Employees

I have had a position open for some time.  Two other positions were recently vacated.  So I sit with 3 positions open.  The interview process has been completed and a candidate recommended for the first one, but I have not received approval to offer it to the individual yet.  I am also awaiting approval to post the other two.  One of the problems has been that the position titles for the first one were juggled, so I ended up with a lesser title to fill than what left.  There ended up being some dispute on the title swap, then a new rule was put in place that requires an additional level of approval for positions at a certain salary level.  Now it has been so long that the small paragraph justifying filling the position is not good enough.  There is a new form that has to be filled out which includes the justification for filling the position and the ramifications for not filling it.  My new boss is suppose to pass that form on to me to get filled out, so that we can get it submitted and hopefully get the position filled soon.

And today another turn in the whole employee environment.  This afternoon my boss came to me about possibly having another two employees transferred under me.  It sounds like a determination as to whether or not that will actually happen may take place tomorrow, but once again, things don't always happen so quickly and they tend to change as well.

 

As it has as many turns and twists as a Soap Opera I though of a list I recently saw called, "You Work For The Government If" and have listed the ones that I can relate to, at least to some degree:

• You understand the rationalization of an acronym comprised of acronyms.
• You can name the project leader of more than 10 projects including your own, but still can't explain in the simplest terms what they do.
• You work for an acronym, on an acronym, and your job title is an acronym.
• You've sat at the same desk for 3 years, done the same thing for 3 years, but have had 3 different business cards.  (Actually they wanted to save money and kept from reprinting business cards until re-organizations were complete -  after a least 3 re-orgs of some degree they are talking about new business cards - I think the only thing correct on the cards I have are my name and phone number.  Agency, address, e-mail address (which may possibly change again), etc.. have all changed.)
• The process becomes more important than the product.
• You don't see anything wrong with attending a meeting on a subject you know nothing about.
• You realize that a paperless office is impossible. Actually, you believe it is possible, just not in your office.
• You keep documents/manuals on projects that have been long since canceled.
• You stop raising issues/problems because you know you will be the one answering them.
• You've sat at the same desk for 4 years and worked for three different agencies.
• Your resume is on a diskette in your pocket.  (Not that I am submitting it to anyone right now, but it is on a USB drive, not a diskette) 
• The office symbol on your badge is applied with tape. (no, but the symbol looks like Tinker Toys)
• You get really excited about a 2% pay raise.
• Your supervisor doesn't have the ability to do your job.  (Not that he might not be able to, but being new he wouldn't be able to. - I must admit that all of my employees could say this one pertains to them, as I could not do what they do.)
• You sit in a cubicle smaller than your bedroom closet.  (Been there, done that -  Okay my bedroom closet isn't all that big, but I have seen closets as big as the cubicles most employees are in.  I am actually fortunate enough to have a nice sized office- although I can say I have seen home bathrooms larger than my office - As I understand it, per our latest reorganization though, I am not entitled to an office and would be back in a cubicle along with all of the other supervisors and possibly managers, except that they are not going to tear up the existing offices to simply put in cubes, at least at this point.)
• It's dark when you drive to and from work.
• Fun is when issues are assigned to someone else.
• Communication is something your group is having problems with.
• Being sick is defined as can't walk or you're in the hospital.  (I have seen this definition used as I have seen people called into work after having called in sick.)
• You're already late on the assignment you just got.
• Dilbert cartoons hang outside every cube. (or are in every e-mail inbox - of course you can't get to the site from work as the SmartFilter will block your access.)
• Your relatives and family describe your job as "works with computers."  (I have often heard that over the years from my wife's family members.)
• Change is the norm.
• You can name more people that used to work with you than people who do.  (Not going to take the time to list them all to check it out, but it is probably not to far from the truth.)