What not to say at work...Easier said than...ummm...not said

So...they tell us when we're growing up that honesty is the best policy.  I guess that applies with our parents when we're growing up, but now-a-days it seems like it's not really that good an idea to do it much of anywhere else.  Case in point, here is an article about what not to say at work that I read on Yahoo! yesterday.

It's tough to know where to draw the line at work sometimes.  As the article states, and most of us can attest to, we start to become comfortable with our co-workers once we've been around them for long enough.  Most everyone in America spends more of our waking hours with our co-workers than we do with our families, and this can lead to a level of honesty that can get us into some serious trouble at work.

The article is really well written and offers up some great examples of what not to say and do at work.  Some of them are pretty ridiculous, and would be things that most of us would never think of saying, but some are things that you might mean to be a joke at the time that can turn into a pink slip (does anyone that gets fired really get one of these things anymore by the way???) later on.  My favorite one is the young lady that tells her boss that she hoped he voted for Colonel Sanders instead of Oliver North that got fired...hahahaha...funny, but not funny all at the same time.  The comments at the bottom of these articles can always be fun, as well, and I recommend going through at least a few of them with issues like this one. 

Last week's presentations...

First off, I'd like to say that the presentations from this last week were very well done.  Not that my opinion matters all that much (and I'm sure most of you already know that you did pretty well based on the grades that you all received), but I think there's always something to be said for doing a presentation like that without being able to see how others fair first.    I was actually a bit upset with myself that I didn't just jump on the first day time slots and get it over with right away.  The last time that I got the chance to use that strategy was when I gave my senior seminar in chemistry at West Chester years ago.  I've been trying to work on this perpetual procrastination issue, but I've had pretty mixed results since getting back into this academic environment.  I suppose there's something to be said about being able to perform under pressure, but I think I've got that down to the point where further practice is really unneccessary.    Anyways, one of the topics that stuck with me the most was toxic management.  I'm sure, unfortunately, that it's something that we've all had to deal with at least once in our employment histories, and I guess it stuck with me a little bit more because of my last position and the industry that Jeff was speaking of in particular.    I definitely don't envy Jeff when it comes to management of the industry that he's in, because I can't imagine what it would be like to have to manage, or be managed by, a bunch of Ph.D. scientists, MBA or not.  I think the only way you could manage a crowd like that would be to have a Ph.D. and an MBA yourself, and even then I think it would be extremely difficult.   After thinking about it this week, though, I guess you could say that about any industry.  We're learning in Dr. Rhoad's class right now how difficult it can be to deal with technology people, employees, vendors, etc., as well, and in addition to that, I've often felt like the restaurant industry has it's own cover-up for toxic management since it's traditionally a high-turnover industry.  I guess regardless of the industry, we just need to come to grips with the fact that we're going to have to deal with managers, co-workers, etc. that we could label 'toxic' and make the best of it.   In case you're all interested in reading more about the topic I've found a few more articles out there about it.  The first one deals with recognizing toxic management and crushing it, and the author actually puts together a top 10 list from a book on the topic.  The second one deals with how to uncover a toxic boss, and, more importantly, a few things that they recommend that you do about it.

From the top of the world to prison...and how to make the best of it

Last week, on Thursday I believe, I watched the latest installment of the ESPN '30 for 30' series on Marion Jones titled 'Press Pause'.  Since then I've been struggling with how to incorporate it into something that deals with organizational theory and behavior because I was intrigued by the story and thought that some of you might be, as well.  I've decided that the topic of change is the best way to bring the story full circle into org. theory

 

For those of you who don't remember Marion Jones, she was one of the most famous and recognized athletes of the 90's and one of the most decorated Olympic athletes of the 2000 games in Sydney.  She won 5 gold medals in Sydney, and at the peak of her stardom she was paid millions of dollars a year in endorsements and $80,000 per race.  All of that, however, came crashing to a hault when she admitted in 2007 that she used steroids and lied to federal investigaters about it.

 

As a result, she lost all of her endorsement deals, spent 6 months in prison, and was personally and professionally disgraced.  She was also stripped of all of her gold medals from the Sydney games and wasn't allowed to participate in track and field for a period of two years, which she ended up deciding to retire from in 2007.

 

She now, however, is a member of the Tulsa Shock, a WNBA frachise, and is currently trying to live out another dream of her's by being a successful professional basketball player.  She is also married and has three kids, she actually made her comeback in basketball just months after giving birth to her last child, and now speaks to kids all over the country about not using drugs and the consequences if you do.

 

I've been through a bunch of rough spells in my life, just like everyone else, but can't imagine what it would be like to go through what Marion Jones has these past few years.  Although I can't agree with what she did, and I also can't imagine what I'd do if I was under that much pressure (especially if so many people around me were obviously doing it), I can't help but admire her for making the best of the hand that she's been dealt...and the hand that she's dealt herself.  

 

In addition to everything that her story can teach any of us about successful, and unsuccessful, change, it also spoke to me about the hypocracy of drug use in this country and the subsequent management of those who have used those drugs.  There are countless athletes in this country who have lied about the fact that they have used performance enhancing drugs and have been allowed to keep their trophies, records, etc.  let alone spending no time in jail for their lies and mistakes.  Management turned a blind eye to the obvious abuse that had been happening for quite some time, and although they've made strides to level the playing field by testing for these drugs more often recently, the damage has already been done to a degree that may never be able to be repaired. 

Paper Abstract - Job Satisfaction in the Restaurant Industry

Spector has defined job satisfaction as "the degree to which people like their jobs."  Therefore, it stands to reason that someone would tend to stay with a job that is more satisfying, and would tend to leave a job that is less satisfying.  As a result, employers are continuously looking for ways to design jobs in order to enhance the level of satisfaction of their employees.  This topic is one of the most widely researched in organizational behavior, and is especially important to the restaurant industry where turnover rates are historically incredibly high. 

This paper will begin with a review of the literature that deals with what job satisfaction is in general, along with it's primary determinants, regardless of the profession.  The review will then continue on to a general view of job satisfaction in the hospitality industry, and, finally, conclude with a more specific view of determinants and characteristics of job satisfaction in the restaurant industry.