Grade School Mentality

I know I said I wont blog about work anymore, but certain developments are just begging to be picked on.  So please allow me to rant a little.  This is my blog after all.


It may not seem like it, but accounting is a high-pressure job.  Sure, we spend the whole time sitting at our desks and facing the computer, but the pressure mounts at our side, trying to balance multiple reportorial deadlines while at the same time pacifying internal and external stakeholders.  And believe me, talking with stubborn agents, irate customers and impatient stockholders can take its toll.


To take the pressure off of work, we joke around in the office.  Instead of whining about the work, we laugh it off.  And resume work afterward.  Sometimes we even joke around while working.  And what good it brought us -- employee turnover have been curbed, at least for the time being.  As with my experience with the Great Place, no matter how toxic the work is, as long as the work environment remains nurturing, or at the very least, fun, your employees will not turn tail and run the opposite direction.


It isn't always the monetary factor that keeps the employee happy, after all.


Unfortunately, some departments do not think so.


The Internal Audit department has complained to the HR about our noisy behavior in the office.  They talked with our manager, and it was communicated to us in turn.  Since then, the jokes have been toned down.  But they still found it fit to report the incident to HR. 


More than that, they are apparently checking the number of times an employee is out of the desk.  Which is funny because that employee they mentioned has one of the largest output at any given time.  I am astounded that even at this time, they are still adhering to attendance-based management, when what they should be monitoring is performance.


And with various backlogs across all departments caused about by the changes in systems and implementations, I'm surprised that they still have the time to monitor the activities of the employees of other departments.


Furthermore, this grade school mentality is galling me to no end.  All the while I thought I've already outgrown the list of noisy and absent and those not in their proper desks, but apparently, I haven't.  The sergeants at arms are still roving around the classrooms with their lists, ready to rat us out to the principal if we get too noisy.  


Suddenly, I feel like we're being held hostage inside our own office.  You can feel the sudden drop in the atmosphere and the dreary, sleepy silence that have begun to permeate.  And I will not be surprised when the resignation letters come pouring in once more, especially now that the annual audit is winding down.