Office dilema...

Long post (but this is me...):

OK, for those that don't know, I work in the Gambling industry, specifically within a 24hour 7day all year round IT office.

I'm not the bottom of the food chain, but not the top either. I'm "responsible" for a group of people, but there's also others within the same team that are higher than me. In total, there's maybe 14 people on the same team as me.

Today, I'm in all alone due to the fact that we're short staffed, and surprisingly, it's actually quite quiet. Recently I've been working without those that are above me, again, simply because of staffing shortages; but this is the first shift I've been solo during the day.

Right, background out of the way, since it's quiet here, I've had some time to contemplate things that have happened recently in the office.

Everything here, pretty much since the start of the stories about recession appearing in the papers, has had a "cloak & dagger" ethos to it.

It seems that information is only being passed to those in the "in-group" - they all socialise outside of work together. The main part of this, is the fact that two new positions have opened on the team, but no-one really knew about it (unless you're in the "in-group").

There's two people slightly below me in the company (one is less technical, one does less training with other staff) who, the gossip mill will have you believe, have applied for these positions, and been given them, which means payrise & more responsibility.

Personally, I don't want that position, it was offered to me in the past, and I rejected on the basis that the pay increase doesn't jusitfy the stress increase.

Almost all of those that I'm responsible for, are pretty annoyed by this, primarily because they weren't informed that the positions were available.

Following discussions about this, it strikes me that morale within the team is very low, where usually we're a very close nit team. These days, it generally depends on who is working as to the mood within the team.

There's constant moaning & b******g about those that are in the "in-group," quite a lot of resentment etc whenever those people aren't around.

So, the dilema, do I:
- Ignore the problem as it's not my place to spot, nor correct the morale issues?
- Discuss it with the team & see how they want to proceed?
- Inform my managers that there's a morale issue & suggest they work out what the problem is?
- Spill my guts to the management, telling them everything I know?

Poll to follow. Much appreciated folks.

Does it bother you to the point where you want it changed?

If so, act upon it.

Originally Posted by Davido

Does it bother you to the point where you want it changed?

If so, act upon it.

The issues affecting morale do, yes. Hence the thread. It's the course of action that I'm enquiring about.

The company I work for as a contractor seems to suffer the same thing in their IT department - In recession, it has always been a dept. where cuts or major changes occur. The company have done the outsourcing with the technical staff, some of 20yrs+ (which is now coming back to bite them) and now decisions are being made on the remaining staff. Those that remain are now trying for get into the right groups with a view that it would secure their job, which of course is not guarenteed. What I have observed is those that are sure of their abilities, confident and generally good people, dont appear to be too bothered and dont really discuss it much amongst themselves. The others, who have so far kept themselves under the radar are clearing flustered simply because they dont have the skills for the job, but they are very very scheming to push any blame for mistakes onto the technical staff.....they have also started to brown nose the managment, so much so that 2 people sometimes speak as one because 1 has their head so far up the other backside, its scary!

If I were in your position I would have a meeting with your own teams, either during work or at the pub/restaurant - Get everyones card on the table, discuss and come to some resolution on how best to deal with the situation as a team - then get out there for the evening and have some fun. Those who want to be down and negative about it should be left to do so, surround yourself with positive minded people and you will be OK

[Shellywoozle]

Bring em all to mine next weekend !!

I would discuss with the team first, as the annoyance is the 'in group' not discussing with you. Work together and see if everyone feels the same and if everyone feels it is an issue they want to tackle. Better to tackle it in numbers so it doesn't look like you are jusy 'bi**ching' cause you are not the 'in group' member.

Awww next weekend we will have a bloomin good moan and drinking session

No real need to moan (well, about the office) hun, I really couldn't give a rats - it's just a gurantee to pay the bills at home (I have plans to affect that too but keeping them close to my chest for now).

I'd just prefer to work somewhere that's happy, rather than *itching constantly. Nice piece & quiet tonight though.

Nostrils, you don't work as a contractor for us do you? Nah, our department is always fine, Gambling industry.

[Shellywoozle]

Ahhh but can we still get drunk tho LOL

Originally Posted by Shellywoozle

Ahhh but can we still get drunk tho LOL

I thought that was a requirement?!?!

In every single organisation there is a hierarchy, whether this is lions in the wild, a pack of dogs or humans in the workplace..

It's less so in public sector as they have to follow key procedures, in the private sector (yours) they do also BUT its a lot easier to manipulate this as you (the employer) wishes.

Morale is low in a lot of places between a number of stafrf due to this but to be honest you will find that very very few companies of any size where this doesn't happen.
I personally wouldn't spill your guts to management if A: you don't really know them that well (and trust them) and B: you don't think they'll care.

they probably know this is going on and aren't too bothered about it, they probably belive if people leave they can replace them easy enough, our place does this...

Sometimes its easier to grin and bear it as you are getting paid at the end of the day and there are a lot of people who would jump at the chance of being employed. Use your skills, grow them and get yourself to a position where you are indispendable and / or can get a better job easily.

to summarise, from experience and observations of a lot of companies (believe me, i see a lot of companies daily!) this situation is not unique, change can only be driven from above and quite often they don't want it to change. Just care about you and you only as no-one else will...!

Originally Posted by mike_avfc

Morale is low in a lot of places between a number of stafrf due to this but to be honest you will find that very very few companies of any size where this doesn't happen.
I personally wouldn't spill your guts to management if A: you don't really know them that well (and trust them) and B: you don't think they'll care.

I'm not really liking the option of spilling guts, I put it mainly to cater for everything I could think of in the poll. I wouldn't really want to spill my guts, and go into all the gory detail, as I see that sort of thing to be bad for morale anyway (going behind people's backs etc).

Originally Posted by mike_avfc

they probably know this is going on and aren't too bothered about it, they probably belive if people leave they can replace them easy enough, our place does this...

Sometimes its easier to grin and bear it as you are getting paid at the end of the day and there are a lot of people who would jump at the chance of being employed. Use your skills, grow them and get yourself to a position where you are indispendable and / or can get a better job easily.

There has been quite a high staff turnover for a while, but this is more due to the interview process involved. I can usually spot someone who lacks the skills or drive to fulfil the job within their first day in the office. They're the ones that bail quickly & never come back (we have an almost vertical learning "curve").

I've raised concerns over high staff turnover because core skills will inevitably be lost. It's already at the stage where there's only a handful of people employed (who aren't here constantly!) that actually have the knowledge to complete "mission critical" tasks. Those employees are, IMO, irreplacable. Unfortunately higher management don't seem to accept that justification, and I can see them shooting themselves in the foot in the near future.

EDIT: The last employer I had that refused to listen to concerns, was told where they could stick their job. I'm putting plans into motion that mean I'm more in a position to be able to do this again, should I need to.

Originally Posted by mike_avfc

to summarise, from experience and observations of a lot of companies (believe me, i see a lot of companies daily!) this situation is not unique, change can only be driven from above and quite often they don't want it to change. Just care about you and you only as no-one else will...!

But surely the "look out for yourself & only yourself" attitude is counter productive to working within a team? Granted put yourself first & foremost, but there are others to consider if team working is going to be effective.

Anyway, the more I've thought about it, the more I'm thinking of doing a "voice of the team" approach. By that I mean ask those I'm directly responsible for about their general thoughts on the work we do, the office, health & safety aspects etc etc, all anonymously. Collate the results, then approach my managers if it's even necessary.

More than anything, it's just helpful to use a sounding board.