It's all takin' and no givin'

My workplace has a strange system whereby there are a lot of programs that are quite different housed in the one place. The programs vary quite a bit but there is a high level of portability between programs – a lot of internal movement in the organisation and also a series of programs that are funded by other organisations located in the same place.

One of the workers in a program that is located here (but not part of the parent organisation) observed to me when I first started that there was no point in my boss having introduced me to her, because she “didn’t count” (not being part of the core program). I’ve been thinking about this lately, because it is true that they don’t attend general staff meetings, for example, but they do use the services of the organisation (staff room, etc) and also use the services of the reception staff.

The reception staff here are uniformly lovely. Unlike a lot of other places, there are men and women working in reception and they have a camaraderie and, dare I say it, a bonhomie about them that is very welcoming. They are tolerant and friendly, and even put up with a reasonable amount of Grizzlewick shouting about his day while waiting impatiently for his mother to emerge from the depths of the office space.

Which is why it has bothered me that on several occasions now, the workers in the “separate” program have been outrageously rude to and about the reception staff*. I suppose it is possible that they have had an unpleasant experience at some point. But I have to wonder what any of this achieves other than perpetuating a division that the “separate” staff have been complaining about? I know it would be difficult for me to maintain a loyalty or respect for some one who I know is deriding me either behind (or to one side of, in some cases) my back.

I’ve never understood this predilection amongst some people to treat those they feel are lower down the pecking order than they are with contempt or derision, or to interpret the friendliness and openness of some as stupidity. When I first started my last job, there was a strong sense from many that because I am friendly, chatty and smile easily (partnered with youth and enthusiasm) that this was a “cover” for a lack of intelligence. I for one say that it’s possible to be both friendly and smart, and that being stand-offish or officious is not a hall-mark of great brain-power**.

I also think that the people I have met who have had any kind of power that I have instantly clicked with are those who show they aren’t above doing the tasks that others could do: the General Manager making coffee for their staff, the highly-paid Communications consultant patiently filling 500 information packs with photocopied sheets. Likewise, the people I have taken an instant dislike to are the ones I have made cups of tea for, with never an offer in return, or worse, the expectation that even though anyone should be able to make their own damn hot beverages, that is what I am there for***.

As a workplace issue, is being friendly, generous and happy really such a career-killer?


* The day after I first wrote this piece, I came into the workplace to hear one of them saying “Do I really have to say hello to them, every time I go into the office? I mean, is that what they expect now? Do I have to pretend to be their friends? And did you hear what they were talking about? Banjos!” followed by snorts of derision and peals of laughter. For cryng out loud, what the f-ck is that?

** As a side issue, it grates on me endlessly to hear John Howard use phrases (and this is one of his favourites) like “what people have to understand”. Because unless he told us that we “have to understand it”, we’d be too dumb to, and also incapable of forming our own opinions about things, right? Now, get back to blogging about toddlers and Wolfmother, and leave the sensible discussions to we brainy types.

*** I'm well aware that some people would consider that their jobs had "making the boss a cup of coffee" as an implicit role. I'm just saying that I don't think it's right that these jobs should always fall to the people we perceive to being on a "lower rung" than others.