ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2006 > June > 27 > Entry
Wearing 15 pieces of flair?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the movie “Office Space” a nerdy restaurant manager lectures Jennifer Anniston’s character about her lack of “flair”.
He is referring to the goofy buttons on the suspenders of her server’s uniform. Restaurant protocol requires that all employees wear a minimum of 15 pieces of “flair” during their shift.
Because she is not interested in the job or the flair, she continues to wear only the minimum amount of flair…much to the chagrin of her manager, who continually challenges her to take pride in her job by wearing additional flair. “What do you think of people who always do the minimum?” he asks.
Anniston’s character, fed up with what she sees as an arbitrary requirement in an unfulfilling, dead end job, finally snaps back at her manager and insists that if he wants her to wear 37 pieces of flair; he should just change the minimum to 37 pieces of flair!
The following scene shows her dramatically walking off the job, flipping profanities as she storms out the door.
While Hollywood entertains us with its special kind of social commentary, most people would agree that in real life this behavior would not win anyone an Employee of the Month award.
Still, movies like this resonate with so many of us because we’ve all felt similar frustrations on the job.
In this example, the manager, who takes his position very seriously, wants his employees to exhibit the same enthusiasm that he personally feels about his company and expects his employees to go beyond the minimum.
How have you seen this played out in your workplace? Do your colleagues wear only the minimum amount of flair?
How has this affected your workload? Should employees be expected to perform beyond the minimum?
Comments
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By office squirt
June 27, 2006 02:35 PM | Link to this
Employers should only expect what they give…In an office environment where there is no such thing as sick time (oh forget paid sick or personal time) and compensation is as close to minimum wage as possible for your particular skill—your not apt to feel as if you should give more than the minimum required. My colleagues and I are overworked and underpaid…we wear our “15 peices” of flair with pride—and then run out of the door as fast as possible when the clock hits 5.