Before computers ruled the world, paper was king. A lot of older people are still more comfortable using paper to complete tasks than using computers. But the younger generations know how much time, effort and manpower computers can save.

If you were told to fill out a time card on paper instead of on a computer, would you do it without complaint or would you question why you the organization was still using paper time cards?

In this story, one man is in this situation, and he was willing to comply at first. But the timekeeper’s bad attitude gave him another idea.

Keep reading to see how the story plays out.

pointless paperwork

When I was quite a bit younger, I transferred from a position with a federal agency into a civilian position in a military organization – Civil Engineers – (think a large construction company but with military bosses and some military coworkers).

At the end of my first month, the civilian timekeeper, who was in her late sixties, handed me a bunch of forms to fill out – records of time spent on tasks, hours of work etc. – which should have been filled daily.

Not only that, these forms had long been abandoned by the agency from where I came and, as far as I knew, every other agency in the government.

When I asked why I had to fill them out – pointing out that other agencies didn’t use the forms anymore – I was told, quite snottily, to “just do it” because “we have always done it this way”.

It took a long time to fill out the forms.

OK, I thought, being new to the organization, so I spent about three hours filling out the forms by reviewing my personal records etc.

I handed them back to the timekeeper who, in turn, made a really biting comment, about ” these new young guys wanting to change things” – loud enough for the entire office of civilian support staff to hear (many of whom were in her age group) and which got her a few laughs.

Because the military bosses rotated in/out every two years or so and/or were often deployed, they were very dependent on the civilian staff to keep the place running and knew little about civilian procedures (much less question them) I knew it would be pointless to go to them about the forms and the time wasted every month.

He had an idea that ended up being very effective.

So, I asked, casually, of the civilian HR group (outside section which handled all civilian issues for the entire establishment) if they had ever thought of using computerized time forms instead of the paper forms the Civil Engineers were using? (As a long time federal employee, I knew a direct approach or complaint would cause me some grief.)

My contact was shocked to learn these forms were still being used and, worse still, that the timekeeper’s entire workload was the distribution, collection and filing of these forms.

Soon afterwards, the Engineers had to downsize the civilian workforce and, surprise, surprise, the timekeeper position was the first one put on the chopping block. She was let go soon after the cuts were implemented – but not before she had to arrange for, and supervise the shredding of filing cabinets full of her precious forms.

Now, I may not have questioned the process either had I been told to do daily entry and had gotten a bit of respect…

Her job was irrelevant. She shouldn’t have been so snotty about it. If he hadn’t told HR about the forms, she’d probably still have a job.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This sounds like a kind thing for management to do, but it may not be wise.

This person would’ve included overtime.

Here’s a comment about military people versus civilians.

Sometimes change is a good idea but not always.

A computer literally replaced her job.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.