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Every time I have worked on a state or city government contact, I am amazed (in general) how inefficient government departments are. Yes, almost everyone is trying to do the minimum required (which is very little).
I notice this at the Social Services organization I work for now.
I have never seen people that operate like the people I work with. Talk about doing the minimum, they barely do that. It's effort for them to try to get them to think and make a decision. Although I do think most people would rather be lead than lead.
Hands down when the discussion of whom works their tail off at work, my name is always first. Many of the other staff almost always never get mentioned. Unless it's about stealing from the company of being bone lazy.
For one, I have a high energy level and good work ethic and also, I came from corporate jobs in which YOU MUST PRODUCE. I do like to lead by example. I enjoy doing and getting my "hands dirty". My coworkers and staff appreciate it. Because of it, I get more out of the staff than the other managers do.
I know the inability to get fired has been discussed, and I agree that is a problem. Another problem I see is automatic raises. I don't know about all federal jobs, but I do have a few friends who hold government jobs and they are guaranteed raises if they stay a certain length of time. How could that do anything BUT promote laziness? Promotions should be based on performance only, not length of service.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,027,552 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron.
That's what I hear from people that work in those sectors.
I've heard it many times about Gov't workers.
My mom was in Social services for years and was director of many programs.
When I got laid off and took a social services job the first thing my mom told me was you're going to meet the laziest people you've ever worked with in your life.
After 2 years in the field, I must say she is 100% correct. Now to clear things up, she did not say ALL social services workers are lazy. She was saying I'll meet some of the laziest people I have ever worked with. I'd like to add they are the most inept group, that's for sure.
Chime in........
Thanks,
Ron
After a 6-year stint working for a major city, I will have to agree with you. I have never encountered so much ineptness and waste in any office environment. As you stated, not all governmental or social service employees are lazy/inept, but the ones that fit the bill have too much seniority to ever get fired. It is often the newbies that work the hardest (not always but usually) and these are the first employees that get laid off due to lack of seniority. It's no wonder so much corruption, ineptness and waste goes on in our government system. It's a seniority-based system and hard work is rarely rewarded.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,027,552 times
Reputation: 36027
Quote:
Originally Posted by hnsq
I know the inability to get fired has been discussed, and I agree that is a problem. Another problem I see is automatic raises. I don't know about all federal jobs, but I do have a few friends who hold government jobs and they are guaranteed raises if they stay a certain length of time. How could that do anything BUT promote laziness? Promotions should be based on performance only, not length of service.
Agreed. There is really no incentives to excel in your job as the slackers are rewarded just the same. I've seen this time and time again during my brief city career.
Not just the direct government employees either. Most government contractors are equally lazy.
When Republican politicians call for small government, they usually just want government to outsource everything to outside contractors (often there is only one serious bidder, think defense industry contractor Halliburton). Basically public money funneled to private interests, but just as inept due to nearly automatic contract renewals and the nefarious "use it or lose it" tradition of contract budgeting. They rarely mean truly small government. And the Democrats just want more bloated government bureaucrats who can't be fired.
We need a third party that will get rid of the waste from both the government and the contractors who live off the government's massive tit.
I'll respond to the rather ignorant comment about gov't contracting. Many fields
(esp in the IT dept) have heavily contracted out as companies such as Lockheed Martin hire those with the requisite skill sets in computer science and those skill sets may be harder to find among federal employees. It's cheaper and easier for the gov't to fund, hire, and fire contractors than federal employees.
I don't believe it. Just like with any private sector job it depends on the company, environment, management, so many things. I work for the Federal government and we are usually always busy in my organization. I constantly have things to do. I also worked for the state as well for the unemployment office and we were always extremely busy dealing with the public, complaints, EEO issues, etc. There was very little down time.
As far as pay, Federal employees are capped at some point, once you reach the top of your career ladder and pay scale, your pay will never increase other than cost of living raises. This differs from the private sector where your pay can increase forever.
In my former job, I was in constant contact with a certain department at military bases. It took employees there forever to do the simplest thing. And other people in both my former workplace and people who worked for competitors that went on site to these departments saw the laziness firsthand.
The consensus of the reason behind this widespread laziness is that taking time helps people in government jobs ensure that they have a job. But I don't blame them. In my former job, I did it too when it was really slow. Businesses exist to make money, but I have bills to pay.
To continue, I worked as an intern at a nursing home and I saw who was and who wasn't lazy. Honestly, there was laziness everywhere there too. Social Services was an offender but singling that department out isn't right since it was the norm.
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