Getting out of the rut (Part 2)

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article here about people taking control of their working lives. We all need to work, the bills will not pay themselves and work is actually quite good for you. However, it should not be at “any” cost and in my opinion, there should be a healthy balance between work and life, especially family life and even more importantly, relationships with children.

I often wonder how many people dread the clock going off in the morning, as they face another day “at the mill”. My own dad was a truck driver and as we were growing up, he was away a lot of the time. In later years he often commented on how much he missed out on and how much he regretted not being around more. He was lucky however in having plenty of grand-children to keep him busy during his retirement and he loved the role of being a “second time dad”.

Over the last few years and especially since the recession, work patterns in Ireland have changed greatly. The traditional 9 to 5 job is slowly giving way to shift work, night work and even weekend work. Terms and conditions are a shadow of what they once were, with little gems such as zero hour contracts, split shifts, flexibility and whatever employers will come up with next. As I said before, those employers hold all the aces and they are not one bit afraid to use them.

A few years ago, the Irish government introduced an initiative to assist people in finding jobs. The initiative was called “Jobsbridge” and despite what the critics will say, I actually think it was a good idea. Through Jobsbridge, an unemployed person, in receipt of social welfare, took a job, where they were paid an extra €50 per week. They picked up training on vital skills, got themselves back into a work environment and got routine back into their lives. If a person found themselves in a job that they didn’t like, the door was open; they could move on and try something else. Employers on the other hand gained as well. They got an opportunity to see if a person was suitable for a role and if they were as good as they purported themselves to be. In lots of cases, people who entered Jobsbridge actually got full time jobs and in some cases, the initiative actually worked.

However, this is Ireland and as usual, some people saw Jobsbridge as a handy way of saving a few quid. Nothing can be straightforward in Ireland, be assured of that and there will always be somebody looking to cash in on things. Jobsbridge was manna from heaven to unscrupulous employers, where they could get people to do jobs, for €50 per week. As I said in an earlier article, many of them were afraid to waste a good recession. Every job that was advertised, from factories, hotels, bars and supermarkets, was through Jobsbridge. Instead of looking at a person’s education or qualifications, entry criteria were “being in receipt of social welfare”. The entire system was ripe for easy pickings and with 13% of an unemployment rate; there was no shortage of fruit. Needless to say, Jobsbridge failed miserably as it was slated by politicians and the public which it was meant to help, turned against it in their droves. Once again, certain sections of Irish business put greed at the top of their list and capitalised on the misfortune of others. Not like that ever happened before, right?

So, what opportunities are available for Irish workers? Can they better themselves? Can they find a way into a better job, without being exploited? Is there such a thing as a job that fits in around a person’s life, instead of it being the other way round? The answer is yes, there is and it’s much more available than you think.

Last Friday, I qualified from an adult education programme with a QQI Level 5 Major award in E-Business and Administration. Throughout the last 10 months, I have committed myself to the course, with one thing on my mind, to better myself, make myself more employable, to build my confidence and to prove that I am capable of a lot more than I previously thought. I have sat in a classroom with people much younger than me and I have thrived on the energy and positivity. I have made great friends and loved every moment of it. I was shown how to build a website from scratch, I’ve been instructed on Sage Book-Keeping software, how to use MS Word and Excel properly, how to complete assignments on time and to certain standards. It doesn’t stop there, as I was encouraged to do more such as looking at media as a potential way forward in my life. The high point for me was a two week stint in our local radio station Tipp FM, where I was given access to their entire social media presence and encouraged to work on it.

My end of the bargain was just to turn up every day, work hard, commit myself to the project and strive to achieve the best results I was capable of. Every conceivable assistance I could think of was provided to me and I would want for nothing. The facilitators were available 24/7 and the tutors were at my beck and call. Every question, query and suggestion I had was listened to and either expanded upon or improved upon. I did well, with distinctions in all modules and I am most definitely much more employable now, than I was 12 months ago. I have the skills to look towards doing what “I” want to do in my working life and wherever I go from now, “I” will hold a lot more of the aces.

We hear a lot in Ireland that there are no options available to people and that there is no hope. Lots of people actually go into a job every morning and they just wish for the day to end. On the other hand, there are lots of people out of work, who can’t see the woods for the trees. Some people face the unemployment office to “sign on” and it drains their strength and saps their will to improve. They feel useless, that they have failed themselves or their families, especially their children. It doesn’t have to be that way. Work should compliment life and it should provide a happy equilibrium for a person, where they can balance their private life with paying their bills.

So, what can people do? Courses like mine are available all the time and are done with one end goal, to prepare people to do better for themselves and to make themselves more employable. The single most important asset any company will have, is its people.

So, with that in mind, I would encourage everybody to look into the possibility of an adult education programme and you just never know what the future may hold.

For me, it’s now time to begin paying back the investment that Ireland has spent on me. I would love to work in media, writing, website marketing or administration. Not bad for a 52 year old, who never bothered with college.

Getting out of the rut (Part 1)

You read a lot in Ireland about the lack of opportunities for people. Every time you open the newspapers, you will read of how people are losing hope, how the future is bleak and how they find it hard to see light at the end of the tunnel. It can come in a variety of forms, such as unemployment, but it can also happen to people who ARE in employment. It may be caused by substance abuse or alcohol or by one of the biggest crises’ to face Ireland in recent years, mental health.

Personally, I believe that many of our current problems in Ireland were caused by the so called good times that we enjoyed at the early part of this century. Many people lost the run of themselves during those times and will count the cost for a long time to come. I refuse to call it an “economic boom” because it wasn’t. It was lunacy, driven by power obsessed people, continuously telling us that all was great. It was nonsense, where Irish people were judged by the registration number of their car or how big their house was.

I can distinctly remember walking through the Whitewater Shopping centre in Newbridge, Co Kildare, back in 2006. A young saleslady approached me in her highest heels, wearing the shortest skirt and the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. Before I had time to think, she launched into her sales talk about whether or not I fancied buying an apartment in some part of Eastern Europe. I will always remember my answer to her “I’ll try to pay for the house I have here in Ireland first”. She looked at me in disgust, like I was a weirdo and if there had ever been the slightest chance of the two of us eloping together; they were well and truly scuppered. This was the lunacy and the madness that went rampant in Ireland

As Irish people, we became something we never were, we became snobs and a class system was formed. It gave rise to the working “class”, the middle “class” and of course, the upper “class”. Watch any news programme and at some stage, a reporter will speak of somebody as coming from a particular class of area. Personally, I find it disgusting and as an Irish person, it has never settled well with me.

Many people were left behind, as Irish people clamoured to borrow more money, to be better than their neighbour, or incredibly, to gamble on such madness as the stock market. The reverberations of the lunacy will be felt for generations to come and it will be spoken about in schools and colleges of the future. Books will be written about the subject.

Mortgages, one of the biggest financial undertakings any person can make, went from the normal 20 or 25 years, to a ridiculous 35 or even 40 years. Parents went as guarantor for their children, in an effort to get a roof over their heads.  People that worked hard their entire lives to create some sort of life for themselves were back to square one again. There are couples today, who will retire “before” their mortgage is paid off.

However, the lunacy came to an abrupt end and despite our leaders assuring us of a soft landing, the carnage and the fall out was substantial. The same newspapers, which had previously run a property supplement on Thursday’s, now ran a supplement on how to cope with financial stress and the address and telephone numbers for your local MABS office.

People who were lucky enough to hold onto their jobs faced a much different future, as previous terms, conditions and perks were changed. Some companies began a consultation and negotiation process, others took a “take it or leave it” approach and while people still had their pay packets on a Thursday evening, the job that they were lucky to have, quickly became a shadow of its former self. One commentator made a very good comment on the radio one day when he said that “a lot of companies are afraid to waste a good recession”.

In the words of Bruce Springsteen, “Bad times on Wall Street mean hard times on main street”

I worked for a company for well over half my life. Over generations, some of the best terms and conditions anywhere in the country were negotiated between management and unions. It would have been regarded as one of the best companies in the country to work for, thanks to hard negotiations over those generations. Fire and brimstone would have been the best way to describe those talks, with both sides claiming victory. Everything from a week’s bonus at Christmas, summer placements for college students, a company doctor and acceptable pay increases, gave employees a sense of achievement and something to aim for. The company benefited too, with much higher productivity, good staff morale and very low staff turnover. It was a bloody good company to work for and we had great times there. Many local families were glad to see it going from strength to strength and the company was considered one of the best in town to work for. “If you get in there, you’re made for life” was the feeling throughout the area. The company was regularly making profits of +€100 million.

I returned a few years later, albeit for a very short time, to help out through a transitional period. I was stunned to see that practically every single one of those terms and conditions had been given away, with the gun being put to people’s heads. The company has consistently pleaded poverty, but profits have rarely fallen below €100 million in any year. Last year, the company still posted profits of €95.4 million, despite issues like Brexit and some poor business decisions. The people in the boardroom make decisions, the people in the staffroom suffer the consequences. I would describe morale as under the floor somewhere. The place that I once felt pride in was long gone and it was a shadow of what it once was. I thought of management and staff, people much better than me, who had created a fine, vibrant, successful company and it had come to this. For me, I thought I’d never got out of the bloody place. I learned a valuable lesson however, always go forwards, NEVER go backwards.

Foreign companies have come into Ireland, bringing with them a new way of doing things. Zero hour contracts, low wages, irregular hours and an insistence that the job comes secondary to people’s families and their welfare have become the new norm. Simple things like arranging time off to be with your children or to support them at their school concert, have become something to bargain for. Getting that few hours off, will be used against you at a later stage, an example being “we granted you the time off to attend a parent teacher meeting last month, so you owe us”.

We have become a country obsessed with giving our all to the company. Employers hold all the cards and they are not afraid to play them. Having a job is nearly seen as something you should get down on your knees and thank people for. The very fabric of a person’s existence seems to be based on their job.

Me, I don’t think it should be that way. I believe that a proper job should fit nicely side by side with a person’s private life. I believe that a job should come secondary to family, in particular children and while I believe that a person has a duty to work hard and do their best, a balance needs to be formed.

This balance can be formed, but a person needs to hold more of the aces, make themselves more employable, up-skill themselves and make themselves a person that an employer will “want” to keep, not somebody to be used at their every whim.

In two weeks time, I will finish up on what I consider one of the best things I have ever done in my life. I am now empowered with a lot of knowledge, I’m much more employable, I have enjoyed working in a radio station which I loved every microsecond of, I have made some great friends and I will hold a major qualification, which is no mean feat for a person my age.

In part 2, during the week, I’ll take a look at what I think are some of the options available to people, to better themselves, just as I have done and put the cards firmly back in their own hands, where they should be,

 

 

 

Are legends born or are they created?

If you spoke to any of the people I grew up with and asked them the following question “Who was the most hopeless person on the sports field”, I can guarantee you that my name would be mentioned. While I must admit they were different times, back in the 1970’s and 1980’s, I had one opinion of sport; I hated it. You see, I had a good reason for not liking it or having any interest in it. I tried to play the sports, but I was no good. I had no ability, no skill, not prepared to go in “where it hurts”.  My feeling was, if my opponent wanted the ball that much, he could have it.

Over the last few years, I have taken up cycling, not competitively; I’m not good enough, so I just participate for leisure and in an attempt to mind my health. Cycling is a little different to most sports, as your biggest competitor is yourself and your head. When you reach the bottom of a really steep hill, the first thing that enters your mind is “this is going to hurt” or “is it too hard for me”. Once you get over a hill once, it loses its invincibility and you lose the fear of it. The next time, you tell yourself that “I’ve done this before I can easily do it again”. This time, you try to get over the hill faster, competing against yourself. However, make no mistake, you are a novice, a beginner and you lack that spark, that piece of genius, that X factor that an elite athlete will possess. Sure, you can complete the Wicklow 200 or the Sean Kelly Tour, but rest assured, team Sky won’t be calling you any time soon.

At this time of year, people like me for instance will set a target, or a goal for the year ahead. My target is in Wicklow, on June 10^th and it promises to be the toughest day I’ve ever done. It’s going to take huge amounts of work to complete the route, bear in mind my words here, complete the route.

There is a video on YouTube of a bike race in Ireland last year. In the video, one of the best cyclists in the country, Mark Dowling, the eventual race winner is shown as he ascents the Nire Valley in Co Waterford. The same road is used by amateurs and no hopers alike, as a regular training route, but Mark gives a perfect reflection of the difference between a person of his calibre and the rest of us. Even the people in the car following behind are in awe of his talent and strength. There are very few people that would have that same ability, no matter how hard they trained. So, what makes the difference between people like Mark and the rest of us?

(Image Copyright http://www.cahirmedia.com)

This very question came up in a conversation with a very good friend recently. My friend is among the elite of sports people. He is extremely talented, focused, committed and very competitive. He has represented his country on numerous occasions and is held in very high regard among his peers. He is also one hell of a nice person and as the old saying goes, “he would be the first man over the top and many more would follow him”.

My friend trained hard as a child, looked after himself and followed instruction. He is now reaping the rewards for his hard work and it couldn’t happen to a more genuine and nicer person.

So, before this turns into an appreciation society meeting for my friend or a hard luck story for me, the question is this. “Is there such a thing as natural talent or god given ability? Alternatively, if a person is totally committed to something, can they excel on the same stage, relying on hard work and a will to win, without that natural talent?” Is ability in the genes and what makes elite people just that, elite?

My own opinion is no. I believe that there has to be that special spark that makes a person unique. As a child for example, I was a reasonably okay singer and now, as an adult, I’m still a reasonably okay singer. Would I be capable of winning X Factor or headlining on the international stage? Of course not and I don’t believe that any amount of coaching or training would change that. Every now and then, you turn on the radio or television and you hear a person singing and you just know that they have that edge and possess that god given talent that people like me don’t.

Now, I’m sure that there are exceptions to the rule, but they are very much the minority. How many times have you heard a commentator speak of a person that they saw as a child and now, excelling on the big stage.  Many top sports teams and clubs employ scouts all over the world, looking out for the next Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Maradona. These people only come around once in a while and they all hope that they can be there to find them.

For the rest of us, all we can hope is to admire, gasp in awe at their talent and in our dreams maybe, in some small way, emulate them. That’s about all however, the chances of it happening are very rare.

In the meantime, people like me will slog away, do our best and struggle. Our lack of natural abilities will assure us that the best we can hope for is to survive and live to fight another day. The person with the natural ability will take it in their stride and make it look easy.

As I finish the last line in this, Irish rugby player Jonathan Sexton has single handedly won a match against France, for his country, with the last kick of the game. Pure genius and ability, that few people have. Kicking a wet ball over the bar, from 42 meters on a wet pitch is pretty much incredible.

And that is why people like him have that X Factor, that something special.