SETTLING IN... at work (Part 107g)

Trish packed up the folders for me to take home and I never looked at them until I got there. After supper I took my first look and one of the first things I noticed was that the files for the officers of the bank were missing. After thinking about it for a minute or two it made sense. I wasn’t an officer so there was no reason for me to see what they made. I think the only one I was truly interested in was J J. I had no idea what anyone made so, with him being the newest employee as well as an officer, I was curious to see what they were paying him compared to what I was making. I would have to wait.

A while back I mentioned that I’d been given permission to start on the job description project. For my area it hadn’t taken long but when I started with the people in the mortgage department on the second floor I recognized that it would be a lot harder. It had taken me two days to get only two people. I decided (with permission) to ask each of the ladies to write out just what they did in their job. My idea was to take that information, try and digest what they thought their job was, discuss it with J J and then write the descriptions. It had been slow going getting their input. The fact was that I had my hands full doing my every day work and I hadn’t pushed them on it. However, that night, after I started on the personnel files, I wished that I’d finished it before taking this on.

Initially, I hadn’t meant to focus on salaries. After looking through about half of the files I became concerned because there was such a wide range of salaries among people who, on the surface, appeared to be doing similar jobs. Not only that but I found that some of the newer employees were making the same or more than people who had three of more years of experience at the bank. The discovery really bothered me... so much so that I went WAY beyond what I’d intended to do. It was about 3am when I finally quit. I’d made up a number of different charts to show the disparity. It bothered me so much that I couldn’t sleep because I didn’t know what to do with my discovery and yet I knew it needed to be brought to the surface.

I actually had created the pro forma of the roster of employees and filled in about ten of them so it was ready for Hobie and Trish when I walked in. But I had all the other material as well. I was particularly concerned about one of the people I had interviewed for the job description project. She had been with the bank for going on eleven years and held, from what she told me, a very important responsibility. One of the people who was clearly under her, as far as responsibility, had but five years with the bank and yet was making almost the same amount. In my mind, it just wasn’t right and I wanted to do something to bring it to light... but I didn’t know how. I’d only been there for a little over two months and I was actually amazed at how much responsibility I’d been given in that time. Hobie had been receptive to many of my ideas and suggestions but none were in the realm of what I had in my hands.

The pro forma was accepted pretty much as I had designed it. Trish did made some columnar changes to make it easier for her. Hobie was busy so didn’t spend any real time reviewing it but said that it looked good. Armed with that positive feedback I spent the rest of the day waiting for an opportunity to chat with Hobie about my "discovery". He was a hard person to ”read“ and, by the time the doors closed to the public, I hadn’t detected a positive sign from him. Almost at the same time J J walked up to my desk. Even though I’d known him for less than two weeks I could see that he had someting on his mind.

When he started he was given a desk in the general work area of the mortgage department. He sat there complaining that it was an impossible situation. He couldn’t interview prospective customers with any privacy and he wanted to know what he should do. I gave him one of the looks that Trish would sometimes give me only I added words... ”What the hell do you think I can do? You’re an officer!“ His response was something along the lines of ”I sure don’t feel like one.“ Then he went on complaining that he didn’t have a secretary. I definitely remember laughing. I pointed at Trish and told her that the three of us on the platform shared her. I asked him if he’d paid any attention to Lena, that she was shared by both Bert and Edgar. I liked the guy but I was beginning to question his common sense.

After having said that I honestly don’t know why I brought up the salary disparity discovery with him. I will say this... it did get him off his own soapbox. Because there was absolutely no privacy on the platform I suggested we go upstairs to the small conference room. I showed him the salary comparisons and it was easy to see he was concerned as well. I told him that I didn’t know where to go with it explaining that I’d ”pushed“ to get some of my suggestions acted upon and I was afraid that I’d end up hurting myself if I ”pushed“ on this. He leaned back in his chair and told me that if it was going to be accepted at all I was going to have to ”carry the mail“. I was the one to find it and I had to be the one to pursue it. He said that if it was rejected or ignored that at least I could sleep knowing that I'd done my best. And then, in what was to become typical J J, he looked around and said the room we were in would make a perfect office for him, completely changing the subject. And to finish it off he said he wanted the newest hire into the department, Lynne, to be his secretary. As we walked out of the room I was energized as to what I should do but was shaking my head when it came to J J.

To be continued...