Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We get a long email from the director of our dept with the company that acquired us. Cheesy about me things “I’m extra”. “I add sparkle”
Then I get long email from my buddy.
I like my job. We are all remote and get along. We ask each other questions when needed and help each other. None of the cheesy crap like what this company is doing. I don’t like that and especially not with work. I just want to learn any changes and do my job. Small talk and help when needed. Not come up with some clever stuff about myself and have a buddy. Is this a normal approach?
Quote:
Originally Posted by WannabeCPA
Not normal but not unheard of either. Yeah it is cringeworthy. I'd just come up with something boring about yourself and say as little as possible. Don't volunteer too much information. If people find you boring so be it. You're there to do your job, not make friends.
As much as I agree with you, I'd like to share my experiences to make your life easier:
. Go along to get along, blend in
. Be "sweet", smile a lot
. Say rah rah, hooray to everything the management brings up. That's what they like to hear
. Be a "Team Player"
. Go to the water cooler, coffee station, vending machines, or your co-workers' cubicles and chit chat with others about your personal life, shopping, sales, travelling, events here and there... people love to hear and tell about that
. Make up things to share with your "buddies"
. Force yourself to give compliments to your managers and co-workers - people like to hear compliments, not criticisms
If you don't do the things above, even you are a hard-working employee, you have good work ethics, you don't call in sick, you help others to fix their technical work... you are there for everyone to do the real work, but not to socialize, you will have a very hard life. Everyone will still hate you when you get burnt out and cannot help them any more, to say you are a loner, you are a cold fish... some manager will not like you, and will give you more work to do and give you very hard times.
It's an interesting work world. People care more about, and think it is more important, how you get along with others than how hard you work and how good you are with your technical skills. If you can get along with others, you can get away from lots of work and can get praises from others, rewards, raises and/or promotions. That's reality.
Sad, but true. It's also why they want us all back in the office, "seats in butts," so they have warm bodies to boss around and bully. WFH was strictly about doing the work, and we somehow managed to do it largely without the interference of middle management, demonstrating that all this BS is unnecessary. We can't have that...
Sad, but true. It's also why they want us all back in the office, "seats in butts," so they have warm bodies to boss around and bully. WFH was strictly about doing the work, and we somehow managed to do it largely without the interference of middle management, demonstrating that all this BS is unnecessary. We can't have that...
In 40 years of working, I have never been "bossed around" or bullied. Maybe I've been lucky.
I have been through the situation the OP describes a few times. In each case, the acquiring company wanted to know who we were, what our backgrounds were, and other details, so they could ensure that the new organization would function well. That's it.
I will say that the days where you could just sit at your desk for 8 hours grinding out work without interacting with anyone are pretty much over. There is a desire for collaboration and information sharing these days, and if you don't do that, your time with any given employer is likely to be short.
The buddy wil help you do you job with NEW processes.
You need to change your thinking to: I just joined a new company. How do they do things here?
Otherwise, yes, you will be labeled a problem. And when that first round of layoffs happens? You'll be a target.
Play along.
Your comment about a new company is right on point. Whatever was before is just that- before. The future is the new company, and it will have a new culture and some new processes.
If the new culture doesn't fit you, time to move on.
I've been through several corporate merger and acquisitions. In one of them, the newly integrated department also had "buddies". We had to interview our buddy and make an oral report about that person to the rest of the department. Led to lots of laughs and misunderstandings, but it genuinely brought us closer to truly one department, without regard to which people were from each separate pre-merger company.
I'm going to tell you the truth and what might happen, so I don't believe you should ignore this and cop a bad attitude about it. This is your new corporate culture ploy, and you better embrace it and throw yourself into the mix of it. Otherwise you will be labeled by the new management as a problem. Cooperate fully, and if the thing doesn't get any traction at least you won't be labeled as not going along with the new management by those who matter in the organization most.
That's right. You go along to get along or you get out.
I chose to get out when my employer's corporate culture changed for the worse.
It makes perfect sense for new management to introduce themselves in this way AND they will watch how you get along during this "meeting", a bit of scouting on who handles themselves best and who could go on the chopping block.
I suggest your put your best smile and attitude forward.
We get a long email from the director of our dept with the company that acquired us. Cheesy about me things “I’m extra”. “I add sparkle”
Then I get long email from my buddy.
I like my job. We are all remote and get along. We ask each other questions when needed and help each other. None of the cheesy crap like what this company is doing. I don’t like that and especially not with work. I just want to learn any changes and do my job. Small talk and help when needed. Not come up with some clever stuff about myself and have a buddy. Is this a normal approach?
Nooooooooo! This brings back nightmares of going to conferences where we would have to all hold hands and share something personal. And don't forget the 5 most dreaded words in the English language:"Let's break into small groups." And be given some group sharing task to complete and present to the group at large.But I digress.
Yep, I second what one poster said that you say something banal or boring about yourself. But yeah, you have to "play nice." The only consolation would be that everyone else hates it as much as you do.
It's really weird to me that you work entirely remotely, apparently competently, and are being asked to do this. These are usually in-office shenanigans to make middle management feel relevant.
Oh, yeah; WFH makes it obvious how irrelevant they really are!
If you're an introvert like me, time to start looking elsewhere. I've always hated that BS and did my best to avoid it entirely. I don't play politics to get ahead; and if that's what's required, that company is not for me.
I'm going to tell you the truth and what might happen, so I don't believe you should ignore this and cop a bad attitude about it. This is your new corporate culture ploy, and you better embrace it and throw yourself into the mix of it. Otherwise you will be labeled by the new management as a problem. Cooperate fully, and if the thing doesn't get any traction at least you won't be labeled as not going along with the new management by those who matter in the organization most.
As for what any of us think about it, it really doesn't matter. From what little you described that can work very well in some places, depending on the nature of the work and the environment, and most importantly how it is implementing. Nothing cheesy about it when it is done right.
That would be one way to look at it, especially if you are desperate to keep the job. But my approach has always been when corporate culture is significantly in conflict with my personal beliefs, it's time to move on. I did it several times over the course of my career, and I never regretted those changes for a moment. Yes it's uncomfortable to have to change jobs, but it is a lot better that throwing away your self respect to toe the line to some corporate agenda that you know deep down, is wrong or unethical.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
