Posted on 03/20/2005 by cobolGuy
Viewed: 523 times
The most ridiculous job I ever had.
In the mid 1970s I took a job with Standard Oil (as it was then called, before Amoco, and BP) in the "Ivory Tower" in downtown Chicago, which was and still remains one of the tallest buildings in the world.
I had recently completed a full series of classes on IBM’s IMS database management system, that was then the standard for database systems. The training, plus several years experience with IMS, had provided me a very solid knowledge of IMS, and Standard Oil, which wanted to bring IMS into their shop, was looking for a senior employee to handle their installation and conversion of IMS. I had answered their ad, successfully interviewed for the job, and was now starting my new position.
It turned out that Standard Oil had a VERY unusual management system called HAY Points, and an organization in their systems programming support organization, that sounded good in theory, but was not conducive to actually getting any work done.
With Hay Points, each employee of a bureaucracy has a job description - a few paragraphs that describe the responsibilities of the job. The employee's job description, combined with other factors, such as seniority, is used to determine his or her salary. When the employee is in management, the net affect becomes that no manager wants to let go of ANY RESPONSIBILITY, as that would affect their salary.
I had been hired into Standard’s new planning unit, as the one and only IMS expert. It was a significant increase in salary and responsibility for me. I arrived full of enthusiasm, ready to get moving and really make a strong positive impression. As I soon found out, I should have been hired by their new Operational Support organization, which also had an opening for an experienced IMS systems programmer.
The very simple first step was to unload IMS off of the tapes (about an hour’s work), and then perform an IMS "gen", which actually built the system, and defined it’s environment. This was something I was thoroughly expert at, so I did not anticipate any problems. I expected to do this during my first few days on the job.
I asked how I could unload the tapes, and I was pointed to the Operational Support unit. They told me that they had lots of other work they were doing, and they would not be able to get to the actual unload for a week or two.
A week or two? That was unacceptable, so I asked if I could do it myself. "No" Then I asked if I could assist someone to get this job done. The reply was that they were in the process of searching for an IMS person in their unit, who would work with me, but they did not expect to have anyone on staff for a few weeks.
I tried a compromise. Could I instruct one of their employees in getting the tapes unloaded? They said, "Fine, but we only work the midnight to 8AM shift. You must come then, but you can’t touch the keyboard yourself." (because that would have given up some of their job responsibilities. My last try with my manager was, could I transfer into the Operational Support Unit to fill their open position? The answer of course was "No." as it would have meant giving up some of her job responsibilities, and impact her future salary.
Needless to say, this job did not work out. I stayed with Standard Oil for 5 weeks, until I found a new job. I did get those IMS tapes unloaded, but never completed the IMS gen, and they never did hire their IMS expert in the Operational Support unit while I was there. All was not lost though, as my next job was at an even higher salary and another bump in job grade.
Ms Zeta (11/17/2005)
Thank you for reminding me. After I started a job in 78 I was informed that I would be earning less than listed on the recruitment sheet due to something called the HAY's system. "Surprise" Of course it was like HAY Point meets PETER Principal. It took almost ten years to repair the damage and get the job levels bumped up or down to a realistic pay and duty scale.
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