I wrote yesterday about some of the challenges of the manager/IT worker relationship, inspired by this article on IT workers being pushed to the limit. I think that many workers feel that they're treated unfairly and more than a few identified with the Terry Childs situation. My guess is more than a few people are cheering for him to be released.
I'm definitely more of an advocate for workers rights than managerial rights. I think that workers tend to be more loyal than companies and many companies count on that and take advantage of it. However I've been a tough manager in the past, expecting people to get their work done on time if they report to me.
These days, with the economy not doing well, it seems that I see news articles about cuts in IT budgets and staff. I'm not sure how accurate they are since I'll see plenty of articles about keeping them the same as last year or even increasing them as well. My guess is that a generalization can't really be made and things will happen on a company by company basis.
It seems that most every IT department at a large company feels they're understaffed and overworked. Small companies might be in a similar situation, but there's often a bit more excitement and enthusiasm for tackling a wider variety of projects simultaneously. But at larger companies, many people have to work on projects that they might not have enthusiasm for, and often on a larger scale. With deadlines decided by whim and the less than adequate numbers of staff, many workers feel lots of pressure, and end up working lots of hours.
Even if you have a reasonable workload, you might have some fear of being let go or being rendered unnecessary by other co-workers. There might be a new a hot shot employee that was hired for 20% more than you're making and could possibly do your job along with his.
I have seen people try to hoard information to gain more job security, feeing it as some type of protection if only they knew some information about the system. It might be in the short term, but the short term with me would be very short as I would actively look to replace you.
I still believe that a good job is a balance these days. A good employee has to go the extra mile when it's needed and then remind management of that and get some balance back in your life when it's not. I've almost never had a problem achieving that, and when I have, I've started looking for work, while being sure that I was still doing my job.
One thing I'm sure of, with the layoffs that have occurred recently at some large IT companies, and more likely to follow from a number of financial institutions, workers had better be sure they are aware of all that competition looking for work. I would bet that most executives are.
So do a good, professional job, and learn to get along with your manager, and go along where possible, but don't let them take advantage of you.
Steve Jones
The Voice of the DBA Podcasts
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