Categories: work
Date: 16 June 2009 08:54:18
I work for a giant multi-national company. But it’s ok because I work in a friendly local office doing environmentally focused stuff. Until recently I thought our office was untouched by the bribery and corruption expected from profit-focused giants. But it appears not.
Each Friday we are expected to fill in on-line timesheets recording how many hours we have spent working on different projects. This data is then automatically processed and used to bill our clients. Obviously if staff don’t enter their timesheets clients don’t get billed. If clients don’t get billed cash flow falters and profits reduce. If profits reduce the Big Bosses get cross. If the Big Bosses get cross they lean on the Local Bosses. If the Local Bosses get leaned on then they are meant to lean on us poor staff.
The past few months the Local Bosses have been getting frustrated at the failure of certain people in the office to enter timesheets. Company policy suggests that this failing is a disciplinary measure. Verbal warning. Written warning. And eventually the sack. But the Local Bosses are far too nice. So they’ve opted for the opposite approach. In most cultures the opposite of getting the sack would be getting a pay rise. But not here. Here the opposite of getting the sack is getting cake.
Soon I will be joining my daughter in thanking God every night for cake. Every week that the whole department enters their timesheets on time, the Local Bosses have promised to buy the department cake. The bribery seems to be working. This is the third week in a row we have had cake. Although this week the donuts are sprinkled with corruption… not quite everyone entered their timesheet this week. The cake-buying Boss failed to do his own.