Hi ho... Hi ho...
I really do love the place I work.
I know I've complained to some of you that it's boring or whatever, but it's really not that bad. I've worked in corporate America since I was 18 and I've never worked anywhere like this place before. It's so much more relaxed. You can just feel it when you walk in. Not to say that it's not professional. There is still a high level of professionality - just without the stress that accompanies so many other offices.
I think it has to do with the type of people I work with. In other jobs I've had, there is always at least one person I can't get along with. Someone who has a stick up their butt, or thinks they are more important than everybody else, or just has social issues. I've worked here for a year and haven't had a problem with anybody. Everyone just seems to mesh well together.
There's also a sense of honesty and loyalty here. I've worked for this company for a little over a year and I'm the newest person. Most of the other employees have been here for over 8 years. And it's not just because they're stuck here and can't get other jobs. A low turnover rate and people who genuinely like their jobs really says something about a company. Part of it stems from honesty. And that comes directly from the President of the company down through to the rest of us. I have never met a more honest person in the business world. It's refreshing and relaxing. It makes working so much easier. I have worked for other companies and I've learned that if the head of the company and its higher-ups are not honest, they are suspicious of everybody else as well. And that's not the kind of environment I can work in. I should be allowed to work and be trusted that my word is good. If I say I'll do something, I'll do it. Please don't be looking over my shoulder every five minutes.
Because of this honesty, we all know we can take breaks every now and then, goof off a little, and then get back to work and all will be well. I can't get over how different it is to work here. Everything is different. The people, the attitudes, the relationships - a lot of these guys have worked together for a long time and they go on camping trips together, spend time outside of work together (besides at the bar), several of them even came to my wedding reception and I never would have expected that anywhere else I worked - even the lunchroom is different.
I don't know if any other office is like this, it's a first for me, but people actually cook in our lunchroom. People keep frying pans, George Forman grills, cooking utensils, everything here and it's not uncommon to walk into the lunchroom at lunchtime and see someone making chicken burritos or frying a hamburger. At my other places of employment the only thing that ever got used was the microwave. Usually people just went out. So it was no surprise to walk in this afternoon and see the accountant frying up Swedish pancakes (they're kind of like crepes). The weird thing was that he was offering them to whoever walked in. He covered them in Lingonberry jam (a specialty of Sweden) and powdered sugar and butter and rolled them up. They were actually really, really, good. I wonder where they sell that Lingonberry jam...
I know I've complained to some of you that it's boring or whatever, but it's really not that bad. I've worked in corporate America since I was 18 and I've never worked anywhere like this place before. It's so much more relaxed. You can just feel it when you walk in. Not to say that it's not professional. There is still a high level of professionality - just without the stress that accompanies so many other offices.
I think it has to do with the type of people I work with. In other jobs I've had, there is always at least one person I can't get along with. Someone who has a stick up their butt, or thinks they are more important than everybody else, or just has social issues. I've worked here for a year and haven't had a problem with anybody. Everyone just seems to mesh well together.
There's also a sense of honesty and loyalty here. I've worked for this company for a little over a year and I'm the newest person. Most of the other employees have been here for over 8 years. And it's not just because they're stuck here and can't get other jobs. A low turnover rate and people who genuinely like their jobs really says something about a company. Part of it stems from honesty. And that comes directly from the President of the company down through to the rest of us. I have never met a more honest person in the business world. It's refreshing and relaxing. It makes working so much easier. I have worked for other companies and I've learned that if the head of the company and its higher-ups are not honest, they are suspicious of everybody else as well. And that's not the kind of environment I can work in. I should be allowed to work and be trusted that my word is good. If I say I'll do something, I'll do it. Please don't be looking over my shoulder every five minutes.
Because of this honesty, we all know we can take breaks every now and then, goof off a little, and then get back to work and all will be well. I can't get over how different it is to work here. Everything is different. The people, the attitudes, the relationships - a lot of these guys have worked together for a long time and they go on camping trips together, spend time outside of work together (besides at the bar), several of them even came to my wedding reception and I never would have expected that anywhere else I worked - even the lunchroom is different.
I don't know if any other office is like this, it's a first for me, but people actually cook in our lunchroom. People keep frying pans, George Forman grills, cooking utensils, everything here and it's not uncommon to walk into the lunchroom at lunchtime and see someone making chicken burritos or frying a hamburger. At my other places of employment the only thing that ever got used was the microwave. Usually people just went out. So it was no surprise to walk in this afternoon and see the accountant frying up Swedish pancakes (they're kind of like crepes). The weird thing was that he was offering them to whoever walked in. He covered them in Lingonberry jam (a specialty of Sweden) and powdered sugar and butter and rolled them up. They were actually really, really, good. I wonder where they sell that Lingonberry jam...
posted by Heidi @ 2:25 PM
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