Why the heck i bother.

[DAPPH]

That was one thing that always bugged me working offshore. Every year we had to put in our plan for improvements to our career, what we wanted to achieve, where we wanted to see ourselves in 12 months time etc. I hated the whole fiasco, I was quite happy just doing my job and getting paid, I didn’t want to be shift leader, or department head, or chief mechanic etc etc.

Management couldn’t stand that, it was part of their annual personal improvement plan to make people under them try to continually move up ‘the chain of command’.

The last couple of years I worked for them I simply refused to put anything sensible into my ‘career plan’. I think I told them I wanted to be captain of the ship, as my last entry in my career goal…..and a month or two later I was laid off. And retired, at 56, a lowly grease monkey, still.

I love your story of the journey,
T'was much the same at BT...... management crazy kick as style then they expected those who went out & did then jobs at the customers premises to be top notch employees .
I loved the individuality of my work but hated with a vengeance the stupidity originating in offices that often made it miserable.

 

[addjunkie]

That was one thing that always bugged me working offshore. Every year we had to put in our plan for improvements to our career, what we wanted to achieve, where we wanted to see ourselves in 12 months time etc. I hated the whole fiasco, I was quite happy just doing my job and getting paid, I didn’t want to be shift leader, or department head, or chief mechanic etc etc.

Management couldn’t stand that, it was part of their annual personal improvement plan to make people under them try to continually move up ‘the chain of command’.

The last couple of years I worked for them I simply refused to put anything sensible into my ‘career plan’. I think I told them I wanted to be captain of the ship, as my last entry in my career goal…..and a month or two later I was laid off. And retired, at 56, a lowly grease monkey, still.

Ah the good old appraisal and personal development plan. I found it all a farce too…then one day it was me sat on the opposite side of the desk.
Trust me I found it difficult at times being diplomatic. How do you explain to the most hopeless, bone idle sparky that you would sack in the blink of an eye if his uncle wasn't a government minister, that no his performance isn't exceptional and no you wont fund him on a jolly to the USA for an MBA!

 

[redlig]

That was one thing that always bugged me working offshore. Every year we had to put in our plan for improvements to our career, what we wanted to achieve, where we wanted to see ourselves in 12 months time etc. I hated the whole fiasco, I was quite happy just doing my job and getting paid, I didn’t want to be shift leader, or department head, or chief mechanic etc etc.

Management couldn’t stand that, it was part of their annual personal improvement plan to make people under them try to continually move up ‘the chain of command’.

The last couple of years I worked for them I simply refused to put anything sensible into my ‘career plan’. I think I told them I wanted to be captain of the ship, as my last entry in my career goal…..and a month or two later I was laid off. And retired, at 56, a lowly grease monkey, still.

Had a similar conversation at "big H " and was told to apply for management roles . I answered that I was happy as I was and wouldn't the move for twice the money. my boss hesitated and said they might go that high so i said it again.NO!.I often wonder how high I could have pushed them before saying No. I used to hate the annual "chat" in fact I recently found a copy of my last one before retiring . My answer to "what can your manager do to make your job better? " I wrote " tell her to stop stealing my chair" Just a load of box ticking to justify their existence.

 

[redlig]

I love your story of the journey,
T'was much the same at BT...... management crazy kick as style then they expected those who went out & did then jobs at the customers premises to be top notch employees .
I loved the individuality of my work but hated with a vengeance the stupidity originating in offices that often made it miserable.

Agreed . Trick I found was to treat all management decisions with contempt and ignore them .As long a the job got done ,my way, all was good and they could get on with dreaming up another scheme having forgotten all about the previous one. As my job depended,to a degree, on the goodwill of the dealers I was very aware that most schemes would just P**s them off .That's not to say I was above doing that myself given a good reason.

 

[indy4x]

Had a similar conversation at "big H " and was told to apply for management roles . I answered that I was happy as I was and wouldn't the move for twice the money. my boss hesitated and said they might go that high so i said it again.NO!.I often wonder how high I could have pushed them before saying No. I used to hate the annual "chat" in fact I recently found a copy of my last one before retiring . My answer to "what can your manager do to make your job better? " I wrote " tell her to stop stealing my chair" Just a load of box ticking to justify their existence.

And there are also some managers that hate the 'annual chat' that's forced upon them and also see it as a box ticking exercise being forced on them from above

 

[redlig]

And there are also some managers that hate the 'annual chat' that's forced upon them and also see it as a box ticking exercise being forced on them from above

So they all keep their heads down and play the game ,and so it goes on . Nobody has the B***s to question the system and ask how many man hours are wasted and for what gain.

 

[BrokenBiker]

That was one thing that always bugged me working offshore. Every year we had to put in our plan for improvements to our career, what we wanted to achieve, where we wanted to see ourselves in 12 months time etc. I hated the whole fiasco, I was quite happy just doing my job and getting paid, I didn’t want to be shift leader, or department head, or chief mechanic etc etc.

Management couldn’t stand that, it was part of their annual personal improvement plan to make people under them try to continually move up ‘the chain of command’.

The last couple of years I worked for them I simply refused to put anything sensible into my ‘career plan’. I think I told them I wanted to be captain of the ship, as my last entry in my career goal…..and a month or two later I was laid off. And retired, at 56, a lowly grease monkey, still.

i work with a guy that was on an oil rig for a period and he has similar stories...i dont know what he actually did but from his talk, he was made to doa lot of other peoples stuff too, as if to show he was worthy of a promotion...he jacked it because like you an i, he just wanted to work and earn...he now runs a 40t crane for us, he is a good solid guy that will do anything to help anyone and gets on with the job at hand.

my previous crane hire firm was the same...you do your test, start on a 40, then quickly move to a 60 which isnt too different, then there is a push to run a 90, then a 130, then the 150, then the 230...then all of a sudden it stops because anything bigger than the 230 means moving department and they will fight tooth and nail to stop that...they have lads with 2 years experience running 230 ton cranes. granted the lad is a good operator but its still far too quick in the grand scheme of things. my current firm wouldnt dream of it.

i was on a 40 for 6 weeks when i was moved to a 60 without ever being consulted, just got told i gotta learn it...then i was called on a sunday night basically begging me to either drive a 200 from avonmouth to east london or run a 90 for 6 weeks on a site when i had never even sat in the cab of either, let alone knew the differences between them and my 60...i refused then got told the next day my crane had no work for the forseebale...then 2 days later got told my crane was out on a 9 week job with another op to get experience on it...i interviewed at sparrows the next day, quit the day after and started here the following monday.

i have no issue with being a slinger, operator, supervisor, ballast driver, rigger etc, ill do whatever needs to be done, as long ive had the training and its at a pace im comfortable with. in all fairness, sparrows will always call and say 'how would you feel about having a bit of training on this so we can send you out for a bit' and if the answer is no, they call someone else, and because of how nicely they ask, and how well they organise the familiarisation training its usually a very easy yes to most of the questions.

 

[Robotstar5]

I was in my last job for getting on 10 years, but could live comfortably on a standard weeks wage (mortgage paid off) so never volunteered for any overtime unlike most maintenance guys
The guys I worked with couldn't understand why I didn't want to live there like them but then realised if I didn't want it there was more overtime for them.

 

[redlig]

I was in my last job for getting on 10 years, but could live comfortably on a standard weeks wage (mortgage paid off) so never volunteered for any overtime unlike most maintenance guys
The guys I worked with couldn't understand why I didn't want to live there like them but then realised if I didn't want it there was more overtime for them.

Work to live NOT live to work.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Work to live NOT live to work.

Spot on...I offer my services every other Saturday, I'm not bothered if I don't get anything and if someone on a lower wage than me need the money I'll let them have the shift if they are suitable for the job. My overtime is for the toy fund, I can happily live off my average weekly wage but there are some lads there working 13 days straight, havi g 1 Saturday off then doing another 13 days consistently all year round apart from when they take their annual leave

 

[redlig]

Spot on...I offer my services every other Saturday, I'm not bothered if I don't get anything and if someone on a lower wage than me need the money I'll let them have the shift if they are suitable for the job. My overtime is for the toy fund, I can happily live off my average weekly wage but there are some lads there working 13 days straight, havi g 1 Saturday off then doing another 13 days consistently all year round apart from when they take their annual leave

It would be interesting to know the reasons for that way of life .

 

[Munkul]

i work with a guy that was on an oil rig for a period and he has similar stories...i dont know what he actually did but from his talk, he was made to doa lot of other peoples stuff too, as if to show he was worthy of a promotion...he jacked it because like you an i, he just wanted to work and earn...he now runs a 40t crane for us, he is a good solid guy that will do anything to help anyone and gets on with the job at hand.

my previous crane hire firm was the same...you do your test, start on a 40, then quickly move to a 60 which isnt too different, then there is a push to run a 90, then a 130, then the 150, then the 230...then all of a sudden it stops because anything bigger than the 230 means moving department and they will fight tooth and nail to stop that...they have lads with 2 years experience running 230 ton cranes. granted the lad is a good operator but its still far too quick in the grand scheme of things. my current firm wouldnt dream of it.

i was on a 40 for 6 weeks when i was moved to a 60 without ever being consulted, just got told i gotta learn it...then i was called on a sunday night basically begging me to either drive a 200 from avonmouth to east london or run a 90 for 6 weeks on a site when i had never even sat in the cab of either, let alone knew the differences between them and my 60...i refused then got told the next day my crane had no work for the forseebale...then 2 days later got told my crane was out on a 9 week job with another op to get experience on it...i interviewed at sparrows the next day, quit the day after and started here the following monday.

i have no issue with being a slinger, operator, supervisor, ballast driver, rigger etc, ill do whatever needs to be done, as long ive had the training and its at a pace im comfortable with. in all fairness, sparrows will always call and say 'how would you feel about having a bit of training on this so we can send you out for a bit' and if the answer is no, they call someone else, and because of how nicely they ask, and how well they organise the familiarisation training its usually a very easy yes to most of the questions.

Just googled, you lads have some fair size cranes.

I've always used 1 or 2 local companies, previous job had a few jobs for the 220t mainly because of the radius. Lifting into ATEX areas that were often still live or in production, so I was always glad that they had one single, very experienced driver that the 220t "belonged to".

Big big difference between a 40t and a 200t+

 

[owas]

I'm on a poor wage but with shift allowance it bumps it up to where I'm okay with it.

One thing I've realised is though, id much rather have a lower pay with no stress than a job that pays better but is stressful.

 

[BrokenBiker]

Just googled, you lads have some fair size cranes.

I've always used 1 or 2 local companies, previous job had a few jobs for the 220t mainly because of the radius. Lifting into ATEX areas that were often still live or in production, so I was always glad that they had one single, very experienced driver that the 220t "belonged to".

Big big difference between a 40t and a 200t+

King lifting have got it all from a little 25 ton city crane all the way up to a liebherr 750 mobile crane...couldn't pay me enough to go back there though

Sparrows have more smaller cranes, I am out quite frequently on the old tadano 8 ton truck mount, we have some 13 ton city cranes, a lot of 3 or 4 ton spider cranes, few very small crawlers, a 30 and 45 city crane then a handful of 40s, few 60s, 3 100's, a 200 and a 300...the 200 is being changed this year for a 230, and one of the 100's is being changed for a 150...I've also been told even though I've only been there since June I'm on the list for my 60 being sold for a brand new 90 which I wouldn't complain at, lovely cranes to operate

Little 8 ton week before last lifting a 200kg range oven down to ground level

My permanent crane, 60 ton liebherr that is now sited for the next 8-12 weeks on steel, refurbished and old recycling centre. 3 ton rafter on the hook in the photo
L

200 tonner lifting a 15 ton silo that was going for scrap. Just a few of the more interesting jobs I've done lately really

 

[bricol]

That was one thing that always bugged me working offshore. Every year we had to put in our plan for improvements to our career, what we wanted to achieve, where we wanted to see ourselves in 12 months time etc. I hated the whole fiasco, I was quite happy just doing my job and getting paid, I didn’t want to be shift leader, or department head, or chief mechanic etc etc.

Management couldn’t stand that, it was part of their annual personal improvement plan to make people under them try to continually move up ‘the chain of command’.

The last couple of years I worked for them I simply refused to put anything sensible into my ‘career plan’. I think I told them I wanted to be captain of the ship, as my last entry in my career goal…..and a month or two later I was laid off. And retired, at 56, a lowly grease monkey, still.

We have the same . . . managers make up things . . . I agree. The next year, I have to self assess those task, and the results will affect my bonus - 100% is my assessment. So far, no manager has disagreed

My yearly comments - "still doing the job you pay me to do" . . .

When I did have people working for me, on a different bonus scheme, they self-assessed, I assessed, we argues and a compromise was put down - except you had to fudge it, as the scoring required had such narrow bands, the difference between "should be sacked this afternoon" and "fast track to CEO" was so small.

 

[MattF]

managing is a whole different skill.

That's why the sensible folk intentionally stay on the bottom rung. Doing your job is one thing, but managing folk is a calling.

The problem is that a lot of management don't realise that they also need to look after the people they manage, welfare wise. It's a very fine balance which most can't achieve.

 

[Robotstar5]

That's why the sensible folk intentionally stay on the bottom rung. Doing your job is one thing, but managing folk is a calling.

That was me, quite happy on the bottom rung, earned enough to pay the bills, go on hols, buy a few toys etc. complete lack of ambition to get promoted

 

[My Old Landy]

I was pushed into management and I didn't receive any training. I spent 20 years as a working manager and didn't enjoy it. Disputes between employees and the like are hard to deal with. I am currently chief engineer but refuse any personnel responsibility. I make technical decisions and that's the best way to be!

 

[MattF]

That was me, quite happy on the bottom rung, earned enough to pay the bills, go on hols, buy a few toys etc. complete lack of ambition to get promoted

It's the best way to be.

 

[addjunkie]

I was pushed into management and I didn't receive any training. I spent 20 years as a working manager and didn't enjoy it. Disputes between employees and the like are hard to deal with. I am currently chief engineer but refuse any personnel responsibility. I make technical decisions and that's the best way to be!

In my opinion initially also being a bit pushed up the hill in an emergency….its the people who spoil being a manager. I didnt mind running the job, getting stuff done, getting the troops to deliver, making big decisions but the bickering and bitching about next to nowt used to do my head in. When it got really bad Id go into my office, close the door and log into my bank account to see if it was all worth while.

One day in a meeting about 60 blokes, two or 3 moaning, I actually said, after letting it run a few minutes hoping it would die off…”If anyone isnt happy there are plenty to fill your roles when you leave”. Of course that was taken the wrong way too more whinging.

Later I said to the main culprit quietly.. If its so bad why don't you just have sex and travel, youd be no big loss. Come appraisal time he expressed an interest in an office support role, only took 6 weeks to sort his move.