HOW TO FAIL AS AN EMPLOYEE
The Wannabe Tribal Head Start program (not it's real name)
was a real-life example of employees who thought the
organization existed to benefit them. Meet Mabel, the
Special Education Associate. Mabel's job was to provide
assistance to children with special needs. If a child had
behavior, physical or learning problems in the classroom,
Mabel would observe the student and provide a recommended
behavior program. Sometimes, she would work individually
with the child. Other times, she would meet with the
teacher and give her recommendations, show the teacher how
to feed a child with cerebral palsy or how to adjust
seating for a child in a wheelchair or just give advice on
behavior management. Mabel had an Associate's degree plus
two more years of college, although she did not have all
the right courses to get a four-year degree. She also had
several years of experience. As an employee, Mabel was not
successful.
Mabel often came to work two or three hours late because
her mornings were busy getting her children ready for
school, driving them to school, meeting with their
teachers, driving into the nearest town to pick up school
supplies for a project one of her children had to do that
night. Usually, she would come to work, punch in on the
time clock, then leave for hours to run errands. When this
became too extreme, her supervisor gave Mabel a letter
stating that she would not be paid for 40 hours a week
unless she actually was in the building for 40 hours. Mabel
then began coming in on Saturdays or staying late in the
evenings. After complaints from parents that they could
never find Mabel in her office, the supervisor scheduled
another meeting with Mabel. This time, Mabel was very
defensive and stated that she worked "over time" to make up
for all of the hours she took off during the day. One day,
we happened to be having coffee during a break in a meeting
and Mabel sat down to complain about her supervisor,
Click here for Mabel's complaint.