Working in an organization serving the public I find that the relationship with customers is increasingly difficult. An interview can quickly escalate and violence is becoming more common.

I made it again the sad experience just yesterday afternoon. A client comes to home and his arrival in the waiting room clear (loudly) his nervousness. The home agent leads him into the office and immediately he verbally assaulted. I'll spare you all the names of birds which he dons the unfortunate, even to lend him a sideline in the oldest profession in the world if you know what I mean.

Very quickly the tone rises in decibels but it is also climbing in the subject. After the insults, insults come threats to attack the material but also to the person. Sensing the situation and escape in a burst of caution, the agent calls me to the rescue in my capacity as branch manager. So we face a whole new burst of inappropriate and threatened. Keep calm, do not show fear, try to reason with the aggressor ... and call in desperation forces police days longer than three quarters of an hour later, too late!

After the client left, slamming the door, the voltage drops and it is laminated as one leaves the office . What time is it? How much time has passed? We do not know anything because during the confrontation time is suspended. Now we debrief, reassure the home agent and staff, answering questions from the police finally arrived.

Read more ...

I can not believe it, 1 January 2012 I can seek the great gold medal of work! This honorary medal will reward 40 years of loyal service in some companies, especially the last one that I use for almost 38 years.

So we start in working life and the prospect of long years of work, especially now that the age of retirement declined, appears as an endless road ahead. And here one fine day we find ourselves at the end of the course without having finally found the way as long as that. Although he was sometimes treacherous but there was also a good time and this is one of those only who is remembered.

I have known young recruits like me who said they would not last long in the business, it was a passage before you can actually work to which they aspired. Yet these colleagues are always there by my side, less fiery and more happy to have finally managed to keep their jobs and have escaped unemployment .

Did you know that the medal of honor of the work was created in 1948 to reward seniority and service to the company by the employee? Loyalty was considered a virtue and it should not have been more than three employers. The latter condition was removed. All categories of employees are eligible despite the French motto "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity." What about equality?

Read more ...

Hard to believe that my four weeks of vacation are already up. Despite a weather capricious, not ideal in July, I did not see the time pass.

The first two weeks I still feel that long ago that I left my home and it's a bit like time suspended its flight. Then the second part of the holidays, it's rather as if it was accelerating and I find myself counting down the days with the anguish of the recovery.

Instead of taking advantage of these last moments of freedom, I begin to rethink and anxious to work. And so Monday morning we'll have to get up early, take public transportation, be stuck with the day's work and follow up with the shopping, cooking ... well the daily grind.

Soon the holidays will fade and a few days after recovery they will be just a memory. Fortunately the nostalgia of those, too, will soon give way to optimism. I will enjoy this August where life moves in slow motion. The city will be deserted and quiet I'll want to stroll. I will do my shopping in supermarkets where the crowd will be less dense than usual and I will devote less time.

The midday lunch break, will be outside. Ah the sandwich eaten on a bench will not have the same flavor as when swallowed quickly to the corner office! I'll try to go early to enjoy the sun and why not dine on the terrace to extend the holiday feeling.

Read more ...

Sunday we will celebrate May 1. This year we will not have a day off for Labor Day, 2011 is not a good year for employees. Employees who work in compensation will be paid double this holiday.

As usual the various unions and political parade will follow their lead. On the banners the protesters assert greater purchasing power and job security. For some, like the other, participation in this gathering will be a test. A new assessment of the number of participants diverge between unions and the police, it is also a tradition.

Meanwhile the florists will be busy around bouquets of lily of the valley. Compete for sales of which benefit individuals, for that one day, a tolerance, they enliven the single strand of a thrush pink and transparent paper. Husbands and children go early to buy the lucky bunch.

Read more ...

Bag lunch

Lunch at work, finally on the run as they say commonly, does not necessarily mean a choice. The lack of canteen, distance from home or during limited hours we sometimes require.

In this situation eat a healthy and balanced is not always obvious and requires a little ingenuity. Lasse rubbery sandwiches from the corner convenience stores, small salads in their trays topped with orange sauce and their age-old did not like too go alone to the restaurant, I finally found the solution.

Opportunely flipping through the catalog presents loyalty U stores , I spotted and purchased with my points, what they call the lunch bag. This clever little cooler incorporates three insulated boxes that go from freezer to microwave (through the dishwasher). One box contains a sealed bag that is put to chill.

The frozen bag is deposited on a grid in one of the boxes, the bottom remains usable. Cold is distributed throughout the cooler. The other two boxes can be compartmentalized or not with a removable bin. The closure system wisely called "Lock & Lock" guarantees a perfect seal.

So now I can cook a full meal: salad, main dish to be reheated in the microwave, dessert or fruit. I am not afraid of breaking the cold chain and I can vary my meals.

Read more ...

Many companies, including one that employs me proudly display the logo of the AFAQ , a symbol that the company is committed to quality and customer satisfaction.

For those who do not know what that means? First terms barbarians (I know who it's going back memories): process, procedures, or PDCA continuous improvement loop. There are drivers of processes and activities, reviews and audits.

They are feared even if we are always hearing that the listener does not expect that you invent hot water. "You are as usual." My eye! You still have to store documentation and handwritten personal notes whose reliability is not proven, namely consult the basis of monitoring indicators, explain the color of the arrows, describe the trend.

Smilies are green, whew the listener is not going to tickle. Ouch, this one is the mouth and turned red. Why? What are you doing? The questions raised by the auditor, which ordinarily you would answer without firing a shot, you plunge into disarray. Yet you know nothing but to make you get stuck in muddy explanations. A great moment of solitude!

At the end of the morning when the listener starts again, you're drained. And customers in all this, as it is for them after all that we are fencing, are doing better? I confess that I sometimes doubt it when I talk to some agencies who hold the coveted yet. The speeches are stereotyped, timed exchange times but the answers not always appropriate.

I just spent an audit, yes I got the brass ring and it fell on my service. Before the final exam I briefed people, taking them the same speech reassuring to de-stress, secretly hoping that no gap or nerve would be found in my area.

Read more ...

To introduce a person to someone, in other words to make the presentations there are some basic rules to know to avoid making odd.

We present a man to a woman and not vice versa, the youngest to oldest, to the Head of Service. There is no question of presenting the director to the young recruit who just landed in the company .

The person serving as an intermediary in a presentation do not point the finger at the man or woman wants to present it by giving his name but this gesture sketch discreetly.

By analogy is always the man who greets the woman, the youngest who says hello first, and so on. Should I specify the newly introduced person must not show himself familiar, familiarity is anyway to ban in all circumstances. You may think that these rules are of another age and they have no purpose. Imagine yourself in a meeting where you know only the organizer. If it does not play its role you are likely to get bored. However if you present to some people it allows you to integrate more easily.

When you present a person it is customary to declare themselves delighted. A "fortunately (x) is to make your acquaintance is also perfect. If, due to an oversight or due to too many guests you have not been presented, you can do yourself. In professional life you will often be forced to do so.

Read more ...

Pension funds at risk

Even though I did not particularly look forward to being in retirement , then it's more that I did not particularly want to grow old, I start to worry reforms that threaten the current regime.

Who began working at age 18, at 60 I comptabiliserai 42 years of contributions which is already quite a lease right? This reform if it is indeed inevitable, having already been delayed too, to ensure the sustainability of the PAYG system, must start my "humble" opinion by a readjustment of all plans.

How can we still ask for additional efforts to employees of the general system by maintaining parallel systems and unequal? How are there so categories of French? Some leave at age 50, others 55 and others 60. So before you push the retirement age to 61, 62 years or more, let us begin by making from everyone at the same age.

I'm not talking about fairness between the different calculation methods: pension calculated on the last 6 months to 25 years and some for others. It goes without saying that those in the second category are significantly disadvantaged with a smoothing wages over 25 years given the starting salaries, periods of learning ...

And best of all compensation arrangements between to balance the books of special diets , is to ask for money in the general plan to bail out plans that offer the best guarantees for their members. Find the mistake! As well ask a smicard to contribute to give money to his boss, who lives above his means.

Read more ...

For several weeks the ballots weather report of heavy snowfall and images of television news is not without recalling the winter sports that I loved so much.

Snowy road

Parade before our eyes dazzled landscapes postcards quickly swept by the problems generated. For he must admit the snow in the city is far from possessing the same charm as in the mountain resorts.

Poor truck drivers stranded along roads away from home, unhappy villagers awaiting refueling shivering in their homes without heat or electricity, reckless motorists who find themselves in a ditch ... only children are having a field day in battle snowball.

This is an anxious eyes that I watch my weather station, wondering already on Sunday to see if I can easily reach my work the next day.

Read more ...

Sustainable development has made a grand entrance at the company where I work and first results are quite encouraging. Like any business that employs many people and uses a lot of micro computers , paper consumption was exponential.
Fad or collective awareness, after all, no matter, the results are there and that's what's important to motivate the troops to continue efforts.

Action plans were initiated and carried by the corresponding sustainability affectionately called by colleagues DD. On consumption of paper first, they encouraged the limitation of printing and the use of the duplex feature too often forgotten. No question of throwing the paper, this material has found its pedigree, but rather the maximum use of using outdated documents as a draft. And end of life, the draft takes the path of the mills, requires confidentiality, and finally collected by the Maple Leaf . This association plays an important economic role in the Rennes region by employing permanent employees and fixed term contract, a social role through vocational rehabilitation and ecological role by providing waste collected for recycling in paper mills specialized in the area.

Water consumption was also in the viewfinder and dual flush flow are being installed. To save energy, simple measures such as self adhesive labels with the words "do not forget to turn off the light" affixed to each switch or larger as the replacement of boilers at progressively less by boilers consumers or the windows with double glazing had a real impact.

Also in the sights, car travel for meetings or conferences. The current technology such as video conferences are maximized to the limit. Bicycles were purchased and made ​​available to employees free of charge. Read more ...