Satisfaction

Sometimes we all need a little of it on some level or another, right?  Whether its personal or professional its nice to be able to pause for a moment and feel good about yourself.

I started with my current employer back in October.  I had actually started the last week of June prior, but as a temp.  I was fortunate to land a temp assignment that not only paid well but that was right up my area of expertise, including SAP.  I was also fortunate that the management at the facility were aware of everything going on on all 3 shifts (since I was on second shift), and within 2 months I was offered a full time job with the company. (thus the October thing)

So my career there began in receiving on second shift.  Once I was hired on full time I began to be groomed for the second shift lead spot in receiving.  The current lead was going to move up to shipping and I was going to take over for him, which everyone involved was cool with.  Of course my lead promotion would have taken a bit since I was new to the company, but it would have come eventually.  Then something funny happened.

The lead on first took 3 weeks off at the end of the year because his girlfriend was having a baby.  I was asked by management if I would mind covering first shift.  This would involve some weeks where I had to flip between both shifts in the same week.  Joy.  Not exactly an ideal setup, but being that these guys just hired me and that I'm a team player, the only answer there was, of course, yes.

Now I didn't know the bosses on day shift very well.  I knew OF them of course, but just had the occasional interaction with them.  They were pretty hardcore too from my estimations...it wasn't hard to get on their shit list with a quality fuckup, nor was it easy to get off that list.  My main goal was to end that 3 week period and not have the words "that fucking idiot" preceed the word "Tom" when I was done. 

There were some problems while I was covering...nothing of my doing, but some real gems came up.  I handled them (for the most part smoothly) though it was pretty draining.  A lot of my decision making was pulling stuff out of my ass and out of my prior 18 years warehousing experience, since I was still new to the company and their way of doing things.  Towards the end of the second week the first shift supervisor called me into his office and asked me what I thought of first shift.  Well, the real answer was "the crew back there isn't worth a fuck and I would fire most of them and start over if it were up to me", but the answer I submitted was basically "well, I don't care for getting up at 4am every day".  Then came a curious response to that: "What if you didn't have to come in until 9?".

Ok, I'm listening now.  I pointed out they didn't need anyone else in receiving on first, I didn't understand where this was going.  So basically over the next 2 days 2 of the supervisors approached me about moving me up into the office.  They needed someone who they felt could do well with SAP and also manage the people in the office.  Great.  I also pointed out that I had never done what they were asking me to do before (as far as the actual work)...sort of a little detail I thought I should mention upfront.  They told me not to worry, they would train me.  Hm.  Cool.

They also told me to expect friction from the full time woman (our facility is 80% temp labor, including the office area) because she would see me as a threat...and basically, they said, she was right in seeing it that way because they didn't trust her to do the job and needed someone they thought could handle it.  I was that person.  Hooray, built-in drama!  I also asked if it involved a raise, and was basically told (in a good natured way) that I just got hired on full time...don't get greedy!  No problem, just asking.  :)

So I'll spare the details of the last 8 months aside from saying that indeed that friction has been there.  Now I like this woman...on a personal level, I really do like her.  I have moments where I want to pull my hair out over the way she treats me, but whats nice is my boss has given me his trust and lets me make what decisions I feel are necessary.  Only problem is, this other women "recruits" (for lack of a better term) other people in the department and I get tag-teamed a lot.  Its pretty frustrating at times.  And now she's going on maternity leave in a few months, and I'm trying to strengthen the crew so we can keep rolling once she's gone.  Part of that process involved bringing a girl (full timer) from back in receiving to help out.  This woman immediately huddled up with her, and this girl's attitude has been nothing short of horseshit.  She can get the job done when she wants to...problem is getting her to want to.  For lack of cubicle space they set her up in an empty office so she could work from there.  Well, her ego is big enough to fight godzilla so she equated being set up in an office as some kind of perk or promotion.

A while back I talked to this other woman and suggested we hold a little meeting about some things with our crew.  I invited this girl to the meeting (even though she's not in our department) as a courtesy, to get her into the loop.  That meeting was a disaster.  The lady in my department started off addressing the crew, and then as I began to add my piece...I got cut off by this new girl.  Um...wtf?  Then when I tried to say something, the bitch actually shushed me!  I was livid.  It got to the point where if I asked her to do something or gave her a set of instructions or tried to inform her of something, she outright challenged me.  She wouldn't accept any direction unless it came from this other woman.

Ok, thats a problem.  See...in 6 weeks or so this woman will be gone, and I will be the person responsible for what happens.  This girl was brought up for the sole purpose of helping me during this lady's maternity leave.  So last week our boss took vacation and I wound handling (literally) every problem that occured.  It was rough, it was trying, but fuck it...it got handled.  At one point it was suggested we give my boss a call at home about something, but I said fuck that...the guy should be able to take a vacation without hearing from this place.  I'll find a solution...and I did.  But I was still not feeling warm and fuzzy about the situation approaching with how my crew was going to look once this lady went on leave, so when I boss came back today I addressed it with both him and the first shift supervisor.

Now for the satisfaction part.  I know I've been getting the job done.  Its been a learning process...I mean, I've been doing it less than 8 months now.  But I've gained a lot of knowledge in that span and have grown into this role fairly well.  Thats my opinion, anyway.  :)  I've become a go-to contact for our facility for a lot of people downtown for projects and so forth...its not just the work in my department I do, I've also been able to get my hands dirty in some management areas.  So I brought this up with these guys, that I was still open to this girl coming up front and helping out, but bottomline was that some shit had to change or it wasn't going to work.  At that point I was informed that they already saw all this and were wondering what the fuck the deal was with her arrogant attitude.  I was given some suggestions and gave a few of my own, and basically plans A, B, and C were born.  But thats not what was satisfying.

I mentioned before that these guys are pretty hardcore.  They are.  They might not tell you right to your face that you're a fuckup, but they aren't going to hand out any false compliments either.  At one point in the conversation they both told me flat-out "You're doing a great job man.  This is exactly where we hoped this would go when we brought you up here.".  Now that?  That was satisfying.  I was told that if things continue like they are (ie I don't commit some massive fuckup in the near future) that once this lady went on leave, I was getting promoted to a particular grade.  Thats cool, but the real money is as a lead.  So I simply asked what was it they needed to see from me, what did I need to demonstrate to get promoted to lead?  I got a clear-cut answer, which I appreciated, and that was satisfying too.  Basically I need more time in, and some other things that I had as goals anyway.  So basically I just need to do what I had intended to do all along is what they are looking for, plus a bit more seniority.  Fair enough.

And pretty much at that point I felt really good about everything.  The problems I mentioned are still there but will be worked out soon enough.  But at this point not only do I have a clear-cut idea as to what I continue to need to do to get promoted, I also know that its very much within my capabilities to do, and that I am also already on track for accomplishing this.

Btw, mad props to anyone crazy enough to have read all this babble.  :D