Voluntary and mandatory all at once.
We arrived at work this week to be told that we had to take an employee survey about what we think about our workplace and the company as a whole. The survey was your typical bullshit about whether or not we strongly agree or disagree with a series of statements such as “My manager gives me the tools I need to succeed” and “I feel that there is room for me to advance within the company.” Because in a store that doesn’t have any sort of “lead tech” position (aside from the title of Supertech, but I’m sure she’ll tell you it doesn’t come with a pay raise) there’s oh so many promotions that I can get.
What makes this survey such completely and utterly insane is the fact that they’re hyping it as anonymous and voluntary. It’s so voluntary that there is a list of people’s names in the manager’s office that shows who has taken it so far, because the district manager is sending out messages along the lines of “Take the survey, it only takes 5 minutes” (or “minuets” as the note we got read) and it’s gone from a voluntary survey into that gray area between “mandatory survey” and “DO THE DAMNED SURVEY OR I’LL EAT YOUR SOUL.”
Plus, the automated survey system (or THE GIRL, as the old ladies refer to the automated system) must tell you about 15 different times how anonymous your responses are. “No information will be linked to you,” she says in that soothing voice. The recording then proceeds to ask you what your store number is, your job title, how long you have worked for the company, and whether or not you are a full time employee. Let’s see: a full time pharmacy tech who has worked for the company for between 2 and 3 years narrows the choices of employees to… just me.
Let’s hear it for anonymity! 
September 19th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
I wish the title “supertech” came with a raise..lol..oh yeah and my phone sucks it won’t let me pick smileys
September 20th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Well, it may not let you click on them, but just doing a regular smiley will put it in the comment.