Essential Duty Quagmire

'It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required.' - Sir Winston Churchill.

I read about a company dealing with an unemployment issue a while back and had a rather rude awakening when I read the findings after a hearing to decide if a former employee would receive unemployment benefits I was flabbergasted. stunned. amazed. awed. dumb-struck. and a whole host of other terms. Basically the system said if an employee was doing their 'best' but does not meet the essential duties of a job then they are entitled to unemployment benefits if you terminate their employment because they are performing at their 'best'. It didn't matter at the amount of training given or disciplinary action taken. If the employee said they did their 'best' and misconduct couldn't be 'proven' then unemployment benefits were given.

Now I know there are those that will say that each case is unique and I sincerely hope that this is true. Whomever this investigator was totally missed the mark in evaluating the merits of this particular case. I believe Winston Churchill said it best. Sometimes our best just isn't good enough. Often employees are placed in positions that they are ill equipped to perform. Now maybe in the case above the selection process should be re-evaluated in order to make sure an applicant has the requisite abilities to perform the duties of the job prior to employment. Initial on-boarding should also help in this evaluative process and I hope a probationary period is in place at this particular company. Technically in this particular case the selection process, on-boarding, supervisory evaluation during a probation period all failed to notice the inability of this particular employee to perform the duties of the job.

I think in our current environments where many of us have been downsized, furloughed, taken on additional duties, etc. we are keenly aware of those around us who are unable to perform their jobs effectively. Unfortunately in a more robust environment we could 'help' that employee; but when we are all taking on more it's hard to give additional time to someone else when we are also struggling to perform our own duties as assigned. What's required is often much more than what is in the job description and it's our decision whether we perform well or not. Its a much different story when the duties we perform are extraordinarily more than we signed up for or if we are taking on additional duties temporarily.

No one wants to feel inadequate in their job. I believe we all innately want to do a good job. I don't think we take a position with the idea that we want to perform poorly. This is a great example of why constant feedback is great for the employee and for the company at large. Maybe the employee above would have performed optimally if feedback had been given constantly until the job was performed correctly. Winston Churchill's quote is more aspirational. Sometimes what's required becomes our best and maybe our best far outpasses what is required. Think about your current job duties. In what ways are you performing your best vs. what is required?

jamie

The Significant Mr. Holland

I watched it for the unknown time. Mr. Holland's Opus with Richard Dreyfus. It doesn't matter how many times I see it but I get the same lump in my throat when the final scene occurs and the alumni and students of JFK High play his Symphony. As I watched it again last night I realized I have been a little Mr. Holland at times.

This semester marked my first without teaching. I started teaching at the same institution I currently work at as the HR Director, South Georgia College. I never thought I would enjoy teaching. I was so scared when I began. I hadn't had any classes on how to teach and I didn't have a frame of reference but over the three years I taught full-time I came to love it. Although I changed career paths and went into Human Resources I continued to teach as a part-time instructor for the next six years. Each class was different but much the same. I loved when a student got the 'aha' moment of clarity. I truly felt like I made a difference in small part to their lives and I hoped they felt the same. Reminiscing over my teaching career gets more emotional when watching Mr. Holland's Opus. I think we all have lofty goals that we are going to conquer the world and leave an imprint on society's psyche. Now that I am approaching 40 I have the clarity that my imprint may not be as lofty as I aspired when I was 18.

Significance means having or expressing meaning. In statistics it means pertaining to observations that are unlikely to occur by chance in other words things happened or were significant because of YOU. All of us want to be'significant' in someone's life. I have done the assessment of where I am in my life and you know what... I feel significant! I am significant to my beautiful wife and my daughter. I don't regret the decisions of my past. All of them have culminated in where I am today. I feel like my life has meaning because I choose to.

We all want that scene at the end of Mr. Holland's Opus where an auditorium is filled with fans and the recognition of a career is praised. I want that scene too. How do we get there... servanthood. Mr. Holland was a servant! He worked tirelessly to make sure his job was done well and he chose to sacrifice his personal goals for his family and for his career. Was it appreciated? Not all of the time... Will all of our decisions be praised? Probably not. All we can do to lead a life of significance is be indebted to those around us. Choose to sacrifice our own needs and wants at times for others'. We may not get a standing ovation in an auditorium but to someone we will leave a mark in their memory that is just as significant as Carnegie Hall or a Kennedy Center Honor. Our servanthood will live on for generations in the memory of those we serve.

Be significant to someone!

jamie