workplace with "no talking" rule (employee, interest, office)
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Jesus Christ, you are NOT robots! I understand that perhaps you work and work and need quiet and concentration, but if you see people on the hallway, at the water cooler, in the elevator, on your way to lunch or someone in your family calls with an emergency - what do you do? Ignore each other? What are you? Slaves? And they are are the masters, hovering over you with a whip? What s__tty company is this? I've never heard of such a thing in my entire life!
We are now expected not to speak to anyone else in our building, unless the conversation is strictly work-related. What makes it more complicated, is that if a supervisor discovers employees having a conversation about their kids, pets, love life, the weather, garden, movie they saw, etc., they must chastise the employee(s), and there are repercussions for this behavior. There is a counseling session, verbal and written warnings, and a couple of other steps before termination. That said, since it's a government job, termination is still rare.
What company do you work for? The policy makes it sound like the old days of Alctraz.
Some of you might remember a thread I started last year, "told not to speak to coworker, coworker still speaks to me." That situation has not improved, and my organization has chosen to implement an additional rule since several new employees were recently hired and the situation worsened soon afterward.
We are now expected not to speak to anyone else in our building, unless the conversation is strictly work-related. What makes it more complicated, is that if a supervisor discovers employees having a conversation about their kids, pets, love life, the weather, garden, movie they saw, etc., they must chastise the employee(s), and there are repercussions for this behavior. There is a counseling session, verbal and written warnings, and a couple of other steps before termination. That said, since it's a government job, termination is still rare.
So my question is how many of you have worked in an environment wherein you could not talk to anyone unless it was strictly work-related, and how did it work out for you? Are you still at that job?
One of my concerns is that we won't come off as a team and will be loath to help each other, since there is already a fair amount of hostility in the building and no one will be building on their professional relationships, I don't think, because talking is forbidden. We have a number of customers who have behavioral issues that present problems on a regular basis, for a few reasons. Some come into the building intoxicated and cause altercations, some suffer from mental illnesses that aren't well managed and verbally and physically attack other customers and staff, etc. I worry that if our staff is fractured, those customers who cause problems for us and other customers will be able to get away with more bad behaviors.
I worked in a place like that for a few months. Then left. Might as well be a galley slave. It's not worth it. Why do you stay?
I have never heard of any place this restrictive. It must be insane not to even be able to greet a fellow employee, or visit during breaks. Must be low moral.
I hope that if you are choosing to look elsewhere that you find a better situation.
What company do you work for? The policy makes it sound like the old days of Alctraz.
It's a public library. I'm glad everyone seems to agree that this isn't how to go about solving personnel issues. That said, I'd be curious to hear how someone who agrees with it feels it might be beneficial. I'm not interested in making friends at work, but still.
For all those who said I should quit, I'm looking for employment elsewhere. Been looking for a few months. Can't afford to quit without having something else lined up, so I'm trying to survive while I'm in this, as someone put it earlier in the thread.
Some of you might remember a thread I started last year, "told not to speak to coworker, coworker still speaks to me." That situation has not improved, and my organization has chosen to implement an additional rule since several new employees were recently hired and the situation worsened soon afterward.
We are now expected not to speak to anyone else in our building, unless the conversation is strictly work-related. What makes it more complicated, is that if a supervisor discovers employees having a conversation about their kids, pets, love life, the weather, garden, movie they saw, etc., they must chastise the employee(s), and there are repercussions for this behavior. There is a counseling session, verbal and written warnings, and a couple of other steps before termination. That said, since it's a government job, termination is still rare.
So my question is how many of you have worked in an environment wherein you could not talk to anyone unless it was strictly work-related, and how did it work out for you? Are you still at that job?
One of my concerns is that we won't come off as a team and will be loath to help each other, since there is already a fair amount of hostility in the building and no one will be building on their professional relationships, I don't think, because talking is forbidden. We have a number of customers who have behavioral issues that present problems on a regular basis, for a few reasons. Some come into the building intoxicated and cause altercations, some suffer from mental illnesses that aren't well managed and verbally and physically attack other customers and staff, etc. I worry that if our staff is fractured, those customers who cause problems for us and other customers will be able to get away with more bad behaviors.
So sexual innuendo with the receptionist is a no?
Seriously, your workplace sounds like a movie! Do the supervisors have two little scars on the back of their necks?
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