done, you zealously volunteered, followed orders, and did do with competence. Hence the company knows, “when we need to put out the big cards... this person will play ball.”

I mean... of course there are other ways to get the position. Who knows

[Ifreann]

Other, I don't ask them to work so long. I also wonder why I am the manager.

My understanding is that you’ve gotten the position because you’ve shown Loyalty to the company.

When HQ and the previous manager wanted things done, you zealously volunteered, followed orders, and did do with competence. Hence the company knows, “when we need to put out the big cards... this person will play ball.”

I mean... of course there are other ways to get the position. Who knows

You're the one making this all up.

[Dumb Ideologies]

My understanding is that you’ve gotten the position because you’ve shown Loyalty to the company.

When HQ and the previous manager wanted things done, you zealously volunteered, followed orders, and did do with competence. Hence the company knows, “when we need to put out the big cards... this person will play ball.”

I mean... of course there are other ways to get the position. Who knows

You're the one making this all up.

I assumed IM gets brief glimpses into other worlds where these things are happening in the moment. You can't re-summon such gifts to check the details.

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

You're the one making this all up.

I assumed IM gets brief glimpses into other worlds where these things are happening in the moment. You can't re-summon such gifts to check the details.

This sounds like all my clients back when I worked for the law clinic...

[Ifreann]

You're the one making this all up.

I assumed IM gets brief glimpses into other worlds where these things are happening in the moment. You can't re-summon such gifts to check the details.

That makes sense.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

This is a business downturn. That's not the employees' fault. The business should take it on the chin.

But go on, sack some workers. Productivity follows morale down ... but that's not your fault is it. It's those damn lazy workers.

The clients thin out. They'd like to speak to Mavis please. But you sacked her, for low productivity. They don't come back.

You need to sack more workers. But you don't even need to. Your best workers are walking out, they can see the end.

Now you have four workers, and they're not the best, so you have to make them work real hard.

You listen in and hear your best worker advising a client to go to your competitor.

Now you're in your office lodging your CV and a pitch, you need a new job.

More likely I align staffing with demand allowing the business to turn a profit and hence stay in business, and not pay for people to sit on their ass and do nothing.

"Align staffing with demand" is sacking someone. Or cutting everyone's hours?

If I lose 10% through layoff of my staffing at least I can keep the other 90% employed.

Who is the 1 in 10 that you sack?

Please don't say the least productive. That's probably the office slut who keeps everyone happy.

[Chan Island]

Get the whole team to democratically decide on whether to cut hours or not, or whether the contracts should be renegotiated. Clearly having all of these therapists just sitting around doing nothing all day during this business downturn is not productive for anyone. Least I could do is let them spend a bit more time with their families.

[Ethel mermania]

More likely I align staffing with demand allowing the business to turn a profit and hence stay in business, and not pay for people to sit on their ass and do nothing.

"Align staffing with demand" is sacking someone. Or cutting everyone's hours?

If I lose 10% through layoff of my staffing at least I can keep the other 90% employed.

Who is the 1 in 10 that you sack?

Please don't say the least productive. That's probably the office slut who keeps everyone happy.

If we are being serious, (its an IM hypothetical, sometimes its hard) reduction of hours is the first way we go. I am looking to preserve my teams jobs and I make sure I let them know that.

If someone has to go, its probably going to be however company policy dictates, my choice it would be my least favorite employee which in a middle management scenario means the least productive who causes me the most paperwork.

As to the office slut, he or she is gone a long time ago. I know it may surprise everyone but I am a big proponent of you dont fuck where you eat. Massive headaches when things go south, and south they usually go

[Cordel One]

Nothing, I'd go back to attacking our customers in the lobby.

[UniversalCommons]

Why are you the manager? To manage people.

You forget something, you are looking at how much the people produce and generate revenue. The guy who goofs off might be producing more revenue than anyone else. The classic instance is the person who comes up with new ideas for an engineering company, he looks like he isn't doing anything because he spends a lot of time thinking. He has three times the patents of everyone else. The therapist might actually have more clients than everyone else. If you are watching ROI Retrun on Investment, the office manager will know who is bringing in clients. Appearances aren't everything.

You ask why he was doing it? Boredom, free time, etc. You remind him that the company monitors people. If he is productive and wants to zone out for a fifteen minute break that is fine. However, if business is bad, they may have to reduce staffing to the level where they have just enough people to cover customers. The term is reduction in force.

This is done by seniority based on the amount of time they have been on the job. You've checked your listing by seniority and he is not the most senior person.

People need to log their work as the owner of the company wants the company to be productive. They have a certain amount of time to turn things around.

How productive the company remains determines how many people get laid off.

You want to find out why business has suddenly become bad? What is happening? Did someone sue you? What changed things? Do you have a new competitor across the street? Are they stealing your clients? It may not be because of your staff. Laying off people when it isn't related to what they are doing sometimes is not a good idea.

You have a certain amount of time to generate more revenue through research, publish or perish, there don't look to be a huge amount of clients right now.

[The Alma Mater]

Well, I’d first have to quit my job, because I am working for a company which regularly records private conversations between clients and their doctors, which is an egregious breach of medical confidentiality.

This.
Failing that, fire the highly illegal admin department and require the doctors to use their slacktime to do their actual job - which includes admin.

[UniversalCommons]

The initial description does not say it is a business downturn. It is a sudden loss of clients. This could mean a lot of different things.

[Purpelia]

As long as he is doing it in his office and not in a public area where he can be seen I would let it slide. Employee morale is far more important than sticking strictly to the rules. This being said I would definitively put him on my secret list of people to look at more closely should business pick up simply to make sure its only done when we can't afford to. But I would definitively approach him and say hi to let him know I know even if I don't mention it. Unless of course its a worker I personally dislike in which case he is going to get the full writeup and if legal get fired. Because vengeance is pleasure.

[Thepeopl]

I voted other.

For colleagues who have nothing to do, we will organize switch competitions.
We'll have brainstorming just for fun to see how to better help clients.
Boredom is just as bad as too much stress. Switching will alleviate the boredom and if I can build a better team of therapists, only better.

[The Two Jerseys]

I'd embezzle company funds and flee to a tropical island.

[Ethel mermania]

I'd embezzle company funds and flee to a tropical island.

You win

[The Nihilistic view]

I work Switch out, my favorite game is Mario kart 8......


So option 4 gets my vote.

[Infected Mushroom]

I'd embezzle company funds and flee to a tropical island.

Aren’t tropical islands full of big mosquitoes?

[Vetalia]

I'm not a snitch...people like that are garbage and word spreads about the snitch more than anything. I'd join in on the fun! This ain't the 1950s with lifetime employment, a gold watch and a pension...every single one of these companies will throw you out in the street in a heartbeat so why not find ways to enjoy yourself?

Secondly, I usually play Dwarf Fortress intermittently day when WFH, got the amount of time when my laptop goes idle and my status changes to "away" to a science. I learned a great trick for mornings when I want to sleep in where I play a CPE course so it shows I'm "in a meeting" but I'm asleep. If I didn't actually have to get things done before 10/15 it'd be awesome.

[South Odreria 2]

I'd maybe advise him to keep it on the down low a bit better.

[Infected Mushroom]

I'd maybe advise him to keep it on the down low a bit better.

“Off the record, I want to let you play but I got to keep up appearances. So... can you make it easier by being a bit more discrete? You get my drift? ... You do what you got to do. I won’t be prying, and I won’t report what I don’t find, may even be well disposed to leaving a few details out but... you have to make it easier for me.

Are we... understanding each other?”