Pointless yearly tradition

October 18th

As every year, this week at work we have an employee satisfaction survey to be done. And as in previous years, we had a prep meeting about it. Of course, we are expected to answer everything truthfully and just as we see and feel the current situation, BUT… “as you know if there are points where the company will score below average then corrective actions will have to be done. And YOU will be responsible for them. Which means more work and more meetings and more pressure. So, you know…”

Yeah, I know. And everybody knows it as well. As we talked about it among ourselves, the consensus was that we just need to give maximum points for most of the questions, maybe with one or two questions with a lower score, but still above average — then we will be fine and nobody will have to do any extra work and everyone will be happy. And there will be no change at all. We will continue knee-deep in a miasma of stagnation and pointless haplessness. Maybe even in hopelessness.

And everyone will just put his/hers head down and bitch about problems mumbling underneath their breath to others who will nod in agreement while not rising their necks above the line. No one wants to ruffle any feathers in the current economical and sociopolitical situation. But it was the same last year, before the war in Ukraine and raging inflation. And the year before that before the pandemic and all restrictions placed on society. And the year before those years as well — when everything was moving along nicely and smoothly.

So today, I decided NOT to do the same thing I’ve done the previous years. Of course, the survey is completely anonymous (or so they say, I am so jaded that my cynicism is oozing through my fingers as I type this) so that is no big deal really. But anyway, I went and have done the questionnaire according to my real views and my true feelings. I even wrote comments and answered all open questions as well. Now, the waiting game is on — results will be known in a month, and then we will see. But at least for now, I feel pretty good about my decision and actions taken, even though I don’t expect any changes to be forthcoming from the top. The change that can happen is my changed behavior and changed approach to the immediate problems.