Nightshadow (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} illusionbreaker) wrote,@ 2009-06-29 21:24:00 |
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... And Australia Council go on strike again.
Well, it's more or less official - Management and most of the frontline employees are at each other again. I'd watch the news tomorrow, just to see how it turns out. Unlike the previous strike, I think people are more ticked off, and less willing to be comprimising over it. I don't think it'll come to blows, but I'm willing to put good money it won't be pretty at all.
Of course though, you won't find me there. To be honest, (As I've said previously) that the union picked the wrong point to be bogged down on (Although it did do a good job in playing their cards) and management chose to fight on the wrong battleground. I'm not interested on principle.
The bigger issue is of course, the workload's increased a lot. In the time I've been there, I don't think I've really met anyone who could be as calm as paced as I could be, and bear in mind, this is coming from a person spends most of their time running around the building all day. I'm not exactly the best benchmark for calm.
To fight over pay when your stress levels are much higher than they should be is... what, just plain all out silly? It's sort of like quibbling over a twenty dollar note while the house around you is burning down.
Then again, I had the unfortunate luck to have worked for welfare, or more accurately, youth welfare, so I think I can safely call when a service is under tremendous strain. Working in a chronically underfunded field will burn you out, let me tell you. Love or care will only get you so far in burnout prevention, and those who love or care about their work are usually the ones who will do a good service for you, will work the extra hours without demanding optimium pay, and will make sure the work's done well.
We haven't quite hit DOCS level yet, although one person quoting about 80 client organisations at once is an impressive record, and would arguably come fairly close. That in itself says something about the current structure, and just how close it is to reflecting an agency at break point. It feels like someone's feeling particularly adventourous and putting all their human resource eggs in one basket.
So if throwing more money at the employees isn't going to fix the issue, what could possibly diffuse the ticking timebomb that's the near open revolt we're seeing at the moment?
Work on retaining your staff - by alleviating the REAL source of the conflict - And that is the workload. If people aren't stressed to hell and back, they won't demand to be compensated so badly for it. Granted, a little stress is a good thing since it encourages you to do your best, but take it from someone who knows people who work at DOCS, there's upper limits before people break, and as people break, a casading effect goes into play - Every person you lose means that the remainder get more stressed, and that increases the chance of someone else breaking.
I bet if capacity was increased by 10% across the board (At least for the lower ranks), particularly in the more depleted sections, and offer this with no strings attached regardless of the negociations, you'll find that a lot of the clasdestine union support will slide away as people find themselves being able to collect themselves instead of the 28/7 approach right now. I'd put an entire year's pay on it, in fact.
As a last note, I think this article will say it best:
http://blogs.watoday.com.au/small-busin
My advice to anyone out there? Don't be seen like those major corporations - Apparently it is true that if you chase money and absolute efficency, you give up your humanity.
But of course, my curse is never to be listened to, particularly when I'm pointing out something important. On the bright side, at least I'm now permitted to say 'I told you so, and did you listen?' and actually be genuinely telling the truth.
Well, it's more or less official - Management and most of the frontline employees are at each other again. I'd watch the news tomorrow, just to see how it turns out. Unlike the previous strike, I think people are more ticked off, and less willing to be comprimising over it. I don't think it'll come to blows, but I'm willing to put good money it won't be pretty at all.
Of course though, you won't find me there. To be honest, (As I've said previously) that the union picked the wrong point to be bogged down on (Although it did do a good job in playing their cards) and management chose to fight on the wrong battleground. I'm not interested on principle.
The bigger issue is of course, the workload's increased a lot. In the time I've been there, I don't think I've really met anyone who could be as calm as paced as I could be, and bear in mind, this is coming from a person spends most of their time running around the building all day. I'm not exactly the best benchmark for calm.
To fight over pay when your stress levels are much higher than they should be is... what, just plain all out silly? It's sort of like quibbling over a twenty dollar note while the house around you is burning down.
Then again, I had the unfortunate luck to have worked for welfare, or more accurately, youth welfare, so I think I can safely call when a service is under tremendous strain. Working in a chronically underfunded field will burn you out, let me tell you. Love or care will only get you so far in burnout prevention, and those who love or care about their work are usually the ones who will do a good service for you, will work the extra hours without demanding optimium pay, and will make sure the work's done well.
We haven't quite hit DOCS level yet, although one person quoting about 80 client organisations at once is an impressive record, and would arguably come fairly close. That in itself says something about the current structure, and just how close it is to reflecting an agency at break point. It feels like someone's feeling particularly adventourous and putting all their human resource eggs in one basket.
So if throwing more money at the employees isn't going to fix the issue, what could possibly diffuse the ticking timebomb that's the near open revolt we're seeing at the moment?
Work on retaining your staff - by alleviating the REAL source of the conflict - And that is the workload. If people aren't stressed to hell and back, they won't demand to be compensated so badly for it. Granted, a little stress is a good thing since it encourages you to do your best, but take it from someone who knows people who work at DOCS, there's upper limits before people break, and as people break, a casading effect goes into play - Every person you lose means that the remainder get more stressed, and that increases the chance of someone else breaking.
I bet if capacity was increased by 10% across the board (At least for the lower ranks), particularly in the more depleted sections, and offer this with no strings attached regardless of the negociations, you'll find that a lot of the clasdestine union support will slide away as people find themselves being able to collect themselves instead of the 28/7 approach right now. I'd put an entire year's pay on it, in fact.
As a last note, I think this article will say it best:
http://blogs.watoday.com.au/small-busin
My advice to anyone out there? Don't be seen like those major corporations - Apparently it is true that if you chase money and absolute efficency, you give up your humanity.
But of course, my curse is never to be listened to, particularly when I'm pointing out something important. On the bright side, at least I'm now permitted to say 'I told you so, and did you listen?' and actually be genuinely telling the truth.
