I agree. I am blessed to have a great job with excellent
benefits. My company might not always buy me everything
I *think* I am entitled to, but overall I have nothing
to complain about. Especially since I have a job...
The mouse squeaks!!! It really does!!! But the joy of
getting quoted in a weblog for the first time makes up
for the fact that it made me seem like a complaining
idiot. :)
Comments to part one:
1. A bad screen makes employees tired and strains their
eyes, reducing their ability to perform.
2. and 3. Bad mice and keyboards can create permanent
damage to the wrists and hands. If one employee have to
take sick leave because of damage to their hands or
wrists the cost to the company is much more than it
would cost to replace the keyboard and mouse. Think
about it: a top of the line keyboard and mouse package
costs less than 1000 NOK, but if I am sick for a week
that costs more than 6000 NOK. (NOK is Norwegian Kroner
for those who were wondering).
4. A bad machine can seriously hurt productivity. I used
to use a seriously underpowered machine for what I was
doing. I developed software on it that were supposed to
run on a dual Xeon server with 1.5GB RAM. My machine
only had 256MB Ram. Let me tell you something: when SQL
Server 2000 runs out of RAM things start to get SLOOOOW.
So there I was, feet on the table and using my mobile
phone to read the news on the web while waiting for a
test to run on the poor overworked machine since I
couldn't surf on the computer while it was working
because just opening IE alone took 2-3 minutes.
5. It is in a company's best interest to make sure the
employees get better. Although sending employees to PDC
can be overkill, but programming courses definately
important. But we should all remember that what we
programmers get paid for is our knowledge and if we want
to stay in the game we have to make sure we are an
attractive "product" our employer and
future employers want to pay for.
6. If it seriously hinders productivity then it is the
company's best interest to improve it. I have myself
been on the phone with customers while they wait for 3-4
minutes for a simple page to load. When the system they
work with every day is THAT slow, then it is a serious
problem. But if the DVD screener to Return of the King
takes more than an hour to download, that is NOT a
problem (and in some cases that is the real reason some
people complain).
7. Of course the employeer should make sure we have the
resources to do our work, but as in my comment to number
5, we, the programmers (hmmmm... that actually sounds
like some leftish "we, the people"
speech), should also make sure we increase our skills.
If we are not willing to do that in our spare time as
well, then we have chosen the wrong profession... or at
least we will remain in the same boring position with
the same boring tasks for ever.
8. No comment.
9. If an employee gets asked to do overtime then why not
buy the poor employee a pizza, he/she is, as mentioned
in number 10, not getting paid for it. :)
10. Hey, isn't the pizza enough!
12. and 13. Either a door or an air conditioner is
needed so the employee doesn't die. I'd go for the no
door, but with air conditioner approach since then the
employee can't leave. If the employee doesn't perform
the employer doesn't have to fire her, just turn of the
air supply and dispose of her out before she starts to
smell. Anyway... I don't think anyone should make me a
boss of anything... ever! :)
Seriously, 9-13, there are laws for those (at least in
Norway) so they don't really matter in this discussion.
Either the employer has to fix it or the workers union
moves in for the kill. Simple stuff...
What I am trying to say here (before number 9 at least)
is that in some cases it costs less to give the employee
what he/she asks for.
Another huge problem is that employees often complain to
each other, and never to the boss. In my case I have got
a lot of things that other people should have gotten
instead. I had one of the best computers in the company
and still I got a new one before other people
struggeling with much older computers, because I
explained the situation (the one were the testing took
5-10 minutes every 5 minutes) to my boss . I recently
got offered a new monitor that was just bought, but in
that case I said no thanks since I knew other people had
been complaining about their monitors, but of course not
told the boss. Right now it is just sitting in a box
waiting for someone brave to step forward and ask the
boss. If no one dares, I guess I'll just take it.
Let me end with a conclusion:
Three things are important in situations like this:
Communication, communication and communication.
All of the things you say here are true and you won't
get any argument from me and not even from your boss
that each one of these helps employees do better.
Still, we live in a world with limits, and the reality
is that, short of very rich companies with lots of money
to spend, most employers can and will do only what is in
their power to make employees happy (if they even try at
all). This is usually just a subset of the things
mentioned in this post.
If there's one thing I'd like to tell a lot of people is
"Get over it, you have it good and you don't
even know it".
Fact is, I am still the biggest proponent of these
things. But today I'm more of a realist and i know that
some things, even if really needed, will take time to
have\will never happen at all because of the real world
situation we live in.
And I also know another things : sometimes, it's not
just employers fault. From your comment it's apparent
that communication is the lacking thing in your
organization.
Why don't you do something about it? If you know of
someone who deserves that screen, why not talk to them
and convince them to step forward and ask for it? People
need to learn to fight for what they believe in, and
this is a very important battle.
Well said Roy!
I think there comes a time in your career when you
realise that you'd better:
"Be happy that you have a job that you *can*
enjoy. Start with that"
No one ever promised that life would be a big fat slice
of chocolatey pie with extra cream.
You have to appreciate what you have and work hard to
get the best out of it.
Turn your *current* job into your *dream* job.
Not by whingeing and complaining about unimportant
things - but by improving your relationships with those
you work with - stimulating your mind with interesting
independent learning - and working hard to get good
results with the customers and coworkers who rely upon
you.
A squeaky mouse is *nothing*.
Eye opener, though it's not as black and white as you
attempt to present to us Roy.