I am just venting this morning. I currently work for a steel construction co. doing project estimating/ bidding / detailing / project management . that being said, some one stop me in my tracks if im wrong here, but im really tired of company owners who expect the world out of you but in turn are willing to compensate you a pat on the back. what i mean by world is i have to literally punch a clock, if im 1 min late to work or back from lunch i hear abt it everyday, but my boss who is the owner is late almost everyday and somedays he is not in till an hour or two hours late!!! his excuse is he had to take his son to school or some other b.s.
then he will take an hour to an hour and a half lunch break, i requested to come in earlier to take an 75min lunch and he is like "no, all a guy need for a lunch break is 50 mins"
The office manager is his girlfriend, so every little thing i do or say she tells him, so he comes back asking me a million questions, which has resulted in me loosing jobs because everything has to be done his way. also because she is his girlfriend they will use at least an hour to two hours of company time a day doing personal business, like balancing their personal check book, making vacation plans, getting their son into boy scouts or pee wee baseball, shopping on amazon, etc.
i know he is the boss and she is his girl, but isnt there a point were a boss should lead by example? not do as i say and not as i do and i have no clue what it is you do here or how to draw in cad but lets do it my way attitude?
'assholes and elbows' refers to working hard at a task. It originated in farm work. If a group of field hands is busy and bent over picking crops, then a supervisor looking out over the group would see nothing but "assholes and elbows".
A derivative term with the same origin and meaning is "head down, butt up".
well i might be in minority here, but why does it matter to you how long a lunch break your boss takes or what time he arrives at work? or the manager is his gf. do you have a lunch break duration in your contract? if yes then thats all it matters, take no less than that time. just do your job properly and let them do what they do, if they still give you hard time just tell them you do your job properly and nothing else concerns them, if their casual attitude is affecting your work then point it out next time they ask you why the work is not done. if they let you go so be it, there are plenty of jobs around if you know your job well.
if i was in tmston's position, where all of the effort i put into a task, or the labor i provide, or the work i do, is going towards letting some guy spend all day fooling around with his secretary i might find it hard to stay motivated to do a good job.
it's a bit demoralizing knowing your investment in a company is providing other people comfort and security instead of yourself.
@curtkram: "it's a bit demoralizing knowing your investment in a company is providing other people comfort and security instead of yourself."
Where's the "investment" here -- is tmston2 an equity owner of the firm?
IMHO, the only thing that really matters here is whether tmston2 is performing his job properly and is being paid appropriately for that work. If he's got a problem with how the boss conducts himself, tough -- it's not tmston2's firm. If he doesn't like the working conditions, he's free to leave anytime he wishes.
The original post is little more than immature whining.
Now, having said that, I do agree that the boss is hardly "enlightened" when it comes to management and he's probably hurting himself in the long run. But, there's no law that says a business owner must be "enlightened" and - if he's not - tmston2 is not going to change that situation.
It's demoralizing, but keep the discussion on how you do your job and how you are compensated for it. If you could use more support from your boss on projects (and it just so happens he hasn't been providing it because he's too busy planning vacations), ask for that support! If you feel like your stuff is being micromanaged by the office manager to a degree that is abnormal, discuss that and compare the level of nitpicking by management to other firms you've worked for. But keep the discussion on the job, don't sit there criticizing their personal lives.
And if you just can't deal with the fact that the boss is schtupping the office manager, GTFO.
Honestly I could careless how much time he takes, what he and his girlfriend does, or how early he leaves everyday. what frustrates me is holding your employees to one standard, but another for you and your girlfriend, and then you wonder Y you have such a high turn over!!! i just feel a boss shouldn't go snooping through your things when you are out to lunch, and should lead by example.
he did open the post saying he is just venting. in that context, i would think it's harsh to say it's immature whining. a public forum is probably not the best place to vent, but the whole point of venting is to quickly complain about something with the intent of then putting it behind you. i find that venting is often done on any given occasion because of the stress from events leading up to it instead of the event being criticized anyway. imho, anything following "just venting" should not be taken too serious; i would even include subsequent posts in that.
in America and as a core tenant of capitalism, employment is a 2-way negotiation. the employer provides consideration in return for consideration provided by the employee and vice-versa. to imply that tmstom is not contributing an investment in his company implies he is not providing consideration. in certain feudal systems or slavery or other systems of that nature, employment is a 1-way system where the servant serves the master. just saying that from my perspective, which may or may not be popular or even accurate, saying tmston has to have equity in a company to consider his investment of time and labor worthwhile is unkind.
asses and elbows may or may not imply that tmston should just focus on the task in front of him, while ignoring everything else going on around him. he has a contractual relationship that says he does x job for y, and no other influence in the world is relevant. he has a narrow sphere of influence and should not concern himself with events outside that sphere. in a general sense i think this is a common view held by conservatives which i disagree with.
tmston, along with everyone else ever and everywhere, exists within a context. to pretend that context does not exist is fantasy. i think there is perhaps some debate regarding relevance of particular influences, for example maybe what the secretary does should not effect the production of the line crew or whatever, but to deny the existence of things that happen in real life is usually not the best choice.
this comment is only very loosely related to the rest of this thread and as i stated before anything following "just venting" should not be taken too seriously. thanks for reading.
in few words Curtkram is saying it in a nutshell how i feel. I have been w/ this co. 9 months and i cant ignore the behavior although i try and understand it has nothing to do w/ me directly.
funny thing is my boss asked me last week do i see myself staying w/ company for the next 5yrs, i told him i don't think so
I’ve been in this same situation for almost 2 years now… Boss (my father’s age) and his girlfriend (my age) create an office full of unhappy employees. What’s worse is that the girlfriend being fairly useless (keeping her job pretty much ONLY by having this relationship with the boss), needs someone to pick up her slack. Me as the stronger “work horse” in the office gets this unpleasant assignment of being staffed on EVERY single project she’s on. Hence my extra efforts offset her lack thereof, making things appear normal on paper. Needless to say, I’m not getting any credit for my extra effort, since the boss believes his girlfriend to be a great architect (both due to his delusion, and because nobody in the office, myself included, is willing to risk our jobs by pointing out her incompetence).
I’ve since come to terms with it. Life is not fair, but I can not spend mine worrying about it. This is gainful employment. As long as I’m still getting a decent pay, getting the kind of experience I need and want for my career development, I will stay. Though I get paid about the same as the freeloading girlfriend, I know that I’m getting loads more knowledge and practice than her (which I consider as more valuable than credit and recognition from an idiot boss anyways). Plus, my job/career/life is not contingent on whom I date. So there IS balance in the universe after all. Right? Or am I kidding myself?
asses and elbows is right, but in another sense. kiss boss's ass, use your elbows to push your fellow coworkers out of your way, that pretty much sums up corporate culture :D. As Jim Hacker said "Elbows: the most important weapon in a politician's armory". But on a serious note its not good for you to work in an environment where you are not happy and feel frustrated, it will make you less productive, so i suggest try your best to look for a place where your hard work is appreciated and your boss has a vision and attitude which you think a leader should have.
FRUSTRATION
I am just venting this morning. I currently work for a steel construction co. doing project estimating/ bidding / detailing / project management . that being said, some one stop me in my tracks if im wrong here, but im really tired of company owners who expect the world out of you but in turn are willing to compensate you a pat on the back. what i mean by world is i have to literally punch a clock, if im 1 min late to work or back from lunch i hear abt it everyday, but my boss who is the owner is late almost everyday and somedays he is not in till an hour or two hours late!!! his excuse is he had to take his son to school or some other b.s.
then he will take an hour to an hour and a half lunch break, i requested to come in earlier to take an 75min lunch and he is like "no, all a guy need for a lunch break is 50 mins"
The office manager is his girlfriend, so every little thing i do or say she tells him, so he comes back asking me a million questions, which has resulted in me loosing jobs because everything has to be done his way. also because she is his girlfriend they will use at least an hour to two hours of company time a day doing personal business, like balancing their personal check book, making vacation plans, getting their son into boy scouts or pee wee baseball, shopping on amazon, etc.
i know he is the boss and she is his girl, but isnt there a point were a boss should lead by example? not do as i say and not as i do and i have no clue what it is you do here or how to draw in cad but lets do it my way attitude?
so fed up!!!! :(
start your own business and then you can do this. otherwise, asses and elbows.
I agree with vado, but I don't know what asses and elbows means. it sounds miserable. TIMMAHY!!!
it is what sausage is made out of.
unionize and strike. there should be repercussions for using a position of authority to take advantage of subordinate staff.
asses and elbows indeed. i also have no idea what that's supposed to mean.
asses and elbows means GET OUT
(the view from behind)
Ah, this younger generation:
'assholes and elbows' refers to working hard at a task. It originated in farm work. If a group of field hands is busy and bent over picking crops, then a supervisor looking out over the group would see nothing but "assholes and elbows".
A derivative term with the same origin and meaning is "head down, butt up".
well i might be in minority here, but why does it matter to you how long a lunch break your boss takes or what time he arrives at work? or the manager is his gf. do you have a lunch break duration in your contract? if yes then thats all it matters, take no less than that time. just do your job properly and let them do what they do, if they still give you hard time just tell them you do your job properly and nothing else concerns them, if their casual attitude is affecting your work then point it out next time they ask you why the work is not done. if they let you go so be it, there are plenty of jobs around if you know your job well.
if i was in tmston's position, where all of the effort i put into a task, or the labor i provide, or the work i do, is going towards letting some guy spend all day fooling around with his secretary i might find it hard to stay motivated to do a good job.
it's a bit demoralizing knowing your investment in a company is providing other people comfort and security instead of yourself.
@curtkram: "it's a bit demoralizing knowing your investment in a company is providing other people comfort and security instead of yourself."
Where's the "investment" here -- is tmston2 an equity owner of the firm?
IMHO, the only thing that really matters here is whether tmston2 is performing his job properly and is being paid appropriately for that work. If he's got a problem with how the boss conducts himself, tough -- it's not tmston2's firm. If he doesn't like the working conditions, he's free to leave anytime he wishes.
The original post is little more than immature whining.
Now, having said that, I do agree that the boss is hardly "enlightened" when it comes to management and he's probably hurting himself in the long run. But, there's no law that says a business owner must be "enlightened" and - if he's not - tmston2 is not going to change that situation.
It's demoralizing, but keep the discussion on how you do your job and how you are compensated for it. If you could use more support from your boss on projects (and it just so happens he hasn't been providing it because he's too busy planning vacations), ask for that support! If you feel like your stuff is being micromanaged by the office manager to a degree that is abnormal, discuss that and compare the level of nitpicking by management to other firms you've worked for. But keep the discussion on the job, don't sit there criticizing their personal lives.
And if you just can't deal with the fact that the boss is schtupping the office manager, GTFO.
@sajid athar
Honestly I could careless how much time he takes, what he and his girlfriend does, or how early he leaves everyday. what frustrates me is holding your employees to one standard, but another for you and your girlfriend, and then you wonder Y you have such a high turn over!!! i just feel a boss shouldn't go snooping through your things when you are out to lunch, and should lead by example.
he did open the post saying he is just venting. in that context, i would think it's harsh to say it's immature whining. a public forum is probably not the best place to vent, but the whole point of venting is to quickly complain about something with the intent of then putting it behind you. i find that venting is often done on any given occasion because of the stress from events leading up to it instead of the event being criticized anyway. imho, anything following "just venting" should not be taken too serious; i would even include subsequent posts in that.
in America and as a core tenant of capitalism, employment is a 2-way negotiation. the employer provides consideration in return for consideration provided by the employee and vice-versa. to imply that tmstom is not contributing an investment in his company implies he is not providing consideration. in certain feudal systems or slavery or other systems of that nature, employment is a 1-way system where the servant serves the master. just saying that from my perspective, which may or may not be popular or even accurate, saying tmston has to have equity in a company to consider his investment of time and labor worthwhile is unkind.
asses and elbows???
sodomizing your employer is not the answer here. in fact, it will most likely make things worse.
i'm going to add another thing here.
asses and elbows may or may not imply that tmston should just focus on the task in front of him, while ignoring everything else going on around him. he has a contractual relationship that says he does x job for y, and no other influence in the world is relevant. he has a narrow sphere of influence and should not concern himself with events outside that sphere. in a general sense i think this is a common view held by conservatives which i disagree with.
tmston, along with everyone else ever and everywhere, exists within a context. to pretend that context does not exist is fantasy. i think there is perhaps some debate regarding relevance of particular influences, for example maybe what the secretary does should not effect the production of the line crew or whatever, but to deny the existence of things that happen in real life is usually not the best choice.
this comment is only very loosely related to the rest of this thread and as i stated before anything following "just venting" should not be taken too seriously. thanks for reading.
in few words Curtkram is saying it in a nutshell how i feel. I have been w/ this co. 9 months and i cant ignore the behavior although i try and understand it has nothing to do w/ me directly.
funny thing is my boss asked me last week do i see myself staying w/ company for the next 5yrs, i told him i don't think so
I’ve been in this same situation for almost 2 years now… Boss (my father’s age) and his girlfriend (my age) create an office full of unhappy employees. What’s worse is that the girlfriend being fairly useless (keeping her job pretty much ONLY by having this relationship with the boss), needs someone to pick up her slack. Me as the stronger “work horse” in the office gets this unpleasant assignment of being staffed on EVERY single project she’s on. Hence my extra efforts offset her lack thereof, making things appear normal on paper. Needless to say, I’m not getting any credit for my extra effort, since the boss believes his girlfriend to be a great architect (both due to his delusion, and because nobody in the office, myself included, is willing to risk our jobs by pointing out her incompetence).
I’ve since come to terms with it. Life is not fair, but I can not spend mine worrying about it. This is gainful employment. As long as I’m still getting a decent pay, getting the kind of experience I need and want for my career development, I will stay. Though I get paid about the same as the freeloading girlfriend, I know that I’m getting loads more knowledge and practice than her (which I consider as more valuable than credit and recognition from an idiot boss anyways). Plus, my job/career/life is not contingent on whom I date. So there IS balance in the universe after all. Right? Or am I kidding myself?
Well said.
asses and elbows is right, but in another sense. kiss boss's ass, use your elbows to push your fellow coworkers out of your way, that pretty much sums up corporate culture :D. As Jim Hacker said "Elbows: the most important weapon in a politician's armory". But on a serious note its not good for you to work in an environment where you are not happy and feel frustrated, it will make you less productive, so i suggest try your best to look for a place where your hard work is appreciated and your boss has a vision and attitude which you think a leader should have.
No matter who you are, what you're doing, or how much you're making, if you are punching a clock, it's time to quit and move on to something else.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.