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I spent 2004-2020 at an employer where I tried cultivating an environment where politeness, respect and decency were valued. It is really simple; treat others how you wish to be treated, but there are complexities to implementation.
Common sense! I hear you cry. Well sadly not; there was an atmosphere of aggression, bullying and being just downright rude. Hence a high staff turn over, especially of those with under 1 year's service.
Gradually over that period I managed to influence others, but the negative influencers were in the majority so it was often a struggle. And as this negative influence was seemingly fostered at Director / Chief Officer level, it probably cost me promotion, bonus and or salary increases.
My biggest success is when I was on the verge of leaving the company, was begged to stay by 3 of the said D/ CO, and I stayed. I got a pay rise despite moving from a management role to, effectively, becoming a trainee.
This was into the team with the worst reputation for macho posturing, bullying and being downright rude, people who seemed to think having a soft calm voice and being polite were signs of weakness.
Me, yep soft calm voice and polite. Weak? In the work place, no.
I've worked fraud and money laundering investigations in places such as Moss Side Manchester, Toxteth Liverpool, Belfast, and as if they weren't dangerous enough off to Latin America, specifically Bogota, Colombia. (Though I'd rate Venezuela as the most dangerous place I've visited)
I'm not big or physically tough, but I am reasonably mentally strong and have a sixth sense for danger.... All of which made me more confident in myself than my colleagues, however much silverback chest beating they did.
My confidence was built on knowledge; I knew the rules, regs, contracts, T & C off by heart. Furthermore I rarely take things personally, even if perhaps sometimes I should. Finally, treat others... Etc.
Simply by being polite I was successful. "But we don't have time to fanny around" - my call stats showed my polite persuasion resulted in shorter and more numerous calls with a greater success rate. No means no, move on to next call!
I gained a nickname "smooth talking assassin" as people felt powerless against politeness and informed logical reasoning, to the extent people were working for me even if contractually they could refuse.
The success was so noticeable my colleagues simply had to copy my style, but was aided by my being able to train a young protege.
This earned me a promotion to dealing with the elite chauffeurs and the "high touch" big money clients, until covid ended out world.
Now I have a new job, slightly different but linked industry and this week I found myself in a position where I had 4 driver vacancies. So, emails, WhatsApp and linked in messages were sent. And got back responses from people I do not (did not) have contact details before in addition to those I did.
The job is zero hours, doesn't particularly pay well but probably suits some of my old chauffeurs, who are wrong side of 65 but aren't quite ready to fully retire yet.
The response though, when word got out I was hiring was humbling, people want to work for me. Those that rejected it because I couldn't guarantee earnings have requested I let them know if I have FT vacancies in the future.
Considering our previous employer effectively ceased to exist over 13 months ago, we've not had contact and these guys are in some form of employment, I honestly feel I have reaped what I've sown.
The Good amongst us may not always come first, but they always bounce back because they've got people who'll do that little bit extra for them..good luck in your future endeavours!
Just one small problem; sell their houses to who, Ben? Fcking Aquaman?
I honestly thought all that rambling about bullying and money laundering in strange and dangerous places was a build up to the punchline that you'd worked at Ipswich Town and things were now the worst they'd ever been
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