OK, let me start out stating I don't pretend to know all the answers or even most but I have had years of management as an officer in the military as well as working lately in the retail sector. I watch the economic news and it appalls me. To spoil the suspense, the simple answer is CORPORATE GREED. Some examples:
1) Heinz 4th quarter profits climbs, will cut 800 to 1,000 jobs ( ~ May 27th, 2011) http://www.wral.com/business/story/9646974/
Their world wide expansion has given them approximately 16% profit for the 4th quarter but to "continue its profitable path" it will cut raise prices and cut jobs! Five factories will be closed worldwide. HEY, WAKE UP, the employees you lay off are your customers and your on the ground marketing reps. Do they know there is a world wide recession going on. Laying off workers and raising prices for the sake of profits and shareholders is counter productive to long term recovery and health for all companies.
2) Banks - Banks received a lot of government rescue funding to enable them to continue operating and prevent an economic meltdown. Now that the government (of the people) rescued the banks, you would think they would go along with the efforts to help the people that rescued them as so many face foreclosure of their homes. Nope! The government did it function of providing for the welfare of the people and developed a plan to help so many people caught in the housing collapse a they watched their homes rapidly become worth less than they owed. (Whether you like the govt plan is besides the point right now, this is focused on the corporations and banks)
So what are the banks doing? Are they helping out? You got to be kidding! http://www.wral.com/business/story/9706065/ (~ June 9, 2011)
Three big banks - ( Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase) have failed to do their part adequately. Of the anticipated 3 -4 million homeowners that were anticipated to receive help, the figure runs at about 607,000! quite a contrast (disappointment is abetter word). To many try to make the a political debate between the Democrats and the Republican ( I don't like either for what its worth). But no this is about Corporate GREED.
What is the government doing? About the only thing they can do, withhold money from the banks for not doing their job. Apparently the banks incorrectly determined people as ineligible when they really were! Hey you don't think the banks want to give up profits for the sake of people who will be their future customers?
BTW - It is a fact that the biggest factor in the housing market's problems is the huge number of foreclosures.
3) Corporations won't spend money to create jobs and thereby improve the economy. In an article about the decline of American's equity in their homes. http://www.wral.com/business/story/9709005/ (down from 61% in 2001 to 38% in the first quarter of 2011, approximately the lowest level since WWII) a comment was made that " ... Corporations are still hoarding cash." When companies don't spend money, money isn't spent and jobs aren't created. The government had anticipated almost 1/4 million jobs would be created in May 2011 (the average for the last three months and in a recovering economy, a valid projection). Instead only 54,000 jobs were created.
4) Corporations keep shipping our jobs overseas. I have long said that "When we export our jobs overseas, we import their poverty." This isn't meant as a slam against any particular country or ethnic groups but a simple matter that when we ship our jobs overseas, we import their poverty. corporations keep sending jobs to other countries where labor is cheap and wonder why people here don't have jobs or money to spend on their products.
So let's summarize - Corporate profits are up but to maintain those profits, they are laying off people (their customers). Banks don't want to give up or reduce their profits. And corporations have a more than adequate surplus of cash but they don't want to spend (invest) it. When they do spend money, they spend it in other countries instead of our own.
So instead of a recovering economy we have rising unemployment up to 9.1% College graduates are working at supermarkets and gas stations if at all. I know of a Teaching Fellow ( a program that provides four years of education in exchange for four years of teaching). These folks aren't slouches but I know one that can't find a teaching job at all! The news a while back discussed how many teaching fellows are shocked at the difficulty they are having finding a job, they felt they were almost guaranteed a job, and in the past they virtually were. But local governments have had reduce spending.
Did you notice that the common theme is business won't spend or invest in America? In the past, consumer spending pulled the country out of recession but this time the money is in the hands of business that won't let do.
The problem isn't the partisan politics in Washington but the corporate world's inability to let go of the money and spend. In short - CORPORATE GREED.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
And the Clouds aren't heard by the Mice (But this mouse still squeaks)
I've talked about the mice (workers) inability to be heard by management (the ones in the clouds) in order to make needed changes they perceive. But the problem goes both ways (but not the fault of the mice). Sometimes those in the clouds and atop ivory pillars cannot hear the mice down below. Remembering that the mice (workers) see the problems and have solutions, why don't the cloud people hear the mice? Its not that the mice have quit squeaking (although often they have given up and accept the status quo) the problem often is that those in the middle don't permit them to be heard.
How often have you said something to a supervisor with a idea to make a difference and it goes up in smoke? All too often you say. No surprise. If store level management and all those between the bottom (mice) and the top (clouds) allowed those ideas to go to the top they might have to give credit to those below them, thereby weakening their hold on power.
Is it no wonder that people give up trying and have no sense of ownership for the care and future of the company they work for and is it no wonder that the top management has no respect for those at the bottom who "don't understand"? The mice understand all too well, they just can't be heard.
The answer is found in the Leadership / Management Principles of William Demming. Demming was part of the group that went to Japan at the end of WWII to help reconstruct Japan's economy. After dinner he taught the Japanese how to build a quality product using the statistical quality control methods he learned at the phone company he had worked at.
Never heard of William Demming? No surprise, although the Demming award is one of the most revered awards for industry in the world, only one American company has ever won the award - Ford Motor Company for the design of the original Taurus, a best seller for years.
What does Demming have to do with the mice and the cloud people? Part of his teaching was to have companies WORK TOGETHER to achieve better products. If a company A ships cans to company B for B to put their products in and 10% of the containers are damaged, who pays? Not company A! They have built the cost of that 10% into their charge to company B which in turn is passed along to the consumers (you and me).
Demming proposed that the tow companies work together to investigate and eliminate to or significantly reduce the 10% damage rate. Maybe B has bas requirement specs. Maybe A has problems the workers see but the management at the top don't have a clue about.
Does this really happen today? YOU BET! I opened a container of 6 products at the store where I work. All six products were unusable. Two were broken apart at a corner (maybe shipping) but the other four had the SAME CORNER glued together in a poorly joined seam. I mentioned to a supervisor that we ought to pass the word back up the chain to let them know there was a quality control issue. It comment died in moments. Nothing was done and today that assembly line for that particular product is happily churring out products that may or may not be unusable.
Why are other countries knocking our socks off literally as they produce quality products better than us?
Squeak Squeak, Squeak.
How often have you said something to a supervisor with a idea to make a difference and it goes up in smoke? All too often you say. No surprise. If store level management and all those between the bottom (mice) and the top (clouds) allowed those ideas to go to the top they might have to give credit to those below them, thereby weakening their hold on power.
Is it no wonder that people give up trying and have no sense of ownership for the care and future of the company they work for and is it no wonder that the top management has no respect for those at the bottom who "don't understand"? The mice understand all too well, they just can't be heard.
The answer is found in the Leadership / Management Principles of William Demming. Demming was part of the group that went to Japan at the end of WWII to help reconstruct Japan's economy. After dinner he taught the Japanese how to build a quality product using the statistical quality control methods he learned at the phone company he had worked at.
Never heard of William Demming? No surprise, although the Demming award is one of the most revered awards for industry in the world, only one American company has ever won the award - Ford Motor Company for the design of the original Taurus, a best seller for years.
What does Demming have to do with the mice and the cloud people? Part of his teaching was to have companies WORK TOGETHER to achieve better products. If a company A ships cans to company B for B to put their products in and 10% of the containers are damaged, who pays? Not company A! They have built the cost of that 10% into their charge to company B which in turn is passed along to the consumers (you and me).
Demming proposed that the tow companies work together to investigate and eliminate to or significantly reduce the 10% damage rate. Maybe B has bas requirement specs. Maybe A has problems the workers see but the management at the top don't have a clue about.
Does this really happen today? YOU BET! I opened a container of 6 products at the store where I work. All six products were unusable. Two were broken apart at a corner (maybe shipping) but the other four had the SAME CORNER glued together in a poorly joined seam. I mentioned to a supervisor that we ought to pass the word back up the chain to let them know there was a quality control issue. It comment died in moments. Nothing was done and today that assembly line for that particular product is happily churring out products that may or may not be unusable.
Why are other countries knocking our socks off literally as they produce quality products better than us?
Squeak Squeak, Squeak.
The squeaking Mice aren't heard in the Clouds.
I recently had the opportunity (?) to change work endeavors as my former employer declared bankruptcy and closed many stores including the one I worked at. So off I go finding a new employer. Luckily I found one fairly quickly and they will offer health care after 3 months. So once again I began the "learn the new job and its nuances" routine and leads us to this post.
I find it amazing that so many new employees who have a depth of previous work experience enter a new job and perceive so man things that, to put it bluntly, are craziness and need to be changed but the people there aren't doing anything to make the needed changes.
There are several basic groups of people working for a company, but for purposes of this discussion, I will limit it to three.
(A) High level management - The ones who are waaayy up there, and so I say they live in the clouds.
People that have been there for 6 - 10 years either can't see the problem or have forgotten it. (Or don't care any longer)
(B) Store level managers - You think they are "empowered" to make decisions but my experience in retail is teaching me that they generally have little power to make decisions. They are required to make sales goals and percentages and make sure this item is displayed on that table, etc. (more on that later).
(C) The Mice - The folks who work the registers, that make things happen, and interface with the customers one on one.
- The mice know what is wrong with a company and how it could be improved. The problem is their squeaky voices aren't heard in the clouds. Their voices are either filtered out by middle management or are simply too far away from the clouds to be heard.
- Don't believe me, so to any retail store, any one, and ask some of the employees if they wish their store would be an episode of "Undercover Boss" (A television series where the boss goes to work at the store level as a new person. Frequently, their supervisor "firs them for not being good enough. At the end of the show, the CEO reveals who he is to the entire company.)
- Some illustrations from my previous place of employment at a book store. Consider the approach of the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's death, Dec 8th, 1980. The magazines began putting stories about it on the cover, newspapers and music periodicals ran stories and we had a book sitting way back on the bottom shelf titled, " Dec 18, 1980". I had picked it up and looked at it a while back and had realized this was a time sensitive book. After Dec 18th, it would be just another book about Lennon, at least until another 10 year anniversary. Soooo, I went to the store manager and mentioned how we ought to have this on display due to the time factor involved and how we could ride the publicity generated by others. He agreed but higher level management dictated what table had which book on display and he could do nothing. Later he said we could put a few on the information desk as there were no directives concerning what could be placed there. I was off the 17th and 18th but when I came back, the books were gone. Seems somebody didn't know what the boss had told me and they "corrected the situation" by placing the books back on the shelf. Few were sold, most of the books were returned to the publisher. The Store Manage had no real authority and communications within the store was poor.
- Frequently the workers (the mice) would talk about how the people making decisions at the top seems to have no awareness of what went on in a store. We frequently wondered if any upper level management had ever worked in a store. (It would turn out later when the chain declared bankruptcy that they had hired 5 CEOs in 4 years and none of them had any bookstore experience! The mice were not surprised.)
- Once somebody with their head in the clouds decided the way to turn the store round was to insert think paper advertizing banners in the bookcases. The paper form was folded into an L shape and inserted under the bottom of a shelf of books with the other part of the L hanging down to promote sales. The problem the mice quickly realized was that they hung down so far that the stiff paper scraped the tops of books being removed from the shelf below and in the case of hardbacks, damaging the cover jackets. It took the mice about 10 seconds to see what a dumb idea this was and the problems it created. Shame was the mice weren't heard in the clouds. The mice mumbled about how if they had talked to a mouse, they could have showed them the problems easily and quickly but the people in the clouds didn't care. So the idea lived on until the next store saving idea was announced (and there would be more new "ideas").
- At the new job, I was being trained on the register and how to input the rewards card info. Ready for the dumb part? Log in and scan the first item. By this time a message has popped up asking if they are a rewards member. Now I have a choice, enter y or n. If I enter "N" it goes back to ringing up the sale. If I hit "Y" it goes on to ringing up the sale!! To enter they have a rewards card, I have to hit F1 and then enter their phone number etc. BUT WAIT! wouldn't it make more sense to have the system go to the reward card data entry screen if I enter "Y"? Everybody says so but nothing we mice can do about it. My trainer has been there 10 years, she just shrugs and accepts things the way they are.
- Now are you beginning to see the problem. The mice on the floor see the problem and most likely have many good ideas to make the company run better and achieve the goals the company is trying so hard to achieve but the heads in the clouds.
- A friend that works for an international IT firm currently laying off a large number of people tells me similar stories.
The bottom line? The worker mice can see the problems but after time they are beat down and tire of trying to fix the problems and so instead they simply move along, drawing a paycheck and the people in the clouds wonder why they can't motivate the mice to care. Is it any wonder mice don't respond to 401 bonuses and other long term incentives? They see how the store and entire firm si run and their inability to make changes. Its easier to simply go with the flow.
I find it amazing that so many new employees who have a depth of previous work experience enter a new job and perceive so man things that, to put it bluntly, are craziness and need to be changed but the people there aren't doing anything to make the needed changes.
There are several basic groups of people working for a company, but for purposes of this discussion, I will limit it to three.
(A) High level management - The ones who are waaayy up there, and so I say they live in the clouds.
People that have been there for 6 - 10 years either can't see the problem or have forgotten it. (Or don't care any longer)
(B) Store level managers - You think they are "empowered" to make decisions but my experience in retail is teaching me that they generally have little power to make decisions. They are required to make sales goals and percentages and make sure this item is displayed on that table, etc. (more on that later).
(C) The Mice - The folks who work the registers, that make things happen, and interface with the customers one on one.
- The mice know what is wrong with a company and how it could be improved. The problem is their squeaky voices aren't heard in the clouds. Their voices are either filtered out by middle management or are simply too far away from the clouds to be heard.
- Don't believe me, so to any retail store, any one, and ask some of the employees if they wish their store would be an episode of "Undercover Boss" (A television series where the boss goes to work at the store level as a new person. Frequently, their supervisor "firs them for not being good enough. At the end of the show, the CEO reveals who he is to the entire company.)
- Some illustrations from my previous place of employment at a book store. Consider the approach of the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's death, Dec 8th, 1980. The magazines began putting stories about it on the cover, newspapers and music periodicals ran stories and we had a book sitting way back on the bottom shelf titled, " Dec 18, 1980". I had picked it up and looked at it a while back and had realized this was a time sensitive book. After Dec 18th, it would be just another book about Lennon, at least until another 10 year anniversary. Soooo, I went to the store manager and mentioned how we ought to have this on display due to the time factor involved and how we could ride the publicity generated by others. He agreed but higher level management dictated what table had which book on display and he could do nothing. Later he said we could put a few on the information desk as there were no directives concerning what could be placed there. I was off the 17th and 18th but when I came back, the books were gone. Seems somebody didn't know what the boss had told me and they "corrected the situation" by placing the books back on the shelf. Few were sold, most of the books were returned to the publisher. The Store Manage had no real authority and communications within the store was poor.
- Frequently the workers (the mice) would talk about how the people making decisions at the top seems to have no awareness of what went on in a store. We frequently wondered if any upper level management had ever worked in a store. (It would turn out later when the chain declared bankruptcy that they had hired 5 CEOs in 4 years and none of them had any bookstore experience! The mice were not surprised.)
- Once somebody with their head in the clouds decided the way to turn the store round was to insert think paper advertizing banners in the bookcases. The paper form was folded into an L shape and inserted under the bottom of a shelf of books with the other part of the L hanging down to promote sales. The problem the mice quickly realized was that they hung down so far that the stiff paper scraped the tops of books being removed from the shelf below and in the case of hardbacks, damaging the cover jackets. It took the mice about 10 seconds to see what a dumb idea this was and the problems it created. Shame was the mice weren't heard in the clouds. The mice mumbled about how if they had talked to a mouse, they could have showed them the problems easily and quickly but the people in the clouds didn't care. So the idea lived on until the next store saving idea was announced (and there would be more new "ideas").
- At the new job, I was being trained on the register and how to input the rewards card info. Ready for the dumb part? Log in and scan the first item. By this time a message has popped up asking if they are a rewards member. Now I have a choice, enter y or n. If I enter "N" it goes back to ringing up the sale. If I hit "Y" it goes on to ringing up the sale!! To enter they have a rewards card, I have to hit F1 and then enter their phone number etc. BUT WAIT! wouldn't it make more sense to have the system go to the reward card data entry screen if I enter "Y"? Everybody says so but nothing we mice can do about it. My trainer has been there 10 years, she just shrugs and accepts things the way they are.
- Now are you beginning to see the problem. The mice on the floor see the problem and most likely have many good ideas to make the company run better and achieve the goals the company is trying so hard to achieve but the heads in the clouds.
- A friend that works for an international IT firm currently laying off a large number of people tells me similar stories.
The bottom line? The worker mice can see the problems but after time they are beat down and tire of trying to fix the problems and so instead they simply move along, drawing a paycheck and the people in the clouds wonder why they can't motivate the mice to care. Is it any wonder mice don't respond to 401 bonuses and other long term incentives? They see how the store and entire firm si run and their inability to make changes. Its easier to simply go with the flow.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Defining Friends
I have had occasion to reflect on friends and what the term means. Or perhaps I have come to question what it means today as we live in a digital age. (No, my recent posts and this do not mean I am anti-digital; rather I am looking at the changes on our lives.) When you go to fill out a job application (as all too many of us have had to do recently) they almost always ask for personal references and we think of our friends. For those who have never moved far from home, you probably have a multitude of friends who you can name. For those who have had to move a lot, especially great distances from where we grew up, the issue becomes a little tougher. Many of our friends we haven't seen face to face in years and that is what led me to this introspection for friendship.
Today, friends do not necessarily have to be somebody who we have ever met. I have lots of "friends" on Facebook that I have never met or talked to. A few I have swapped an email or private message with but many I know only through the Facebook page yet I "talk" with them all the time. On the other hand, I have friends I grew up with that due to distances an other factors, I haven't encountered in years.
As I reflect on the job application procedure mentioned above, I can't help but think about who could actually speak to my character and personality - my friends I haven't seen in years? - my Facebook friends who have never met me or worked with me yet "talk" with more frequently than anybody else? I have one friend who I have mutual interests with and enjoy chatting with on-line, yet I've never met but I can tell you all about his efforts to find a job and how it has taken him overseas to various parts of the world and he could speak to some part of my life as well, but recommend me to an employer? Hardly. Besides, I don't know his home address or phone number.
Friends used to be somebody you knew well and you would drop everything for if they needed help and they would do the same for you. I have some old childhood friends that if I could find them, I would do whatever today.
An interesting sociological effect of modern living. In the past, we would come home, eat, and then go out and sit on the porch and watch the kids play and maybe talk to the neighbors across the way. We would go for a walk as the evening cooled down. Nobody wanted to stay inside where it was hot as central air wasn't widespread yet. Today, we drive home in our air conditioned vehicles, open the garage door by remote control, go inside after we deactivate the alarm system, and then settle down to to our HD widescreen television with surround sound or stereo system) and we are in for the night.
How many of you can name the first and last names of the three neighbors to the left and right of your domicile (apt or house) and at least four to five on the other side of the street. (adapted for geographic layout of your neighborhood)? Not many I suspect.
The point of all this is not a negative outlook on friendship (although it may have sounded so, not meant to be) but rather a call to go out and rediscover life and people living around us. Perhaps imagine a block party before the weather gets too hot, and everybody bringing various favorite dishes and cooking out on the grill in the middle of the street. Who knows, you might makes some new friends.
(P.S. Separated by time and distance from old friends? Perhaps a letter, handwritten at that for the personal touch, would do the trick. Be careful, those handwritten letters won't have red underlining under misspelled words!!
Today, friends do not necessarily have to be somebody who we have ever met. I have lots of "friends" on Facebook that I have never met or talked to. A few I have swapped an email or private message with but many I know only through the Facebook page yet I "talk" with them all the time. On the other hand, I have friends I grew up with that due to distances an other factors, I haven't encountered in years.
As I reflect on the job application procedure mentioned above, I can't help but think about who could actually speak to my character and personality - my friends I haven't seen in years? - my Facebook friends who have never met me or worked with me yet "talk" with more frequently than anybody else? I have one friend who I have mutual interests with and enjoy chatting with on-line, yet I've never met but I can tell you all about his efforts to find a job and how it has taken him overseas to various parts of the world and he could speak to some part of my life as well, but recommend me to an employer? Hardly. Besides, I don't know his home address or phone number.
Friends used to be somebody you knew well and you would drop everything for if they needed help and they would do the same for you. I have some old childhood friends that if I could find them, I would do whatever today.
An interesting sociological effect of modern living. In the past, we would come home, eat, and then go out and sit on the porch and watch the kids play and maybe talk to the neighbors across the way. We would go for a walk as the evening cooled down. Nobody wanted to stay inside where it was hot as central air wasn't widespread yet. Today, we drive home in our air conditioned vehicles, open the garage door by remote control, go inside after we deactivate the alarm system, and then settle down to to our HD widescreen television with surround sound or stereo system) and we are in for the night.
How many of you can name the first and last names of the three neighbors to the left and right of your domicile (apt or house) and at least four to five on the other side of the street. (adapted for geographic layout of your neighborhood)? Not many I suspect.
The point of all this is not a negative outlook on friendship (although it may have sounded so, not meant to be) but rather a call to go out and rediscover life and people living around us. Perhaps imagine a block party before the weather gets too hot, and everybody bringing various favorite dishes and cooking out on the grill in the middle of the street. Who knows, you might makes some new friends.
(P.S. Separated by time and distance from old friends? Perhaps a letter, handwritten at that for the personal touch, would do the trick. Be careful, those handwritten letters won't have red underlining under misspelled words!!
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Economy and Workers Work Ethic and Loyalty for the Future
As the economy continues to stagnate, I sit and reflect on the long term effects of worker-employer relations. The news has been filled with the continuing strife that escalates everyday. The case of the Wisconsin workers and the struggle over bargaining rights is just one small example.
I think back to how in the past workers sacrificed for the good of the company because they knew if they took care of the company, the company would take care of them. The unspoken benefit that many workers enjoyed was job security. Back in the 70s as the economy was going through tough times, the workers at
Delta airlines took up a collection to buy a jet for Delta as a sign of their faith in the company. Surely after such a demonstration, life would continue to be good. Not so. Today many companies that have been known in the past for never laying off are now doing just that. Oh some may not call it layoffs, it may come under some other euphemism such as strategic resizing and early retirements but the result is the same, a worker out of a job, usually unplanned for and unexpected.
The US military is a prime case. It was know for staying in 20 years, keeping your nose clean, doing a good job and you could retire in 20 years with half pay. (OK, technically not half pay but half base pay, not counting housing and food allowances in.) And that worked well but then then late 80s and early 90s happened. Officers entering as Second Lieutenants in the early 80s had been told (some at least) that the military had hired 230% of what they needed but "don't worry, it will handle itself by attrition." Well, it didn't and so Captains not making major were forced out of the service. Later when Lt Colonels were told they could not stay past 24 years, they yelled and moaned much the same things the Captains had said earlier. "It was unfair! It was a breach of a verbal contract!" and so on. The bottom line, not only did a lot of military learn that they had sacrificed many things to no avail for their careers but their families did also. I dare say that if you look at the children of some of those officers, you will find very jaded children who will not consider the military other than as a short term job, not a career.
And in fact that is exactly the point of this post. As people and their families have sacrificed in so many ways, they have learned that it was of no benefit to having a long term career. The minute times get tough, the layoffs begin. News in the past years has reported that even Japan suffers from this came issue as companies that have never laid off have done so.
To make people even more jaded, look at the news today from USAToday 4/1/11, how CEO compensation packages are skyrocketing while workers struggle with little to no pay raises and many are looking for any type of work. I dare say few of us have not experienced or at least know of instances where the boss got a nice raise while workers were told pay raises were not possible. My wife experienced this back while the country endured President Carter's Whip Inflation Now (WIN) program that asked that raises be limited. Moral is plummeting as workers are hanging on by a thread and the top levels are receiving generous compensations.
Will it be any surprise that as the economy improves (someday) that workers will leave for better jobs in droves? But more importantly. As workers go to their new jobs, they will no longer accept the being told, "when things improve ..." or we have an excellent retirement package. Workers will not look for retirement from a company, they know they will most likely not stay there long enough. Workers will increasingly demand compensation up-front. No longer will deferred compensation be accepted.
A quick side tale to illustrate part of the problem. In the Air Force, we were presented a briefing and video about how one's values and motivations are fairly well established about the age of ten. The person who was ten during the Great Depression is motivated strongly by money. A person who was ten during WWII is motivated by patriotism and sacrifice for the good of all. A person born in the 60s is motivated by "what's in it for me?" Want to drive the 20 person crazy? Go to the store in a taxi to buy something and hop out telling the driver to wait and leave the meter running!!
How does this scenario play out in terms of this discussion? A BIG contract is awarded to the company. The Depression era boss tells his managers they have to get this done quickly and if they do they will be a good bonus in their checks. The managers who lived through the war are almost insulted, they don't care about the money, they will do it for the good of the company. And they go tell the workers who look up at them blankly and ask, "what's in it fur us?" (besides money?) All three generations have failed to motivate the others.
So the bottom line for all this is - how will companies hire and motivate people who have been treated like they have for so long? Corporations and management may get away with this once but workers will not accept this on an on-going basis. Employees will go to new jobs with an expectation of not being there for the long term and will work accordingly. People are tired of having to "do more with less", "working smarter", etc. They realize they have had to do the work of several people without the compensation. In this economy, that is the way it is. But as the economy improves, watch out for the change in employee attitudes. Don't be surprised that people have a completely different attitude about their work ethic.
I think back to how in the past workers sacrificed for the good of the company because they knew if they took care of the company, the company would take care of them. The unspoken benefit that many workers enjoyed was job security. Back in the 70s as the economy was going through tough times, the workers at
Delta airlines took up a collection to buy a jet for Delta as a sign of their faith in the company. Surely after such a demonstration, life would continue to be good. Not so. Today many companies that have been known in the past for never laying off are now doing just that. Oh some may not call it layoffs, it may come under some other euphemism such as strategic resizing and early retirements but the result is the same, a worker out of a job, usually unplanned for and unexpected.
The US military is a prime case. It was know for staying in 20 years, keeping your nose clean, doing a good job and you could retire in 20 years with half pay. (OK, technically not half pay but half base pay, not counting housing and food allowances in.) And that worked well but then then late 80s and early 90s happened. Officers entering as Second Lieutenants in the early 80s had been told (some at least) that the military had hired 230% of what they needed but "don't worry, it will handle itself by attrition." Well, it didn't and so Captains not making major were forced out of the service. Later when Lt Colonels were told they could not stay past 24 years, they yelled and moaned much the same things the Captains had said earlier. "It was unfair! It was a breach of a verbal contract!" and so on. The bottom line, not only did a lot of military learn that they had sacrificed many things to no avail for their careers but their families did also. I dare say that if you look at the children of some of those officers, you will find very jaded children who will not consider the military other than as a short term job, not a career.
And in fact that is exactly the point of this post. As people and their families have sacrificed in so many ways, they have learned that it was of no benefit to having a long term career. The minute times get tough, the layoffs begin. News in the past years has reported that even Japan suffers from this came issue as companies that have never laid off have done so.
To make people even more jaded, look at the news today from USAToday 4/1/11, how CEO compensation packages are skyrocketing while workers struggle with little to no pay raises and many are looking for any type of work. I dare say few of us have not experienced or at least know of instances where the boss got a nice raise while workers were told pay raises were not possible. My wife experienced this back while the country endured President Carter's Whip Inflation Now (WIN) program that asked that raises be limited. Moral is plummeting as workers are hanging on by a thread and the top levels are receiving generous compensations.
Will it be any surprise that as the economy improves (someday) that workers will leave for better jobs in droves? But more importantly. As workers go to their new jobs, they will no longer accept the being told, "when things improve ..." or we have an excellent retirement package. Workers will not look for retirement from a company, they know they will most likely not stay there long enough. Workers will increasingly demand compensation up-front. No longer will deferred compensation be accepted.
A quick side tale to illustrate part of the problem. In the Air Force, we were presented a briefing and video about how one's values and motivations are fairly well established about the age of ten. The person who was ten during the Great Depression is motivated strongly by money. A person who was ten during WWII is motivated by patriotism and sacrifice for the good of all. A person born in the 60s is motivated by "what's in it for me?" Want to drive the 20 person crazy? Go to the store in a taxi to buy something and hop out telling the driver to wait and leave the meter running!!
How does this scenario play out in terms of this discussion? A BIG contract is awarded to the company. The Depression era boss tells his managers they have to get this done quickly and if they do they will be a good bonus in their checks. The managers who lived through the war are almost insulted, they don't care about the money, they will do it for the good of the company. And they go tell the workers who look up at them blankly and ask, "what's in it fur us?" (besides money?) All three generations have failed to motivate the others.
So the bottom line for all this is - how will companies hire and motivate people who have been treated like they have for so long? Corporations and management may get away with this once but workers will not accept this on an on-going basis. Employees will go to new jobs with an expectation of not being there for the long term and will work accordingly. People are tired of having to "do more with less", "working smarter", etc. They realize they have had to do the work of several people without the compensation. In this economy, that is the way it is. But as the economy improves, watch out for the change in employee attitudes. Don't be surprised that people have a completely different attitude about their work ethic.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Opportunity to recover American jobs?
Recent news following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan (March 2011) has produced interesting business impacts. The following comments are not "Japan bashing" but are intended to provoke Americans to reevaluate priorities in terms of their shopping and for businesses, their production priorities.
When the freighters full of cargo where struck by the tsunami, countless millions of dollars of merchandise (Televisions, DVD players, automobiles, etc) were lost. When the ports will clear and when ships will be available to transport the goods is anybody's guess. In the meantime, factories in Japan have either been destroyed or damaged with many being forced to suspend production due to either internal conditions or the conditions generated by the power and living conditions. Now reports are surfacing that other manufacturers in other locations are beginning to suffer from lack of parts and supplies made in Japan. The impact of this disaster continues to widen.
Some examples:
A) Apple Computer reports that the glue used to hold iPads together has been impacted by the Japan earthquake and tsunami. They are reportedly seeking to find alternative suppliers that meet their standards and requirements.
B) Ford Motor Company has instructed dealers to temporarily not take orders for certain shades of black and red as the colors are produced in Japan and, yep you guessed it, are not available for an indefinite time.
C) News reports that Toyota dealers have raised their prices on Prius vehicles due to a shortage of supply.
D) Various other electronic manufacturers have had to cut production and as a result prices on those items have risen (not necessarily as a decision in Japan but more by suppliers and distribution people here.
Now would seem a good time for American manufacturers to regain some of the market share they have lost to Japan. Why can we not make the glue for iPads? Why can we not make the paint for Ford (and other facilities as well)? Why do we not make electronics in this country? (The last television make in North America was Curtis Mathis, made in Canada, which went out of business years ago.
The root of the problem (if there is to be a singular source) can be found in American greed. Americans want the cheapest price for a product. On the surface, who doesn't want the best price? But the best price comes at a price itself. As we bought goods made overseas at cheaper prices, we lost our jobs and manufacturing facilities as we shipped our jobs overseas. A basic tenant was ignored - "When we export our jobs overseas, we import their poverty". We have continued to buy foreign products (when other countries make exporting our goods to them difficult if not impossible) at the cost of our economy and our jobs. We want cheap televisions and now no television is made in our country and so it goes for other goods.
Who has not heard somebody complain about tech support representative from another country that could not speak English well or drove them insane with the "thank you very much" and repetition of any and all information stated? Recent news reports indicate that the Philippines now have more American jobs than India (well known for its IT tech support for companies like Dell Computer).
The problem now is that we aren't getting the cheap prices we wanted! Although temporarily (maybe) as products made in Japan become scarcer, prices are going up. We are already at the mercy of the middle east for oil (with gas skyrocketing due to recent middle east turmoil) and now a large majority of our goods are going up in prices due to shortages in production in Japan. We wanted cheap DVD players and televisions but now the prices are going up because they come primarily form a country hit by a natural disaster.
Here is the question - Why can't our paint companies make the paint Ford needs or the glue Apple needs? Is it so unique that we can't make it or is the problem it can't be made as cheaply? One, we aren't going to continue to see prices from Japan at the levels we have had in the past. Second, considering the unemployment in this country, why can't we stimulate the economy by manufacturing here? The problem is a double whammy, corporations have to satisfy stockholders (and their own paychecks) by producing their products at the lowest possible price; and consumers demand the lowest possible price. Forgotten in this is the fact that when a company lays of employees, they lay off people who buy their product. When Ford lays off employees, they lay off people that buy and promote their product.
We can make the best televisions (or anything else) in the world. We could make great paints and glues. We have the technological know how we just need companies willing to step up and do it; and we need consumers who will buy home grow local products. Remember that the cheapness of many products made overseas is done on the backs (figuratively) and at the cost of the health and in some cases the lives (literally) of workers overseas who have to live and work in conditions we would never consider or permit by law. Recently CNN carried a report about the 1911 NEW York Triangle fire that cost 146 lives due to working conditions. The question is, are well willing to make and buy at a fair price or will we continue to export out jobs, import their poverty, and buy at the cheapest price (and sometimes quality - ref drywall, dog food, etc. from the far east). WE CAN DO IT. WILL WE?
When the freighters full of cargo where struck by the tsunami, countless millions of dollars of merchandise (Televisions, DVD players, automobiles, etc) were lost. When the ports will clear and when ships will be available to transport the goods is anybody's guess. In the meantime, factories in Japan have either been destroyed or damaged with many being forced to suspend production due to either internal conditions or the conditions generated by the power and living conditions. Now reports are surfacing that other manufacturers in other locations are beginning to suffer from lack of parts and supplies made in Japan. The impact of this disaster continues to widen.
Some examples:
A) Apple Computer reports that the glue used to hold iPads together has been impacted by the Japan earthquake and tsunami. They are reportedly seeking to find alternative suppliers that meet their standards and requirements.
B) Ford Motor Company has instructed dealers to temporarily not take orders for certain shades of black and red as the colors are produced in Japan and, yep you guessed it, are not available for an indefinite time.
C) News reports that Toyota dealers have raised their prices on Prius vehicles due to a shortage of supply.
D) Various other electronic manufacturers have had to cut production and as a result prices on those items have risen (not necessarily as a decision in Japan but more by suppliers and distribution people here.
Now would seem a good time for American manufacturers to regain some of the market share they have lost to Japan. Why can we not make the glue for iPads? Why can we not make the paint for Ford (and other facilities as well)? Why do we not make electronics in this country? (The last television make in North America was Curtis Mathis, made in Canada, which went out of business years ago.
The root of the problem (if there is to be a singular source) can be found in American greed. Americans want the cheapest price for a product. On the surface, who doesn't want the best price? But the best price comes at a price itself. As we bought goods made overseas at cheaper prices, we lost our jobs and manufacturing facilities as we shipped our jobs overseas. A basic tenant was ignored - "When we export our jobs overseas, we import their poverty". We have continued to buy foreign products (when other countries make exporting our goods to them difficult if not impossible) at the cost of our economy and our jobs. We want cheap televisions and now no television is made in our country and so it goes for other goods.
Who has not heard somebody complain about tech support representative from another country that could not speak English well or drove them insane with the "thank you very much" and repetition of any and all information stated? Recent news reports indicate that the Philippines now have more American jobs than India (well known for its IT tech support for companies like Dell Computer).
The problem now is that we aren't getting the cheap prices we wanted! Although temporarily (maybe) as products made in Japan become scarcer, prices are going up. We are already at the mercy of the middle east for oil (with gas skyrocketing due to recent middle east turmoil) and now a large majority of our goods are going up in prices due to shortages in production in Japan. We wanted cheap DVD players and televisions but now the prices are going up because they come primarily form a country hit by a natural disaster.
Here is the question - Why can't our paint companies make the paint Ford needs or the glue Apple needs? Is it so unique that we can't make it or is the problem it can't be made as cheaply? One, we aren't going to continue to see prices from Japan at the levels we have had in the past. Second, considering the unemployment in this country, why can't we stimulate the economy by manufacturing here? The problem is a double whammy, corporations have to satisfy stockholders (and their own paychecks) by producing their products at the lowest possible price; and consumers demand the lowest possible price. Forgotten in this is the fact that when a company lays of employees, they lay off people who buy their product. When Ford lays off employees, they lay off people that buy and promote their product.
We can make the best televisions (or anything else) in the world. We could make great paints and glues. We have the technological know how we just need companies willing to step up and do it; and we need consumers who will buy home grow local products. Remember that the cheapness of many products made overseas is done on the backs (figuratively) and at the cost of the health and in some cases the lives (literally) of workers overseas who have to live and work in conditions we would never consider or permit by law. Recently CNN carried a report about the 1911 NEW York Triangle fire that cost 146 lives due to working conditions. The question is, are well willing to make and buy at a fair price or will we continue to export out jobs, import their poverty, and buy at the cheapest price (and sometimes quality - ref drywall, dog food, etc. from the far east). WE CAN DO IT. WILL WE?
Monday, March 14, 2011
American Society's Lack of Digital Ethics - The Death of Brick and Mortar stores?
Some of us can remember before the World Wide Web (that's what www stands for, for those who didn't know). There was Prodigy, Compuserve and one other I forget. They were not connected. Then suddenly, www appeared and our lives began changing - more and more rapidly. The world shrank quicker and quicker as the web expanded. But unfortunately laws and ethics did not keep up. Today laws concerning the digital life are woefully behind the times and so are ethics.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Rules of this blog
Not a lot of rules:
1) No over the top comments/responses about politics or religion - respect that we call come from diverse backgrounds. Respect each other and each others right to have differing views.
2) No foul language comments/responses- this is to be a blog viewed by all ages.
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