Friday, January 31, 2014

More Snow?

Sure, why not more snow?  We've come this far we may as well shoot for the record books!  lol

With the impending snow we picked up a couple movies to watch this weekend since we'll likely not get out of the house tomorrow.  Oh well, I think I'll make tomorrow a real sleep in day.  I'm usually up before the break of dawn, but tomorrow I'll see how long I can stay in bed.  We'll see though.  I'm an "early to bed" person, but usually can't sleep much past 6 or 7 am. 

So another week in the books at work.  We had a meeting with the leadership staff this week and they talked about the outsource progress.  Bids have been turned in and now they're going through each one.  They'll have a decision by the end of February or first week of March.  They did mention there is a chance the outsource company will be giving a good portion of the work population a chance at a position.  That's good, hopeful.  They also mentioned there would be some guidelines for the stay-on bonus.  Not sure why that surprised me, but it did sort of.  I suppose it did because I didn't give it any thought, but thinking about it there should be some structure around the transition. 

No one else from management has jumped ship yet.  But we've lost a few of the hourly folks, some good people.  That makes sense.  By the end of this the leadership team will have their work cut out for them when there's going to be a good number of employees left who probably shouldn't be here to begin with.

Jane

Monday, January 27, 2014

Monday, Monday

Yeah, many of my post subjects are names of songs.  Between movie quotes and song quotes, I think I could have a conversation with just using them.  :)

A pretty non-eventful time it's been at work.  We're in the midst of a cold snap here.  Schools and businesses are closed.  But not mine.  I think in the years I've been with the company, there's been but one day they closed up for the day.  So one of the big wigs in the place has had meetings with everyone noting job postings on the company website.  I suppose it's a good form of communication.  But by now, we're all very attuned to the company job site and don't really need someone telling us about jobs on there.  Most of us check the site daily for updates.  lol

Here we are almost February first.  Four short months from now it will be nearly June and close to the final days.  I keep saying to myself it will go quick.  It's gone pretty quick since that day they told us the news.

Not that there's enough pressure with closing shop.  But we're also on the cusp of launching a couple of new systems.  Not just a little move to a new system, but a huge undertaking.  They're recruiting supervisors to help with the change.  I suppose they figure they have more latitude with the supervisors work, and motivation.  They really haven't let any of the hourly folks in to help.  They'll have to at some point.  But I think they feel the hourly folks lack motivation considering the situation.  Well, probably.  lol  I kind of feel bad for those salary folks.  They don't have much of a choice if they want their stay-on bonus or consideration in the "new world".

Stay warm!

Jane

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Productivity Hacks via LinkedIn

I get a kick out of reading articles like this.  I'm not being sarcastic either!  I like reading about how folks who are accomplished handle their days.

Productivity Hacks from LinkedIn

Jane

Friday, January 17, 2014

TGIF

Another week has come and gone.  Not a bad week considering I was a bit aggravated earlier in the week.  We still haven't heard anything good.  It is becoming more evident that people are just drifting along.  I can see it in the leadership eyes, the frustration of how to handle.  It's something they're not used to dealing with.  Sure, we have enough lazy folks to try to keep motivated but this is a special kind of motivation, lol.

I've been saying that the unknown is the worst part.  It definitely is.  I really need to try to not think about it as much.  :(

Jane

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Ugh

I put in extra hours pretty regularly.  If you're going to work at a job, work hard.  I have to say though, that is becoming harder and harder to do.  I feel like the company is holding this carrot in front of everyone.  "Well, you want to work hard so you have a good chance at another position within the company."  Umm, no, I should have a good chance because I'm a good worker, not how I perform NOW. 

So they're probably aware of how the final "shakedown" will be with positions.  But what would be the point of telling folks that now?  If they did that, there would be a good size population who would lose all motivation.  So it's not in their best interest.  Let's keep this story going so we can keep the peasants in line.

Ugh, can you tell it's been that kind of a day?

Jane

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Visitors

So we had our first set of visitors in earlier this week.  I'm not certain how the visit went, but I know one of the managers running the facility spent quite a bit of time with them touring and behind closed doors.  I figured many people will be asking him how it went.  I'm going to wait until next week to ask and maybe get a little info.  :)

With the type of production we do here, it's going to be hard for many outsources to walk right in and start working.  There can be no downtime, probably their biggest challenge.  But who am I to say, they're the ones that do this for a living, right?  lol

I did get a chance to meet a couple of them as well as one of the big honchos for my company.  I can't imagine it helped my cause out, but it is good to get my name out there.

As a side note, my SO found a state government job which fits my current responsibilities really well.  I'm going to apply for it this weekend, but that process takes time.  It's the government after all.  And I'm sure in today's economy there will be plenty of people applying.

Time for a cup of coffee!

Jane

Monday, January 6, 2014

Cold, a four letter word

Brrr.  If you live in the Midwest as I do, look out, it is cold!  I ended up working from home today because it was so cold out.  I wasn't worried about my car starting this morning to get to work, it sits in a nice sort of warm garage.  I was more worried about it sitting outside all day in the wind and then not starting, lol.  Anyway, one of the perks of my job is to work remotely if need be. 

After checking in at work and making some phone calls, I found out about half the employees didn't even make it into work today.  Not a good thing for a production facility. There will be lots to catch up on this week. I have to say, I stay pretty productive when I do work from home. I can't say that for some of my peers as they brag about how little work they do. Karma, did you hear that?  Anyway, I feel the company gives us this opportunity to work from home, we shouldn't take advantage of it. I worry that one day, a few people not doing much from working at home will make the company stop any work from home.  Crossing my fingers it doesn't happen.

It's -13° currently outside.  I swear, I think our heat has been running non-stop for the last hour.  We'll be curling up on the couch under a blanket to keep warm while watching some TV. 

Jane

Friday, January 3, 2014

Cold Spell

Not sure how it is in your neck of the woods, but it's going to be brutally cold here the next few days.  Time to crank up the fireplace and curl up with someone.  ; )

We found out two of the potential outsources will be visiting our facility over the next month or two to check out our operation.  Nothing like having your replacement coming into the facility asking you how you do your job.  Talk about some motivation. lol  I can't wait for that!

I was asked to have some reports ready as well as a description of what I do.  Umm, shouldn't you already know what I do? There is a job description for my position after all. You've heard of organized chaos, well we're unorganized chaos at my place.  A dangerous combination. 

I suppose it will give me a chance to size up the outsources as well.  You never know, neither of them already have a presence here so they would likely be hiring a fair amount of workers.  I will have to have my game face on.  : )

Jane