Archives for the Month of September 2005 on Amanda Juliano's Online Journal
MBTI
I thought the presentation of the MBTI results was done really well. I took the test last year at Ursuline and our results were not explained to us with the same clarity as they were yesterday. I gained a much better understanding of what my results actually meant and how accurately they describe me. My results from the Ursuline test match my results from this test almost perfectly which shows that my preferences remain the same, although over time I’m sure they may be altered a bit as to how much I prefer them. I think the MBTI can be a great experience as long as the debriefing leaves you with a clear understanding of what your results mean.
Ethics in the Workplace
I just recently started my work study job at University Hospital working with a department manager who is unable to see the line drawn between work and personal things. I have been working with her for two weeks now, and all I have done, for ten hours a week, is plan out her power point presentation for her 30th high school reunion. Her department paid me $180 to do something she should have done on her on time without using company resources. Not only was she using their money to pay me to do it, I had to copy ten books, each with one hundred pages in it, using up 1000 sheets of company paper, not to mention the toner and other resources I had to use to complete her project that was entirely unrelated to work. Essentially my boss is stealing from her company. She may or may not look at it like that but most people would see it the same way I do .This is a really good example of a lack of ethics in the workplace. My boss seems to think is acceptable to use company money and resources to complete her personal projects that have no business in the workplace. She had the entire department focused on her high school reunion. They were all spending time when they should have been working, coming up with new ideas for her reunion. I think that is a very unacceptable and inefficient way to manage a department.
Older Workers
I think having older men and women in the workplace is a great thing for the business. When I worked at McDonald’s through high school, there were two gentlemen, both in their early seventies, who worked as our maintenance men. They both enjoyed their jobs immensely and never tired of saying how much they enjoyed working with younger people. What I enjoyed the most about working with them was their attitudes about life. One of them was a retired firefighter and the other served in Vietnam so between the two of them they had seen a lot of terrible things happen and they were able to impart upon us some great wisdom and advice. They became like grandfathers to those of us who stayed at McDonalds long enough. I think they were an incredible asset to the company because of the congenial atmosphere they brought with them. They made everyone laugh with their stories and their jokes and it was easier to work in an environment where people are behaving like that. Older men and women should definitely be encouraged to rejoin the workforce because they are fantastic additions to the workplace.
Bank Teller
What I found very surprising in this article was that Dave was willing to provide Nancy with assistance for Spanish transactions but he would not provide Anna with assistance for drive-through transactions. Accommodations could easily have been made for Anna to work at the bank. A very simple way to work around Anna would have been to have one of the additional four tellers work the drive-through and have Anna deal with the extra customers that would have gone to that teller. Not only did Dave make the mistake of not hiring the better qualified candidate he also had a horrible interview with Anna (although he didn't ask what her disability was which was about the only thing he did right).
Anna should have no problem filing a suit against the bank because they will have a problem showing that Dave did not discriminate. There were very clearly stated requirements for the position, all of which Anna met, and the person Dave hired did not meet one of them. This is a very bad situation for the bank.