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So, end of the quarter, we all gather to find out one employee (On graveyard) was chosen as employee of the year. The attendance awards are handed out.
Then the President (Who'd been handing out the awards and checks) said
"Anyone with a question?"
"Yes" I said. "Can we get more lockers installed?"
"What's wrong with the ones now?"
"They're full" Many respond.
"That's NOT why they are there!" he says, then turns to supervisor and says "Find out who is in them and let them know to clear out by the end of next week or the locks will be cut off and everything thrown in the garbage. Those lockers are for temporary storage of valuables while you are working, not for personal stuff"
So, they have been cleared, but people are STILL complaining. I joke with one worker that soon they'll burn me in effigy. He replied "I hope so, some of them are mad enough to do it for real"....
I worked for a local government. Our global IT department charges $2,000 per computer, per year. This pays for tech support, email, and other basic computer services. It also allows connection to the intranet. Their budget is funded mostly by these charges. There are no per user charges.
Our department decided to save money by pulling 30 computers off the system. These computers were used by many different people so they created a generic log on per computer. Email required you to use the external web page to log on with your individual credentials. Did not need intranet access.
Shortly after this the IT director sends a directive out that all employees must complete an online computer security class. They will track compliance by your login credentials. Since we were using generic logins it would be impossible to determine this. I innocently asked the IT director how to handle this. I did not get an immediate response.
It turns out he did not know we had taken $60K off of his budget.
A few days later I am copied on an email string that started with my inquiry and ending with our department IT guy sarcastically saying "thanks" to me. The gist of the email string was there was now a problem between our department and IT over this and since I spilled the beans the ire was directed at me. I had no idea they did not know and had nothing to do with this. All I wanted to do was complete the security course.
I found out later this caused a HUGE problem for my department that was finally settled by our department buying a server and sharing it with IT.
The security course was settled by taking the class using the generic log in and sending an email stating you took the class.
I try hard to avoid all drama and any potential confrontation at work. I actually actively avoid it. I find this type of stuff amounts to never-ending battles that can never really fully be won. It is always the next thing.....
I wouldn't go so far as to call it a "war," but I did unintentionally start a heated debate in a meeting! It was a meeting for the ESL conversation club coordinators (in our library system), and I asked what I thought was a simple question: Do/should we require volunteer facilitators to be native English speakers? As I was asking the question, it occurred to me that a couple of our STAFF coordinators aren't native speakers, so of course they said no. Then a few others said yes, and that lead to about 10 minutes of arguing back and forth. Whoopsie.
I'd suspect most places have at least one person who looks for a reason to start a war. Some people love to stir a pot even if it's not on the stove.
Of course, when someone questions them about it they'll claim it was unintentional.
Funny, because I literally just said "unintentionally" in my anecdote... but it really wasn't intentional, whether or not you choose to believe me. It was a totally valid question!!
I try to avoid wars at work. With that said, I got heavy pushback for introducing a change management program a few years ago at a previous employer.
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