Ethics » Morals » Principals » Politics

So how do ethics, morals, principals and politics cause confusion?

When you know someone is getting screwed by someone else, is it your job to tell them that they are about to get screwed or do you look the other way?

Being a supervisor has it’s perks but when it comes to personnel issues it’s a bit demoralizing knowing that I have to deal with them. This guy doesn’t like that guy so they want to gang up on him so that they get a record of the poor work performance is my favorite.

I try not to write poor work performances or what my company calls a Disciplinary Coaching Session. Haha… just thinking about it cracks me up but it’s true… I develop people. One of the tools we are asked to use is called a Coaching Session. For the mechanics and electricians in the maintenance department it’s not as easy. Everyone has a different learning curve. Some people get it, other people don’t and other people just take a long time to understand how to do things. Particularly when they are working with their hands.

When I meet someone I always look at their hands. I look for dirty finger nails which indicates that the person either forgot to wash their hands or that they don’t mind getting their hands dirty. It can also tell me if they deal with paper, computers, or any type of craftsmen tools… Cuts, scratches, marks, bruises etc… that tells me how often they put themselves at risk of getting cut. If your a guy and you paint your nails, good lord you have a lot of time on your hands and I’m sure you don’t like to pick up a hammer never the less change the oil on your car.

So what would you do? You have a hard worker that doesn’t care much about his appearance and is always bending backwards for the company. They come in clean as a whistle and by the time they leave they are full of grease, oil, dirt and glass. How do you reward them? The company pays well but when you are busting your ass for a few dollars and you have a supervisor critiquing the amount of time you take to complete a job or the amount of time taken into details, how do you deal with those issues?

There isn’t much that a supervisor can do to protect his employees if other managers are looking to “write” them up… But when the opportunity arises to inform them that they should look out and pay more attention to the work that they do, I have decided to do just that. It’s more of a moral decision then anything else. The principal of protecting those that are more vulnerable then others.

You can look at it as two parents struggling to raise their child. Mom says no, meanwhile Dad knows you mean well… you do what you are going to do and mom has a fit… Mom and Dad discuss what to do about the situation. Dad decides to coach you and prevent the same situation from happening again. That is the principal. Now you have to deal with the politics…