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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

One Long Ass Day At Work Today.....

Got up at 5am to get ready to leave house at 6am for Annual Sales Meeting. Our company doesn't have overnight stays at posh hotels, fine dining, or great prizes at these affairs. It is held about 1-1/2hrs from home at our central distribution warehouse. From 8am to 1030am were lectures on our 4 latest products, which we have been lectured at least 4 times before. Then we tour our giant facility looking at what we've seen numerous times. We work thru lunch, which is a decent buffet eaten in the meeting room while new work processes are presented. Then from 1-330pm 15 of us got to make a 10 minute presentation on a customer we have brought to the fold by using our many resources and teamwork. With ending comments from facilitators, we are let go at 4pm. I remember 20yrs ago, (with another company) I was at one of these in Chicago at a refurbished Hilton, where breakfast, lunch, and dinner(booze before,during, and after!) was top drawer! Awards banquet- me in 2nd nationally getting $1000 in cash, and an award to hang on the wall. After hours orders were: go have fun, but be at the meeting tomorrow! I think most businesses today forgot a little fun can go a long way.......

17 comments:

Christo Gonzales said...

well are you tops nationally now? businesses jump over dollars to get to pennies now-a-days not realizing that a happy work force is a productive one as well and it doesnt cost a whole lot to make em happy.

Stephanie Faris said...

My sis goes to L.A. for work all the time and they spend thousands of dollars each time, flying her, putting her up in a fancy hotel... She says it's all very unnecessary but hey, if you're gonna have to travel, may as well!

And yes, a little fun can really improve morale.

snowelf said...

I'm on the same wavelength as db--If I had a company, I wouldn't go too overboard, but I would spoil my employees from time to time. I would be the type of boss who would remember I wouldn't be anywhere without them. My old boss in StL was like that and it was the happiest place I ever worked and best job I ever had.

--snow

HAR said...

No wonder it was a long ass day. That sounds like torture to me.
It sounds like conference day for us. We all need to sit and pretend to be learning something for 8 hours of insanely boring horse shit.

Mike Minzes said...

OK, I hate to say this, but stop crying.
Here is my daily schedule (notice I said daily) during the week

4:00 AM: Wake up
5:00 AM leave for work
2 hour commute to work
7 to 4: work
2 1/2 hour commute home

All this and I hate my lob too!

pinknest said...

what! i'd be going to annual sales meetings all the time then if that's how they were. and i don't like getting up at 5 am. i feel nauseous.

buffalodick said...

DogB- The way this company is structured territory-wise, I will never have that opportunity. Because of our commission setup, it doesn't even matter anymore.
Steph- I'm not looking for red carpet treatment everytime I go somewhere, but once a year to celebrate our growth and success is not too much to ask!
Snow- Scrooge loved working for old Fezziewig, but got too greedy when it was his turn to be a boss...
har- I think anyone working has a version of this kind of day...
Mike- You probably have a few more miles to drive before you catch up with me. Outside sales, 30yrs. 200 mile days not unusual. Did you have the job or the house first? I like my job, I just don't like being told how to do it after all these years...

Paul Champagne said...

I am soooo lucky to be in the car business. The manufacturers fly us all over the place, but the best conferences I've been to were with Isuzu ... 4 Seasons Hotels in Jackson Hole, WY and Dallas and the Bahamas ... never could have afforded to go there otherwise.

Anonymous said...

OK you win, your day was worse...

Angel said...

I agree with Dog too....it doesn't ake much to make your work force happy..and productive.Those meetings sounds very boring.so you could at least be in a great hotel with some great food!

Sornie said...

If my employer did something like this, we'd be spending the night in a pup tent in the pouring rain wondering why each and every tent they supplied has holes in it and why they chose a wolf sanctuary as a campsite.

Michelle Ann said...

I think the big problem is sitting anyone down to be "lectured" or "presented" to... It all just a cure for insomnia.

buffalodick said...

My point could not have been better made if I would have designed it so...

buffalodick said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mona said...

In India its a dog's life in a company. They know that there is so much human resource available that if you quit there will be ten to replace you. So they treat you like shit. No leaves,no casual leave either no perks and a twelve hour grind each day.They set ppl up against each other so that there is no union formation either.They will pay you in black money too,half & half.There are ever so many things that I can enumerate about their mafia like policies here! There is a lot of bungling & employees are trated shabbily, almost like slave, & driven to work under too much pressure!

HAR said...

What is for dinner this weekend?

Akelamalu said...

Sounds like work, work work and more work!