Year-end Review Levels Announced

Widgets Corp LLC, Inc. has changed the ranking system for the 7th consecutive year. "We feel like we really got it right this time," said Jennifer Smith, Human Resources Director. "Then again, we thought we were close three years ago but have had to make changes ever since."

The internal announcement stated employees will be rated on a scale from 1 to 3. Reporters later found out that there are six levels: 1, 1.5, 1.7, 2, and 3. When asked why the levels aren't whole numbers, Smith told reporters, "Being last is bad enough but getting a 5 would be embarrassing!" It seems they are trying hard to continue the idea that "All Widgets Are Winners".

Unfortunately, not all employees are even eligible for the highest rating. After reading the details, reporters discovered:
- Level 1: completely unattainable
- Level 1.5: only eligible to the owner
- Level 1.7: only for those in the Human Resources Department
- Level 2: highest rating eligible for employees
- Level 3: lowest rating eligible for employees

When asked why HR gets their own level, Smith said, "Well we are the geniuses who created this whole thing."

Then a reporter pointed out that this means nearly all the employees only have a possible rating of 2 or 3. Smith retorted, "Yeah, we tried to keep this process simple."


Written by John Garrett

Work-Life Balance Plan Fails

In what has become known as the "Seward's Folly" of Corporate America, Widgets Corp LLC, Inc. admitted that the Work-Life Balance propaganda has led to the demise of the company. "It ends up that we gave them a choice, and the professionals actually chose 'life' over work," said a disappointed Cara Lewis, Widgets spokesperson. "We thought that they would surely choose work." The other companies are busy using this to their advantage. "Those silly fools. I cannot believe that the leadership would even give them a choice," said Brian Jenkins, spokesperson for Thingamabob, Widgets' biggest competitor. "The only choice our people get are work or live out on the streets. There is no question that work is your life and life is your work. That is how it should be at an institution like this." Many Widgets employees were leading the cause for the choice of 'life'. Richard Graffis, known for being a slacker, was not surprised to hear others prefer his evil ways. He told reporters that "it is about time that everyone else started working only 5 hours a day and then hitting the bars." Norm Tabler, having a reputation as a serious workaholic, was persuaded to choose 'life' by his peers. "I did not even know what this 'life' stuff was until I actually tried it. To tell you the truth, it was pretty fun and I think I'll try some more of it later this week." Cara Lewis stated that "Widgets is in the process of fixing the errant decision as quickly as possible". All professionals should expect to see the "Work-Life Balance Plan" to be replaced by the "What are you working on? Plan", hence taking away the choice of 'life'.


Written by John Garrett

Hallway Salutations Get Awkward

As Dave Gilbertson walks around the Widgets Corp LLC, Inc. corporate office, he tries to be friendly to each employee he passes. But after seeing Michelle Wolf six times yesterday, Dave was running out of things to say. "I used up all the greetings I could think of," Dave told reporters. "I really didn't know what else to say to her."

After using the standard lines 'hello', 'what's up?', 'how ya doin' and even 'howdy', Dave resorted to another language with 'bonjour'. "It's a good thing I saw that Olsen twins movie Passport to Paris," he said before quickly adding, "Wait, that last part is off the record."

Dave had a feeling he would run into Michelle again so he used Yahoo! Answers to research creative ways to say hello. That is where he discovered the line 'you smell fantastic'. "Yeah, that was the first one I saw so that was the only one that stuck in my head," Dave admitted. "I guess I should have stuck to 'hi'."

Human Resources has since announced that Michelle will not be punished for giving Dave a black eye.


Written by John Garrett

IT Director Locked Out of System

IT Director Peter King forgot his password Monday morning and is still locked out of the system four days later. The WindowsXP security settings allow users three incorrect entries before requiring a new password. Unfortunately, King is responsible for resetting passwords when employees are locked out and there doesn't seem to be a backup plan in place. "I guess we never really thought about it happening to me," King admitted. "I've been calling our vendor for three days but they haven't been much help. We should have sprung for the upgraded support package."

When asked why they don't seem to have the same problem, other Widgets Corp LLC, Inc. employees stated, "I never forget mine because I just change the number at the end," said Jim Alger, who is using Password7 right now. "By the time I get to 9, I'm able to use the number 1 again". A bewildered VP, who asked to remain anonymous, added, "Why doesn't he just write in on a post-it note under his keyboard like everyone else?"

Peter King commented that he doesn't recommend writing your password on a post-it note. It's also safe to assume that he doesn't recommend getting locked out of the system.


Written by John Garrett