How do you tell...

[SteveL]

Your employer you're worn out?? My average work week in about
55 hours, and while the OT is nice in the bank, the effects on
this "getting old", in a hurry, man are becoming a bit of a
concern to SWMBO. Being the company Maintenance Geek, My direct
supervisor is the Facilities Director. Well, to tell the truth,
He is a bit of a moron...

Maybe I should start "At The Beginning"...

10 years ago, I was working for myself, and SWMBO gave me an
ultimatum. Quit working for yourself, or I'm walking. My first
question was, of course, "Why". Because You're an A$$hole, You don't
take days off, You get the jobs done before they need to be,
and you haven't taken a day off for 2 years. Oh, you're right
I need to work for someone else... This is where my older
brother enters the picture, his SO tells him I'm on the job
market, she found out from Rockette that I was closing my
business down, and was looking for work. I had a marvelous
3 day vacation and he calls, has a little project, 3 weeks tops...
That was ten years ago, Now he's not the FD, He's the Distribution
Center Manager, who used to take care of the Facilities
department. Now our bean counters decided that we should have
a guy that "Knows Facilities Management". Unfortunately, he's
never worked in a distribution center, he has no clue about
how the DC works, and how much labor it takes to keep it working.
So my quandary is getting the point across to this twerp, I
need a vacation, and have just over 244 hours accrued, and I'd
like to take it all in one shot...

 

[tony barnhill]

244/40=6+ weeks....helluva vacation!!

 

[Dave Richards]

I am a principal in my own firm and have held upper echelon positions in very large firms, alternately managing between approximately 10 and 100 people.

Follow company procedure, published, or not, for requesting a vacation. It's probably not in their best interest for you to ask for, or take, a six-week vacation. Two weeks is something more reasonable and probably long enough to restore some of your sanity. (Which I would question anyway, since you belong to this forum and hence have an un-natural obsession with LBC's)

Even if your boss complains, there's no venue for it, he'll look silly to his "superiors" (in the firm's organization, not the mentally superior ones) for complaining and he's going to get something of a real clue of how much work you really do while you are gone. He may even appreciate you more when you are back.

After that I'd take regular one week vacations, and a few days off here and there to keep the SO happy, 'cause when momma ain't happy, nobody's happy.

You should also consider limiting your OT to something around 5-7 hours on average, after that there is a collective diminishing return on your productivity and a cumulative dissatisfaction that is contributing to your feelings of 'burn-out' another contributing factor is working for someone whom you believe is incompetent. You might want to consider a new position, either within, or outside your current firm.

Let us know how you make out.

 

[vping]

Started low on the totem pole and worked my way up to being one of the two top guys in my company. Been there for 12 years and worked 50-60 a week since day one. Hourly to salary didn't matter, I work a lot. Under my direction company has grown from 8 to 70 employees and I know the majority of it is from me. I believe in team spirit and I could not have done it without the team but the reality of it was that my boss was well off because of me.
During the course of my working there I took little time off not missing a day in about 7 years. The more I delegated the better it seemed to get but this allowed us to grow and take on more work. There is only so much 1 person can do and my job involved so many aspects of the daily operations that I could not do it any more. This did not sit well with me as I am a very work oriented person and when things go wrong, I beat myself up over it because that is not how I operate, ever.
I finally had enough and told me boss plain out, if something does not change, I'm walking. Mind you I have 3 kids a huge mortgage and a hobby that is finally starting to make me happy. Also keep in mind that the relationship I once had with my kids & SWMBO was suffering.
Well about 3 weeks ago at my weekly lunch meeting with the boss, he lets me know that I will no longer be head of Production, but head of engineering.
I was in charge of 3 team leaders and 40 employees and now I am in charge of 3 Graphics artists. I trained someone to do my job and we are about 85% there.
My job still keeps me busy and I still run all over the plant getting things done but the stress is less, pay is the same and I am happier.
I now have lunch with my wife once a week, I take each of my kids to breakfast once a week for special time one on one with them and tings are going well.

I say you just give it a shot and tell them. I had and still have a lot to lose but I was turning 40, always worried about if I could take a day off, worked hurt or sick, my heart was giving me trouble which was all stress related, I was distancing myself from my wife & kids......

Health and happiness is the most important thing in like and should never be taken for granted. I'd downsize & sell all of my material things if I needed to in order to be happy & healthy.

Don't know if this helps any but your post hit real close to home. I would not have known this unless I gave it a shot.

 

[coldplugs]

I've been in the business world for ages as a grunt, manager, and owner/grunt. The most important single thing I learned over the years can be condensed into one word:

<span style='font-family: Courier New'>Communicate</span>

Don't stew over it. Tell the boss what you're thinking. Whatever happens will be an improvement. Usually we regret those things we didn't do, not those we did.

 

[Dave Richards]

To both Vping and Coldplugs, I heartilly concur. You and your family first, work second. Those kids will be grown and gone before you know it and they really don't care about money.

 

[SteveL]

Well, tomorrow at 10:00 am, I have a meeting with my idiot
boss and His boss, who happens to be the COO, and I an a bit
apprehensive as TO how it's going to go. I've written down all
my responsibilities, and normal day to day tasks. With
explanations as to why they need to be done on time, and why
they are scheduled in this manor. The COO is fully aware of
my problem, as is HR, who have been on the "Head Hunt" for
an assistant for me for 2 years, with any luck the HR dept.
head will be sitting in on this meeting. With any luck, I'll
get my point across without insulting anyones intelligence,
but I'll not take any bets on it...

Sorry for the Rant, but I figured someone out there is, or has
been in the same boat...

SteveL

 

[Banjo]

good luck Steve. That's all I can offer. Sounds like a solid defence.

 

[William]

Sorry for the Rant, but I figured someone out there is, or has been in the same boat...

SteveL

Quite all right, Steve. I can sympathise with you on several counts. I too am in a supervisory position and am often in the position of not being able to get my job done, usually due to having to cover for my boss. I don't get much chance of OT, but have been staying late virtually every day for the last three months. Hopefully your boss and his boss are reasonable and can help ease the situation.

And, I have a world-class bad boss. I'm tempted to start a bad-boss thread, in fact!

-William

 

[drooartz]

Good luck, Steve!

 

[vping]

Ditto - Good luck Steve!

 

[AngliaGT]

Steve,

Keep us posted.

- Doug

 

[SteveL]

Well, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be, the HR
manager sat in with my "File" in her hand, and when I said I
need to have an assistant, she asked "Is that why you haven't
taken a vacation for 3 years??" You see, every time I get
ready to take more than 2 days off, some genius comes up with
a project that HAS to be finished in X number of days, and they
want me to do it. And I hate to say No. So the COO looks at
me and asks, "What is the longest period of time you've had off
in the last 3 years?" I said I took the wife to the Daytona 24,
We flew out Friday, flew back Monday... So basicly, a long weekend.

Then there was a lot of discussion about the job, the job market,
qualifications for the position, and salery for the position,
and we all came to the conclusion that none of the kids today
want to work that hard for $12.00 an hour... I explained that
the training for my position takes years, and you can't get
it in any institution of higher learning. To be comfortable
in working in "all" trades takes time. I also stated that I
can train anyone that is willing to learn, as long as they don't
mind sticking their arm down a toilet as part of their job...

Well, we'll see, I have high hopes that I'll get an aid...

SteveL

 

[drooartz]

Glad the discussion went well, Steve. Hope something actually comes of it.

 

[jlaird]

That sounded very positive.

 

[vping]

Squeeky wheel gets the grease!! Good for you man!