Working for a Living

Posted on May 14, 2011 by venagozar

I remember my first real job. I was a bag boy – as we were called, someone who bagged groceries at a grocery store. The ‘Work’ concept was a mystery to me even though I started working for money when I was nine years old, and I had recently quit a job that paid twice as much because I disliked what I was doing.

It was so formal. I had trouble with the clocking in and clocking out. We had to clock in and out within two minutes of our appointed time. If we missed we were docked some amount of time from our pay. I did not know it then, but the system was set up, so someone always had their time card docked. No matter how people tried, not everyone could clock in within the allotted minutes.

Breaks were another matter completely. The time I was allowed to go to break was always random. Some days break was after the first hour of work, other days it was four hours after starting. This to was a hard system to adjust to. If you went to work hungry, you might be starving by the time your break rolled around. If you ate before going to work, you may not be hungry until a few hours after your break was a dim memory. That too was a planned system to frustrate employee’s.

There are various roadblocks associated in many of the jobs each of us do every day. Some frustrations are intentional. Management makes life difficult so no one becomes too settled in their job. Management in some jobs prefers a high employee turnover, for varied reasons. In other situations, like when I worked an assembly line, or in my case a dis-assembly line, lunch was dictated by the work flow. The line stopped, the line started.

At lower pay levels, many jobs are worse than they have to be. The company may give time based raises or other enticing benefits to long term employees. Then they set up the way work is done to ensure most people are frustrated and have left before they can become a long term employee. This way a business can claim to be friendly to the employee. When in truth, they operate using barrier tactics that other less polished companies do not use. These types of businesses polish up the exterior a little more to make working their look worthwhile.

There is also the problem of too many people available to do the job. If an employer knows they can lose and retrain half their workforce every few months, some companies choose to do just that. Working conditions are barely tolerable, and become worse as time goes on. The law of supply and demand. There is too much supply (workers) and too little demand (jobs).

By the time I was twenty-five, I had worked at over twenty ‘real’ jobs trying to find a place where I fit in, and could be happy. Work to me was a revolving door. Quit one job in the morning, and start at a different job in the afternoon. Most of those jobs were the jobs described above. Poor pay, hard work, and little real prospects of any long term goals with one particular company.

There is a golden lining in working conditions like this. If you pay attention, you learn how to manage people in a manner they appreciate. You learn many different skill sets, of which most carry over from one job to the next. You see many different ways of doing the same thing, and with enough job hopping, you eventually start to look pretty sharp because you can and do suggest better ways of doing the same old thing.

Work if you are like me, contains a basic flaw. No matter what form the work takes, there is a drum beat in the background setting the rhythm of a work and life. The biggest secret to enjoying your work is to find creative ways to manage the drum beat.

Work Towards Success

Posted on December 9, 2010 by venagozar

It is no secret some of us are working at jobs we dislike. We are working for a paycheck because job satisfaction is sorely lacking. Bills have to be payed, our home has to be maintained, and life has to be managed. It may not be the greatest job in the world, but it happens to be the only job we have at the moment.

How great it would be if one day soon we discovered that we worked our way right out of our job and into a better one! Suddenly spending most of each week at a job would be more exciting than the agony of collecting a paycheck. If only it would happen.

It can and does happen every day to people like you and me. Every day someone wakes up and heads off to work to find that they no longer have to do the job that gets a paycheck. Instead they have been moved or promoted into a job that has some meaning, and feels good walking out the door after the day is done.

The most important part of improving any work situation is creating and following a plan for your working future. Creating a plan to move from point A to point B at work keeps out work distraction and tracks how well the plan is working. Update and modify the plan as needed.

In general do work you are supposed to be doing, and any extra work that is important to your Boss when you have free time, and skip the rest. One of the biggest stumbling blocks holding people back from being selected for raises or promotion is not doing work which is important to your Boss. Your Boss not only signs off on your time card every week and manages your performance, your Boss also has influence on your working future.

Your Boss generally expects you to accomplish a specific list of tasks and some general tasks too. These primary tasks should be the focus of a day at work. Doing your best can have a big payoff. Performing a task that is not important to your Boss while neglecting primary responsibility leaves a lasting impression with your Boss, and it is negative.

Become an expert at your job if possible. In most cases there is always more to learn about your job. If you are not an expert on your job, ask your coworkers about those things you do not know about your job. Dig down into the details. Most people like to show off how much they know, so finding a willing audience is a breath of fresh air for them.

Look for smarter, better, or faster ways to accomplish tasks. As the workday progresses, imagine other ways of doing the work. Whether any ideas really are faster or better, is not as important as the process of thinking about how the work is done and can be done better.

As technology changes there is are always possibilities of identifying new ways of doing the same old task. If the new way makes the task faster or better capture it, and discuss it with your Boss when the opportunity is there. All it takes is one second in a workday for a flash of insight to help you step out of the crowd and into the limelight.

Manage your relationship with your Boss. Perception is important to your Boss. Your Boss may only have a general idea about what kind of worker you are. Make sure the perception your Boss has of you is as polished as it can be. Show up for work a few minutes early and stay a few minutes late. Talk with the people on other shifts. Speaking with people who do the same work at a different time, may know something worth knowing.

A few minutes a day invested in making friends across shifts can have unexpected benefits. If nothing else, more people get to know your name, and may share important information with you, as you share information with them.

Just as you should leave your work at work, leave your personal life at the door too. It is much better to keep conversation general, and keep your personal life personal. All of your Coworkers have conversations with your Boss too. Once something personal is shared, there is no way to recall something that should not have been said.

No matter the result of any calendar period, making and following a work plan, lay the foundation for the future. Skills are honed, knowledge is gained, and new skills are developed that may help in landing a new job at a different company. Nothing is wasted at work except time. Make the most of work time, and let that time create new options for your working future.

Illegal Mexican Work Force and Us?

Posted on September 23, 2010 by venagozar

Here in the Southwest there is an expression used which is probably not heard in other parts of America, and certainly not in other parts of the world. To hear the expression, “Works like a Mexican” is one of the highest forms of praise anyone here in the Southwest who is not a Mexican National will ever hear about how they do their job.

Contrary to popular belief, Mexican immigrants in America, legal or not do not fit the picture that most of America appears to want to paint for them. I find illegal Mexican Nationals to be among the hardest working, most conscientious people I ever met.

Over half my meals each week are most likely prepared in some way by a Mexican. The home I live in was built by Mexican labor. Most of the low pay high risk workers I come into contact with are Mexican. No matter where I choose to go or eat, whether it be a car wash, coffee shop, or upscale dining, it is likely that a Mexican works there.

I hear some people say, illegal Mexicans are taking all the jobs. I have to agree with this comment because for the most part it is true. Mexican laborers work at the most physical and lowest paying jobs in the local job market.

Mexican labor does jobs such as re-roofing houses in ninety plus degree heat (in the shade) eight or more hours a day. Mexican labor can be found working at processing plants for minimum wage – if they are not cheated out of it. Mexican labor frames and builds houses, do yard work, clear trash. Mexicans pray they hopefully not get cheated out of their pay when a greedy foreman or business owner calls immigration to report them working illegally at the end of the day or week.

Mexicans who enter America illegally are made out of the same stuff we Americans were made of a few centuries ago. Illegal Mexicans are first and foremost above the average in intelligence. They have to be to be successful in America with so much going against them. No one really is giving them a hand up, despite what is popular in the press. Most illegal Mexicans do not want a hand up, instead they want to be successful on their own, and left alone to live quietly.

Illegal Mexicans are risk takers. Some pay thousands of dollars to get across the border. They risk their health and life to gain entry in America. Some Mexicans die in the process of getting to America. Mexicans trying to get to America die of heat exhaustion in the trailers of semi trucks, the vast deserts, shipping containers, automobile cutouts, anything that could possibly hide conceal a human being.

Some Mexicans are murdered by the Mules they paid to smuggle them across the wasteland desert separating Mexico from America. Some Mexicans are kidnapped and forced to carry tens of pounds of illegal drugs across the border at gun point.

Mexicans illegally in America are for the most part hard working people. We Americans have become soft. When we agree to work for someone, it usually means we agree to show up for the agreed upon hours per week. We generally complain about what we have to do, and in some cases we do the minimum.

We Americans at times complain about our pay. We dislike for our boss(es) because they expect us to actually do work. We determine the parameters of our work, deciding privately what we will or will not do, and for how long.

Mexicans are thrilled to get a job, they don’t care the pay is low. All they know is they will make more money in a month than they would make in six months or more in Mexico, if they were lucky.

As an example, if a Mexican is hired to clean, they clean until they are told they can take a break. They don’t move extra slow and do the absolute minimum, or decide when they have cleaned enough for the day. They keep cleaning until the work day is done. They find something else of added value to do if they can not possibly clean anymore.

Illegal Mexicans are a thrifty people. They send enormous amounts of money home to their families in Mexico each month, sometimes paying a ‘handling’ tax, all while making a poor wage.

Mexicans do not generally have most of what we Americans have come to think as necessities for life. Illegal Mexicans are happy with less than the minimum, because what we Americans consider the minimum, illegal Mexicans know is better than they would have had on the other side of the border.

I have found most illegal Mexican people to be warm, caring, forthright, and honest. That is more than I can say of some Americans living in the same neighborhoods as their illegal Mexican neighbors. Mexican’s are generally very family oriented, and prefer law and order to violence and trouble.

Almost all the violence and murders committed by Mexicans is drug related. Illegal Mexicans, in my experience are meek and humble. They do not have any choice. Even the smallest public incident could mean deportation.

My life would grind to a quick halt without Mexicans doing work for minimum pay which some born and raised Americans are too good to do for so little money. Whether the situation is right or wrong is another matter. Most cities in the Southwest could not enjoy the level of luxury and comfort they enjoy for so little, if it were not for illegal Mexican labor taking care of our wants and needs in all areas of our lives each and every day.

Nobody Told Me!

Posted on February 7, 2010 by venagozar

I didn’t know. Nobody told me. Do you ever hear these phrases? Ever hear yourself using them? Almost every time I hear them, they are used as a defensive response or a way to avoid responsibility. Nobody told me, I didn’t know.

When phrases like these are uttered, someone is generally given a free one time use pass. They are forgiven or excused for not knowing. Used more than once in a while, the utterer is not well thought of.

For a few people, these phrases and others like them, are over used excuses. While exceptions occur, exceptions should be the exception and not the rule.

What is your common response when asked why you are or are not doing something? Are you one of the few, guilty of uttering not being told, or not knowing? Do you find yourself uttering these phrases a little too often?

Not knowing, is a sign or symptom of more going in the background than the few words each phrase contains. No one told me, for example, has hidden meanings other than the obvious one. No matter where you work, no one has a job to make sure you know what you need to know after you are trained.

When something changes in your workplace, some form of communication is used telling you what has changed. If you hear yourself using these phrases more than once in a long while, below are some ideas you can use to ensure you rarely utter them again, if ever.

The key to knowing is to be proactive. Being proactive is a very effective tool you can use in your work and personal life. Being proactive, you always learn or know about changes that are important to you.

One of the best ways to be proactive is to pay attention. Some way, somehow in your place of work, there is a system in place of how information is passed on. Learn how important information is passed on.

Find out if your company uses email, a bulletin board, a formal shift meeting, or the person you relieve is supposed to tell you. Make your first job of the day reading, listening,or asking about: “What is going on, anything new today?”

Asking a simple question like this and actively listening to the answer will save you from ever uttering a hollow excuse again. Once you get used to reading, and asking questions, you will know what you need to know. You will know about any changes, and you will look sharp, and become more valuable at work.

Occasionally something changes and you really had no way of knowing. Instead of reaching for a new way of saying you did not know, or were not told, you can use a much more powerful tool.

You can say: I read, listened to, or checked for changes, and there was nothing posted, sent, or mentioned. I asked ‘somebody’ who I took over from, and they did not mention any changes.

If the power of response escapes you, go back and read the first paragraph of this post and compare the two responses. Which reply would you rather give, and which reply would you rather hear? There is a lot of power in words used correctly.

If you are new on the job, and you truly did not know, be honest about it. Follow up honestly with a good question. “I was not aware of this, how and where do I find out about these changes?” Phrasing your reply like this, you will be way ahead of others, who automatically fall back on those old, worn out, ‘I didn’t know’ type phrases.

Now you know how to be on top of your job and your life, you can identify how important information is not being passed on to you. If you find that there is no formal way information is passed on, suggest a way! Using your new proactive way of being, suggest a new or better way of passing on information or changes. Think of a method that is easy and everyone see, hear, or read and let someone know in a professional manner, who can make it happen. It may get you a raise!

Excel At Your Job And Love It

Posted on November 15, 2009 by venagozar

In two earlier posts on pride in the workplace, I wrote about some obvious reasons why having pride in your work, not only makes you a more valuable employee, but workplace pride also is a reflection of how one’s personal life is managed. If you are managing your personal life well, keeping everything moving the way you want it to move is reflected in how you perform your job. The opposite is also true.

There are other reasons for having pride in your job which many people do not appreciate because they never thought about from a different perspective. The more pride in your job, the more pay attention to the small things. Huge financially devastating lawsuits have happened over neglect of minor details.

at work Attention to minor details while you are working is noticed by your boss when they compare the quality of your work to that of your peers. It is the little things that get noticed by your boss as the big things take care of themselves. Your boss may see you cleaning up your work area, or taking care of something that needs to be done others have ignored. It is a good idea to make it a point to be seen doing little extras things others ignore.

What about when you are walking to your job. I have observed an untold number of people who think they are too important to bend over and pick up a piece of paper in their path ten feet from a trash can. I have seen heads of business, who make more in a restroom break than many people make an hour, take the time to stoop over and pick up an errant piece of paper on the ground on their way to the building entrance.

I was taught by a dinner chef, that it is the little things that hurt a business. Someone not paying attention to what they are doing with food could result in a correctly unhappy customer. Or worse, a handful of people become sick as a result of improper food handling procedures. A few unhappy customers can easily destroy years of building a good reputation.

One of the noted restaurants in town who enjoyed the major market share in their specialty, were discovered to be reserving food from picked up plates. This happened not once but twice in a short period. The company almost folded because their reputation lost through greed and neglect. Whatever the person who started reserving food thought they were saving in expenses, was not as much as long term customers who never returned to that establishment.

If you are in sales such as sales in a clothing store, a little pride and two simple things you can improve both your image and increase sales more than you have previously managed. All you need to do is look busy and smile. It does not matter if you redo something you did ten minutes earlier. Your customers appreciate the fact that you stopped doing whatever you were doing to help them a lot more than if you were standing frowning in the corner, and then come striding over to see what they want. As a customer, who are you more likely to ask for help, someone who looks like they are doing something who stopped to see if you need assistance, or someone who is standing in a corner looking bored staring at the floor.

These are only a few ideas of many that are available for you to use in your workplace. The sad truth is most of us think we are worth more than we are being paid, and we try to make up the difference by doing less. Reality is different; doing more has a better chance of balancing the scales of work verses pay than loafing will.

If you work with the public doing more has even higher dividends. It is quite possible that each and every day someone who your wait on or help is looking for an employee. While they can read resumes and listen to self promotion pitches all day long, another saying applies, “Actions speak louder than words”. You never know if the next person who sees you doing something extra will be your next employer. If they are who do you want them to see, you working with pride, or you loafing around, doing as little as possible.

Even when it seems that those little extra things you do are not helping you, they really are. Making it a habit to do those little extra things in your present job, is on the job training for your, “Real Job”. Take advantage of every opportunity to learn how to be effective for the future. While you are practicing, you will start taking more pride in your present job too. You boss will notice too, and perhaps you will be stepping out ahead of your coworkers and winning the next opportunity for advancement or more pay.

Taking Pride In Your Work

Your Job Is Your Life

Who Do You Want To Be

Posted on October 24, 2009 by venagozar

I had a unique opportunity to make a number of visits to a hardware store over two days. In that time I was helped by a number of people working at the store and checked out by at least as many before my buying spree was complete. I was humbled by one of those workers in particular. I thought they reflected you and I and those around us.

Watching how the people working acted or reacted as they were helping me with the nuances and intricacies of items I knew little about is worth writing about. My first trip was for a vanity and sink top for a bathroom upgrade.

The first clerk I asked for help pointed me in the general direction of vanities and sink tops before disappearing. I would say helping another customer, but seeing there were only about five of us in the store I believe he went to a new hiding place.

I decided on what pieces I wanted and went to find a cart. A worker in the lighting section pointed me to a corner and told me carts were usually pulled in to that corner (pointing) from the parking lot. Arriving at the appointed corner, there were no carts, but someone was guarding the exit area cum cash register. They told me all the carts were out in the parking lot somewhere.

When I found a cart, loaded it, and went to an open register to check out, the woman who helped me asked the normal questions and seemed to care about my answers. When the transaction was complete she asked if I needed help loading my purchase. I said yes I would like some help getting them into my truck. She paged out an appropriate code and said if no one shows up, she will help me load up.

Our choice I made a joke to the woman about hearing the stampede of feet coming towards the exit to help when a man showed up and said he would be more than happy to help me load up. He pulled my cart out to my truck, helped me load up, and asked if I could manage unloading by myself. I told him thank you for the help, and yes, I could manage the unloading myself.

The next day there were a number of trips back and forth buying, exchanging, and returning. One clerk, on the second trip, looked as if her best friend had recently died while complaining about how long the day was. It was nine am and she had been working two hours. I saw her later in the day at a different register, with the same bored, forlorn look. I chose a different register to check out at.

On one return for correct size trip, the returns clerk told me that doors were the number one exchanged item, and the reasons why. She was upbeat and took me at my word when I told her nothing was used or damaged even though one box looked nothing like it did when it left the store.

I exited the returns section, went back in the store and picked up some more large items. The cashier was friendly as asked if I needed this or that that she knew would be needed for what I bought. She also asked if I needed help, and told me a coworker who was one of the best employees would probably show up to help me. I recognized the name from the night before, the same person who helped load up my truck last night. I agreed and mentioned how he helped me the previous evening. The clerk said yes, that would be him, the others usually hide when paged to help.

One person who really stood out was the first register clerk of the second morning. She was the only register clerk when I got in the line of five at her register. She was a young woman with a large flower in her hair above her right ear, her mouth in a smile, and pleasant manners when checking out the previous customers.

I mentioned how polite and awake she was when the most of the customers and workers alike looked to be half asleep. The young woman told me, “I work somewhere else too, and I worked hard and late last night. I didn’t get much sleep and I am very tired. When I woke up and started getting ready to come here, I had a choice of how I wanted to be today, and I chose to be happy.” I stood looking at her in awe as she checked me out with a smile. The amazing places we learn about life and how to live it!

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