Is doing the right thing worth your job?

[jackfaire]

I had a situation at work involving a customer and a mistake on our part. In the end I managed to find a way for our company to correct the mistake and everyone to get to save face.

Without going into specifics it was a bureaucratic problem of her being put into an unnecessary and time consuming process before we could do what she needed.

She needs it done by Monday. We didn't do enough research and passed it off to another department because we misread the situation. I wanted to pull it back from that department but my senior officers told me that even though we knew it should have never been passed over and that eventually they would pass it back we had to wait for them to get to it.

This morning I got a message that the other department will take 2-3 business days to even get to look at the case. After a lot of detective work and some fancy footwork I found a loophole that allowed us a different angle at accomplishing what the customer needs and we will now have it done by Monday.

I think I was ready to lose my job over this. The thing is I can't stand all of us standing around letting a person drown because they didn't file the requisite form to be saved. I know it wasn't life or death but it was starting to screw with someone's livelihood.

While by the rules I was being given we couldn't do what needed to be done but in reality I could have it would have happened and it wouldn't have been wrong for us to do. The only thing that would have happened is I would have been fired for defying what I was told.

I will never know if I would have risked throwing away my job because it didn't come to that in the end but I ask you is it worth your job to do the right thing?

[Mishi]

For Rugz, it is. He has stood toe-to-toe with his manager and loudly refused to sign off on work done by someone else that he hasn't had anything to do with, not even in a supervisory role. Why? Well, over here, if the car is in an accident that has the slightest thing to to with a mechanical fault then the mechanic can be blamed if he or she can't prove that the failure wasn't due to their work. Rugz is not willing to risk being charged with many things including fraud and potentially taking a vehicular manslaughter charge for a co-worker because his job is worth less to him than his freedom.

[Mytical]

Absolutely, unequivocally, and beyond a shadow of a doubt. I've had upper management's cars towed because they parked in the fire lane, stood my ground when told flat out if I didn't do something I would be fired, and walked away from a great job because I was accused of being a thief (after proving I was not). You have to stand for something..or you'll fall for anything.

[Glados]

Yes. I worked in a call center where we were often asked to lie to customers, refuse refunds that were due the customer due to our own mistakes, and other screw-the-customer gimmicks. That job ruined the self-esteem of many who refused to stand up for what was right. I fought for my customers and maintained a small part of myself. I personally believe that if us regular people roll over and do the dirty work of the big bosses that it will only lead to further abuses.

[protege]

I personally believe that if us regular people roll over and do the dirty work of the big bosses that it will only lead to further abuses.

I agree with you. Unfortunately, in some areas...the job market sucks balls right now. Even so, I *try* to do the right thing. Not always possible, because what my boss decides is "right" seems to change on a daily basis. So I do what he tells me. I figure, I'm doing OK if I don't get yelled at. I know some people might see that as "selling out," but I can't afford to lose my job.

[Andara Bledin]

It would depend upon the job and what was being asked.

Thankfully, I've never had a work situation where I had to make a choice between what was right and what I was told to do.

^-.-^

[jackfaire]

Thankfully, I've never had a work situation where I had to make a choice between what was right and what I was told to do.

^-.-^

In this case it was more about what I was being asked not to do. Everyone agreed we should do it but no one was willing to go out on a limb

[bara]

I know some people might see that as "selling out," but I can't afford to lose my job.

I have to agree with you.
Would I be willing to put myself or someone else at risk legally or financially. Never. But I've had to come up with some pretty impressive double talk to get people off the phone when I was at that call center and I knew damn well that I was lying to them.

The biggest one was 'but the salesman told me ____________'.

Yeah, salesmen are pretty much allowed to say anything to get people to sign into an agreement and then leave the poor phone reps to try to clean up the mess when it turns out that no, there is no coverage in the area because there are no freaking towers in that entire region. And we could never say that the salesmen lied. Luckily those customers often figured it out for themselves.

[blas87]

I have to agree with protege.

As much as I get flack a lot on CS and haven't posted as much about coworkers or work in fear of just being told to go to HR or complain, I just sometimes have to bend over and take it up the ass, so to speak.

I've gotten a reputation at work of being a whiner, because I have no tolerance for lazy people or people who refuse to do their job right. I once stood up for being singled out as a troublemaker, though I was one of the only ones pulling my own weight. I got some balls and went to my boss about a brown nosing coworker stealing glory and my shift lead riding my ass (not the words I actually used, no worries) until I was nearly in tears every night. And I was told I take things too personally and am just being petty.

Other things, as we see privileges and perks being taken away one by one, all we can really do is bitch and vent. It won't do any good to take one for the team and get fired for standing up for yourself if it means you'd be homeless or without a car. It's an employer's market, right now.

If I had the means, trust me, I wouldn't stand for a lot of stuff. If I could walk away and have a new job anytime someone pissed me off, I probably would say something.

But keeping myself sheltered, keeping a car and gas in it, and being able to eat is better to me, than being "right".

[jackfaire]

But keeping myself sheltered, keeping a car and gas in it, and being able to eat is better to me, than being "right".

Yeah that's the odd thing I have had this job since right before the economy took a dip. Prior to that I would eagerly walk off a job if I felt it was the right thing to do. This was the first time that doing so would have actually hurt me.



Although in this case it was more that I would have been going over everyone's head and ignoring chain of command to do what chain of command felt needed to be done but no one wanted to take responsibility for.

[blas87]

It's...like, what's the word.....almost....can't find a word here.....oh forget it.

It's just so hard. You know there's stuff going on and you shouldn't do diddly about it, because at the end of the day, you need your basic needs met. So you just swallow hard and try to figure out the best way of dealing with it until the time is right.

If/when that time comes, I have a feeling it will be an event of events, for many people who have been supressing feelings and anger and resentment for the past few years.

[Seshat]

Yes and no.

What will doing the right thing cost?
What will NOT doing the right thing cost?

And 'costs' can include your self-esteem, your self-worth, your pride.

If I were an electrician being told to wire up something shoddily and unsafely - HELL NO. 1. Risk of life. 2. It's MY licence to work on the line here.

If I knew planes were being poorly maintained, or food unsafely prepared, or people being put at risk - even if I absolutely needed the job, I'd be making an anonymous phone call.

BUT.

Living paycheck to paycheck, working for - say - some shop that sold luxury goods & didn't put peoples' health at risk, if the boss & coworkers were slacking off and putting minimum effort in?
Well, I'm not going to carry the whole weight of the store on my back. I'm getting minimum wage here, and the cost of the store failing is me finding a new job - and the owners and managers (who aren't doing their job right anyway) losing their business.
Whoopdedoo.
I'll do what I'm paid to do, I'll put in a fair amount of effort for the recompense I get, and I'll leave immediately after I'm clocked out. kthxbye.


Or working for an honest and fair boss who tries hard to do the right thing by his/her customers and employees? I'll go the extra mile for that one.


So the answer is, IMO, very situation dependent.

[protege]

I'll do what I'm paid to do, I'll put in a fair amount of effort for the recompense I get, and I'll leave immediately after I'm clocked out. kthxbye.

It's become like that at my job. Lately, no matter what we (or the rest of the support staff...except for brown-noser Sarah) do, it's never good enough. He totally ignores us, and rewards his sales staff constantly. Never mind that *without* us, they wouldn't be *making* sales in the first place! Also, when his sales people fuck up, they don't get reprimanded. Unlike when support staff fucks up--we get chewed out on the floor, and then again in his office.

He's basically killed morale among support staff. There's simply no incentive to do more than the bare minimum--we get paid the same amount, no matter how many sales the company makes. With no reward, why bother?

[draggar]

I've had two situations where I cam close to putting my job on the line for legal and ethical reasons.

The first time was in a store I use to work in. The sales manager and sales reps were all told to do something ILLEGAL to the customers (think along the lines of renewing or add on contracts without the customer's permission or knowledge). I called it out to the managers and was told to "mind my own damn business". I escalated to regional management and was thld the same thing - it wasn't until I told loss prevention about it that something started to get done about it. For months the managers tried to fire me but within 6 months they were all gone.

The second time it involved me training a service dog. Florida law states that a service dog in training with their trainer is allowed the same access as a service dog with their handler. Florida is one of the few states where the law is like this (and I think the only one at the time). The dog was quiet and the only people who know she was there were theother techs (who loved her) and the only time someone else saw her was when I took her out for a walk ( I even broke up my lunch (allowed) to accomidate her walks.). But, the manager complained (personal reasons since I complained months back about hr dumping entire litters of puppies in the tech room for days). This one I decided not to fight for several reasons.

So, it is quite dependent on the circumstances.

[Racket_Man]

well there have been few throughout recent history that have done the right thing AND paid the price. I was listening to the local NPR station. the host had a guest who wrote a book about people who did the right/hard thing and paid the price

The book is called Beautiful Souls. the book details the ruined lives of several people who "went against the herd" and did the right thing.


To listen/stream the program: Go Here (the streaming options are at the upper right hand corner of the screen)

for a preview/review of the book: Go Here

the book also goes into some of the scientific/psychological basises behind why most people take the path of least resistance.