Kolkata, India - Many Canadian companies, especially in British Columbia where I live, faced with rapid reduction of manpower in the highly-trained workers required to provide their customers with the level of services or products expected.  Have in recent years, gone to first an independent attitude by starting small businesses or franchises and then a new concept for many of then and certainly a new concept for an industry like coal mining, an idea called the multi-job concept.

Now, Western Coalfields Ltd, a coal India subsidiary, is planning to implement this new idea of employees, trained and completing, more than one job on the job site, is taking hold in a few of the minds of India's executives worried about where they will get the workers they need to keep production at current levels and even increase it in the future.

To date, an explosives-carrier's job required him only to transport explosives, the rest of the time he just waits.  Now, he can be trained for additional tasks related to carrying explosives.

WCL officials contacted said that workers who multi-job could be paid higher wages and the company needed to head in this direction if they were to meet production levels in the future.

In conclusion, technical trained employees are always hard to find in any industry that relies upon skilled workers to complete jobs that are essential to an industries success.  Many companies around the world, not just India, will be watching companies that are heading down this road to see if the benefits are there to allow all industries to move to this form of employment.  If it allows workers to become even more valuable to the companies they work for and get paid accordingly then its a good thing, I guess, but will it take jobs away from individuals who might not get jobs accept for the labour intensive India labour market.

Setting: Psychiatrist's waiting room.

[Enter a man and a woman. The woman moves across the room and talks to the receptionist about something. The man sits down.]

Man: So, you must be related to someone here.

Me: Excuse me?

Man: I was just wondering if you were related to someone here in the office.

Me: Why?

Man: Well you look perfectly normal.

Me: [With a smile.] People with Asperger's Syndrome usually do.

[Man falls silent and looks away. Soon the woman finishes her conversation and they both leave. The man takes care not to look my direction for the rest of the time.]

Ah, the life of an aspie. Fun fun fun.

So, remember back when I talking about trying to find a job?

Well, I was looking over my posts for the last week or so and realized that I totally left out something big that has happened in my life.

I got a job!

Yay!

I'm working at the office of Human Resources on campus as the front desk clerk. It's ironic really; before working at the gas station (Feb '07-Aug '07), the idea of answering phones and dealing with customers made me really nervous.

Now though. Ha! In my office, we house human resources, right? Well, that covers all sorts of things; most importantly though, that includes Payroll. What this means for me is that if anyone screws up along the way (usually the person trying to get paid, trust me), we get to be the recipient of a long angry tirade.

Yawn.

Seriously. I'm not afraid of people anymore. I saw the worst of the worst at the gas station. People here don't even rank on my scale of worrisome patrons.

Now, to their credit, they most likely think that they do (or should), but really, they don't. They're still far too civilized for that. Not a one of them would ever think to try to grab my butt, cuss me out, spit on the floor, pick a fight with me, make suggestive comments about trying to hurt people around them, or ever make me feel like calling the cops.

Until they reach that level, I'm content just to smile and nod.  All in all, I find the technical side of the job--fill out this form, go through this process, answer this specific question about a b c--all very comforting and enjoyable.  There's a process.  It's doesn't change.  There are specific situations with various rules, but once you learn the rules, that's it.  Nothing new.  If this happens, then you do this. 

I don't think I would want to do this for the rest of my life, but then again, that's why I'm getting my master's.  :) 

Take this average situation: 

Employee complaining about not getting paid: I have a kid who's in the hospital and my sister just went through a divorce, and my mother just died and my car broke down, and I think I need foot surgery on top of the dental surgery I just had 3 years ago and . . . yeah.

Me: Did you turn in a hiring packet?

Employee: No one told me that I had to do that.

Me: Well, then you need to do the paperwork for that now. Here it is [hands a packet across the desk]. You also need some form of photo ID and your social security card.

Employee:  But no one told me I had to do that!

Me:  Yeah, (well), here's the form and you can do it now.  [She says, smiling politely.]

Employee:  But, [They say while scrounging through either their pockets (if a man) or giant oversized purse (if a woman)] I have to get this in by 5 pm!  (It's almost always 3:47 pm when they say that).

Me:  Okay?

Employee:  And I don't have any ID on me!  I can't find it!  [They wail.]

Me:  Okay . . . well, you can go ahead and fill out the form and then we can put it into our "pending" file.  Then, when you bring in your ID and social security card, we can make a copy of it and process your paperwork. 

Employee:  But it has to be in by 5 pm!!!

[It is now 3:52 pm]

Me:  And?

[Phone most always invariably rings at this point]

[I answer the phone]

Me [to the person on the other end]:  Human Resources; this is _________.  [Listens]  All right.  Uh-huh.  Well, I'm not actually the person who handles that.  Let me transfer you to _________.  Oh you're welcome.  [Hangs up the phone and turns back to the increasingly hysterical person standing on the other side of the desk]

[It is now 3:58 pm]

Employee:  Can't you just process it now?

Me:  Um no.  Sorry, we need to have some form of picture ID and your social security card. 

Employee:  Can I have it faxed?

Me:  Um no.  I have to see the original document before I can sign off on it.

Employee:  But it has to be in by 5 pm!

[4:02 pm]

Employee:  And besides!  I didn't know that I had to fill out anything else! No one told me about it! 

Me:  The packet includes tax information, identity confirmation and payment designation.  We can't pay you without that information.

Employee:  I want a check!

(Don't we all . . )

Me:  I'm sorry, but you have to fill that out in the packet. 

[4:06 pm]

Employee:  Listen!  I really need the money!  [They say as they start to rattle off the original list again, adding on 3 or 4 things like "laundry money, dog vaccinations, tooth fairy money and their hard-up, out-of-work, alcoholic cousin/brother/aunt who is currently living with them."]

Me:  I'm sorry.  There's nothing else I can do.  You can either fill out the form and I can put it in pending, or you can take the form with you and bring it back with your 2 forms of ID. 

Employee [pointing at me in indignance]:  Your office has been nothing but one big disappointment after another!!!  I came here 4 weeks ago and wasted my time filling out worthless forms for 25 minutes!!!  And now you're telling me that I have to fill something else out!?!

Me [pulling out another form]:  Is this the form that you filled out then?

Employee [sniffing in disdain]:  You should know.  But yes, that is it.

Me:  This is the application packet.   Once you were hired, your department should have sent you back over here to fill out the "New Hire Packet." 

Employee:  The secretary in my office is new--BUT--she has tried to help me as much as she could.  [They say, glaring at me.]  And she never told me about that!

Me:  I'm sorry that your experience here hasn't been pleasant.  I just started working here actually; so I wasn't even here 4 weeks ago. 

[4:14 pm]

Employee:  Well, what am I supposed to do then!?

(Didn't I just answer that?)

Me:  Well, as I said before, either you can take the form with you, or you can do it now and I can put it in "pending" to wait until you have your ID. 

Employee:  But it has to be in by 5!

[4:17 pm]

Me:  I'm sorry.  There's nothing that I can do for you other than the options I've already mentioned.

[4:19 pm]

Employee:  Well, I guess I'll go then.  [Huffs]

*headdesk*

I've gotten tons and tons of hits since I last posted.  Apparently, I'm now decently ranked in Google for a Ronald McDonald image search.  Also from that same post, a lot of people search for the freaky clown bed Homer built Bart.

I was gone half of last week. I was in North Carolina. We stayed at the Biltmore. Toured the house and gardens. Pretty amazing place.

This image (click for full-size) is a panorama of the Biltmore with pictures I took stitched together using a great little program called Hugin. It was the first time I ever tried doing this and it was a handheld series of photos, so I don't need the criticism. It did turn out darn good though.

This week, I was getting ready for a convention I'm going to tomorrow. Somehow I ended up signing myself and my wife up to go to a paranormal convention to sell shirts. They're awesome and everyone loves them, so I'm hoping we'll sell out. I was having a hard time getting the shirts out of PDA without all the employees scarfing them up.  Of course, a perk to selling them is I get one for myself! ;-)

We also just got two new employees at PDA, one of which I've been pretty extensively training. (With my experience as a high school Biology teacher, training is a given--and I really enjoy it.) They're both really nice girls. We all get along really well and go out to lunch together and hang out sometimes on weekends and holidays. It would be cool if the new girls like us enough to hang out with us.

Speaking of dinner with friends, I'm going to dinner with my wife's friends in a little while, so I'll wrap it up!

So when it comes to finding new people to help in our quest for frugality, we have looked to many new venues for locating the right person. No longer relying on newspaper classifieds or using a word of mouth, we place ads and notices on several internet web sites, like Craig’s List.

Normally we get a fair number of responses. Some are other companies looking to find work for themselves, but more often the responses are genuine people inquiring about the job. This inquiry is good. The divide between employer and employee has shrunk. The two way street of what the hirer offers and what the prospective worker will gain has shrunk.

However, and here is the however you knew was coming, what happened to the simple use of manners in these communications?

The Frugal Yankee placed an ad for a viral intern. Someone who would help us get our frugal word through internet campaigns. Not one of the emails sent to us had a “Dear Sir” or Dear Ma’am” or “To Whom it may concern”. Not one of these inquiries had even the simplest form of civility. Here is one, from Ben. “what is the campaign for?” That’s it.  The sentence is not even capitalized. There is no signs of greeting, interest in the project or in my humble opinion, respect for the person on this end. It is very sad to think of the arrogance, lack of manners or stupidity behind this cursory inquiry. Maybe Ben feels this is all you need in life. Direct, grammatically incorrect questions make for good relationships. Wait until he gets married!?

Well, Ben, the answer to your question “what is the campaign for”, is simple. It is not for you. You show have shown me nothing other than you need to grow up. Hiring you would be a huge mistake. I’d end up spending money and enjoying it less.

You will find great pointers there.

We all got along very well here. Very few office conflicts. That is until that Pearl chick arrived. Oh, I have never been one to suffer a fool, but I have had to bite my tongue since Pearl joined the staff. If you want an opinion, just wait and you will get one. How someone with that red up-do and that beak on her face can talk about anyone is beyond me.  Just the other day I overheard her taking on a well known model turned actress. "Honey, I can't see wearing nine inch heels on a nine inch wide foot." She was opining to no one in particular, peering into a People magazine." You ever seen a duck in heels? Of course you won't and there is the reason why, stomping like some cart horse down the runway, on those skinny duck legs and, oh glory be, those flat wide swimmin' in the pond feet."

I just turned around and eased back to my office and closed the door before she looked up. It is best not to be nailed with those beady black eyes, and the way she cocks her head to size you up. I think the entire office has been doing better copy writing since Pearl came to work. At least they take more time with their heads bent over their word processors and less time playing practical jokes on each other.

Yep, this place has changed.

Manager's role at Duke
New employee orientation - Berkely University
Orientation checklist for supervisors - Berkely University
Onboarding- Guidlines for conducting new employee orientation
Supervisors' guide for orientation of new staff- Johns Hokins University
Conducting effective employee orientation
How to be a mentor for a new employee
New employee orientation - Yale University