Hey everyone! I'm sure that i'm just like most of you and not to familiar with the whole blogging, but i'm going to give it my best shot.

After reading about creating a positive work environment, it took me back to a job I had a couple summers ago.  I decided to move home for the summer becuase i was broke and wanted to enjoy the satisfaction of living for free at home.  I found a job with one of my buddies working for the national distribution center for the car company Volvo. It paid exteremely well and the hours were great so i was pretty excited about starting. 

However, i found out quickly that things werent so great.  First off, all warehouse workers were required to join the UAW or United Auto Workers.  This meant paying monthly dues that came out of my paycheck.  But that was just the tip of the iceberg.  I soon found out that their was major issues between the workers on the floor (me) and management.  The company was not happy with the production of the employees over the last few years and to say the least were fed up with the "union environment".  Our manager, who was up there in age and liked to do things the old fashioned way, was without a doubt the worst boss i have ever had. 

My job title was called a "picker".  Basically, when orders for car parts came in, i would go around the warehose and "pick" whatever parts the customer needed.  Being that it was the national distribution center for all of North America, the orders never stopped.  Management had implemented a set quota that you had to average per week and just like most companies, the quota was almost impossible to reach.  The fact that i was new and just there for the summer did not matter to my boss.  Everyday i thought i might get fired for not making the previous weeks quota.  It became i constant worry for me that I began to hate the job and would have to force myself to show up for work everyday.

There was no such thing as creating a positive work environment for the employees at Volvo.  Management wanted to keep everybody on the edge of their seat to make sure that things were getting done at the pace they saw acceptable.  Most full-time employees i talked to hated their jobs, but didnt want to leave because the pay was so good.  It was the first job that i actually did not care about the pay anymore and just wanted the summer to be over becuase it was so miserable.  For me, they couldnt have paid me enough to work for them full-time.  It was unfortunate to see the divide between management and the floor workers.  The communication lines between both groups was awful and neither side wanted to give the other the upper hand.  What i'm trying to get at is it made me realize how important it is to work for a company that creates a positive work environment for its employees.  I think that giving employees a good enviroment to work in should be at the top of the list.  If companies start there, everything else should fall into place.