For the weekend engagement WE-138 I am writing today about a bad job:
When I was young, I needed money but at the time I didn't have proven experience or qualifications. Its difficult to get started from nothing - I couldn't find an office job that I really wanted despite being a bit of a nerdy geek and IT (running my own servers at home and hacking code). Without qualifications and proven experience, it doesn't matter - they won't take you.
So I ended up taking whatever I can find, which in this case, was cleaning the floor in a plastic pellets factory.
The job
The job was pretty grim. When shutdown the production line and completed any maintenance, my job was to go in and clean the floor in the factory. The plastic pellet processing left a real fine dust so I had to where a face mask to stop it going in my lungs. It was really dirty work. Some of the plastic dust had soaked in water and god knows what else so it was hard to clear up. I had to get right under the machinery too which was dark and involved getting down on my hands and knees.
Physically, it was pretty tough work too. When you sweep for a long time your arms and body ache but you know you have to finish the job and that there will be other parts of the factory to clean later. It was a never ending cycle of work.
It was quite a lonely job too. The factory was quite busy with people when the machinery was running but when it was all shut down there wasn't anyone there. At least where I was, other parts of the factory were still working and I had toc clean different parts in rotation.
My management
The foreman who as in charge of my work got upset that I was working too hard. He said that I was sweeping the factory in half the time that the other workers did and that it made them look bad. He got quite annoyed with me. Told me to go and hide somewhere were I wouldn't be noticed and calm down a bit. That there was no point in finishing the work as there would just be more to do.
The senior management were like an invisible superclass of people that we didn't see in the factory. They arrived into their very clean looking office building in their nice cars, to the nice offices with their own sectioned off part of the company. I suppose this is quite normal in many factories but it really re-enforced a feeling of us and them.
What I learnt
First of all, I learnt that a lot of people do really horrible jobs that are hard work - and don 't pay well. This taught me all the way through my career to respect everyone.
Further to this, I now make a point of being polite and human to all the people I work with. I don't make a distinction of they are security, a cleaner, factory worker or office worker. Everyone deserves respect and appreciation for the work they doing. I am now fortunate to have taken my career to a leadership position but I try to remain humble in everything that I do.
The biggest lesson though was the culture. The foreman didn't want to work hard. This is a big problem for any company and the company couldn't have been producing to their maximum potential because the workforce wasn't committed. This has to rest on the leadership in the company - it is their fault. They need to develop a culture that appreciates and values everyone at all levels. That deals with everyone fairly and makes them feel valued.
This is what I try to take forward in my working life. I am grateful I had the opportunity to do this horrendous job - it really helped me.
