Low Morale

[VYBerlinaV8]

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/04/ibms-sam-palmisano-a-super-second-act/

This article is about the company I used to work for. Have a look at some of the comments. These are dead true - morale is at an all time low.

How would one turn something like this around?

 

[Mr. Fabulous]

Interesting. I think you'll find however, that this is just one example of thousands.

Then people scratch their heads wondering where employee loyalty went.

 

[BayView]

I'm an employer. Not a massive one. Have run 3 businesses over the last 30 years.

I have also been an employee for a number of my adult working years in between, so can see the two differnet mentalities - boss/employee.

One of the things I'm proud of is the length of time my employees stay with me. In all the years; only one has left. Why?

My belief is that I try to make work a nice place to be for them, and try to look after them in little ways.

I watch the "Undercover Boss" show on the teev occasionally, and one thing always seems to come up at the end when they interview the staff after their meeting with the boss; they are blown away by the recognition and feel more "special" as a result. They are happier. Some get offered a better role and are rapt to be considered more important.

Not all people want that however, so I think managers/employees need to find out their employees' motivations. I had one guy who wanted to do more, and wanted to earn more as a result. He was happy to be given more responsibility in return for more pay. So he got that. I have two guys right now who want nothing more than clock punching and no stress. They get that, and no more, but won't earn the big dollars or get ulcers. That's fine too. I leave them be with that mindset.

Most people simply need that to be happy at work; find out how they should get that and give it to them..

So, I use that as a strategy; recognition, take an interest in the staff, be flexible to their needs for family etc, and treat them as you would like to be treated - not be a tool just becuase you are in a position of power and "lord it over" them.

My wife is a nurse. In her industry, there are many nurses who leave the industry. Why? In most cases, the idiot managers are inflexible to the requirements of the (female) staff who are mostly mothers. They simply don't get the hours they need to work and balance their family lives. So, they leave. It's not the money, or the work satisfaction. It's the lack of empathy from the employers. They are just a number; a commodity.

 

[Dazz]

I'm an employer. Not a massive one. Have run 3 businesses over the last 30 years.

You wuz lucky !!

I am sad to say that I have now joined the ranks of the employers. My chosen business model (passive commercial Landlord) was specifically chosen because it didn't require any employees and all of the social drama and headaches that come with it that I am not good at pandering to.

We run a business probably the same size as one that employs ~ 200 people, and up until now it's just been me....just the way I like it. I very rarely have arguments with myself.

Four months ago we were forced to employ a cleaner for the shopping centre we just purchased....6 hours a day....what a nightmare. Paid thru the roof (85K pa) and did minimal work, and everything reluctantly. She argued that she did too much and wanted a pay rise to 125K pa. One day I observed her (without her knowing I was there) sitting down at the cafe for over an hour talking with one of the Tenants who refused to pay rent. Nice combo that is. Two ladies bad mouthing you, one sitting in your shop for free and one sitting down doing nothing when she's supposed to be cleaning the mall for you.

I ever so politely, in my usual tactful manner, asked her if she couldn't consider the prospect of getting up and actually commence cleaning like she was paid to do and she said "you can't tell me what to do, I've been flat out the last 30 minutes cleaning up and down the mall." Typical Australian....slack and a liar to cover her tracks. My very first employee / employer relationship didn't end well...she was then given the sack about 5 minutes after that.

We've now hired a few Asian ladies at rates slightly higher than what Centro pay them. Cost is 39K pa for hopefully a far better standard - these ones actually will pick up a mop and know how to drive a broom, and don't think it beneath themselves to scrub toilets.

Long term plan is to sell the property and ultimately get back to a zero employee status....and then carry on and grow from there.

Australian workers - nightmare. Begone the lot of you.

 

[lizzie]

My belief is that I try to make work a nice place to be for them, and try to look after them in little ways.

as an employee, i find this to be the truest statement. it is the little things that make a huge difference and i plan to be that type of boss.

having not worked in a paye job for over 10 years, probably best example is a friend who works as a travel agent. every friday the office closes half an hour early and the employees have a (single) glass of wine in recognition of a week well done, nibbles and a chat before heading home. it is hugely appreciated by the staff and probably costs the employer $20 ... 1 bottle of wine and some chips/dip.

 

[Edmond Dantes]

.....

I ever so politely, in my usual tactful manner, ....

Loved this line.. I wish I was there

 

[Belbo]

I agree with you Dazz 100% about (white) Australians being incredibly lazy workers.

I'm a white Australian myself, but am now extremely reticent about employing any of my own kind, at least for blue collar jobs.

I took over managing a small manufacturing company with some 20 employees 4 years ago, of which about 6 were white Australians.

Every bit of whingeing, absenteeism, poor productivity, malingering and outright theft was down to them.

One by one they quit, went AWOL and got fired, or got themselves retrenched in the GFC slowdown (i.e. when the perfect opportunity arose). To the best of my knowledge every one of them is now on the dole of some form.

All but one of the 14 that are still with us from since when I started are from non-Australian backgrounds, and they're solid, happy, extremely productive workers.

The one white Australian still with us has very difficult-to-replace technical skills, otherwise, for his serial skiving off, he'd be gone in an instant.

Sure, I've had a number of other employees come and go from non-white backgrounds over the these 4 years too, all basically just lazy people, so I'm not saying that laziness is an exclusively white Australian phenomenon.

The sad fact I think though is that white Australians on the whole regard themselves as too good to be doing blue collar work. They've got this permanent chip on their shoulders about it, and seem to actually blame their employers for the fact that they're stuck in these non-highly rewarding jobs. It's almost as if they think that their merely average income is the cause rather than the result of their lack of above-average employment skills!

Of course, none of those white Australians who has left our little business had ever made an effort to improve their skills through education and training, nor saved anything they'd ever earned, nor put in an honest day's effort at work in their lives to amount to something one day, at least from what I could tell.

(Personally, I came from nothing, worked as a kitchen hand and cook to get through 5 years of university (free food), and work my butt off around 60 hours a week now.)

I envy people like you Dazz who can work for themselves. But I'm doing something about it too, and will get there in a couple of short years if all goes to plan!

Belbo

 

[Mr. Fabulous]

 

[Belbo]

Are you serious Mark???

 

[Mr. Fabulous]

Well, the post itself was a joke, but let's put the shoe on the other foot. Go back and read your post and change the reference to whites to any other race.

 

[VYBerlinaV8]

Well, the post itself was a joke, but let's put the shoe on the other foot. Go back and read your post and change the reference to whites to any other race.

I don't think there's anything wrong with suggesting that demographic traits exist. It's got nothing to do with skin colour, and everything to do with culture and upbringing.

 

[evand]

Wouldn't you be better off using a contract cleaning company?

I dont think its worth the hassle of all the employee crap for a couple of low value cleaners.

Whereas in Bayviews post the employees are needed as labor for the business, thats what he's selling. Not really a valid comparison.

You wuz lucky !!

I am sad to say that I have now joined the ranks of the employers. My chosen business model (passive commercial Landlord) was specifically chosen because it didn't require any employees and all of the social drama and headaches that come with it that I am not good at pandering to.

We run a business probably the same size as one that employs ~ 200 people, and up until now it's just been me....just the way I like it. I very rarely have arguments with myself.

Four months ago we were forced to employ a cleaner for the shopping centre we just purchased....6 hours a day....what a nightmare. Paid thru the roof (85K pa) and did minimal work, and everything reluctantly. She argued that she did too much and wanted a pay rise to 125K pa. One day I observed her (without her knowing I was there) sitting down at the cafe for over an hour talking with one of the Tenants who refused to pay rent. Nice combo that is. Two ladies bad mouthing you, one sitting in your shop for free and one sitting down doing nothing when she's supposed to be cleaning the mall for you.

I ever so politely, in my usual tactful manner, asked her if she couldn't consider the prospect of getting up and actually commence cleaning like she was paid to do and she said "you can't tell me what to do, I've been flat out the last 30 minutes cleaning up and down the mall." Typical Australian....slack and a liar to cover her tracks. My very first employee / employer relationship didn't end well...she was then given the sack about 5 minutes after that.

We've now hired a few Asian ladies at rates slightly higher than what Centro pay them. Cost is 39K pa for hopefully a far better standard - these ones actually will pick up a mop and know how to drive a broom, and don't think it beneath themselves to scrub toilets.

Long term plan is to sell the property and ultimately get back to a zero employee status....and then carry on and grow from there.

Australian workers - nightmare. Begone the lot of you.

 

[Belbo]

A joke? Phew, that's lucky. I thought I might have upset the Aryan Brotherhood for a moment there!

No, I'm with you Mark -

"WHITE POWER! WHITE POWER! WHITE POWER!"

Belbo

 

[Ocean Architect]

Four months ago we were forced to employ a cleaner for the shopping centre we just purchased....6 hours a day....what a nightmare. Paid thru the roof (85K pa) and did minimal work, and everything reluctantly. She argued that she did too much and wanted a pay rise to 125K pa.

I had something clever to say but forgot what it was when I fainted after reading this line. I'm okay now, thanks for asking

So let me get this straight. You were paying someone 85k/pa to clean for 6 hours a day. 85k. even at 7 days a week, thats still only 42 hours, and assuming that she worked every single day of the year, that works out to $39/hr.

$39/hr. To clean. And she wanted to pump it up to $57/hr.

What was she using as detergent? LSD?

 

[Dazz]

$39/hr. To clean. And she wanted to pump it up to $57/hr.

Yes - $ 39 per hour.

No - not to clean - to sit around b1tching and moaning and bad mouthing me to both Tenants and customers.

The final straw came when I asked her to grab the mop and give the mall a good going over, cos the dried ice-cream that was spilt on the floor at 7:45am this morning is still there, and seeing as though it's 1:00pm I know for a fact she hasn't done anything. She didn't believe me, so I walked her over to it and pointed it out. She spat the dummy at that stage and said it was a safety hazard and couldn't be done. I said grab your "caution wet floor" signs like every other cleaner in the known world does....and then there was yet another lame excuse proferred. Bang - decision made - you're outta here. I'm not going to argue with cleaners about cleaning.

Yes - she wanted to pump it up to $ 57 / hr but insisted that her workload be reduced. Her husband was a union representative and knew every trick in the book, and I dare say a tad of coaching was going on. Anyway - she lost her job and it's been very pleasant since she left.


The new cleaners are prompt, are demons on the wide broom, always have the mop and bucket on the trolley with them, are pleasant to both the Tenants and the customers, don't rifle through the mail, don't ***** and moan about sweeping or taking bin bags to the skip area, have no excuses and don't back chat me.

They are on $ 17 / hour Mon to Fri and $ 20 / hour on Sat and Sun. That is slightly higher than what both Westfield and Centro payrates are for cleaners, and with having signed a 5 year agreement with them, I'm over the moon.


evand - no it wouldn't be better to offer it to a cleaning contractor / company. Their rates started at 130K pa and went up from there....and then they started banging on about OH&S laws which would have cost me about 110K to rectify stuff they saw as 'risky for their workers - need to fix those before we could even start'.

- and no, I wasn't trying to compare my experiences with Marc's, once again you've taken it the wrong way and twisted up what we've both written.

 

[Ocean Architect]

Yes - she wanted to pump it up to $ 57 / hr but insisted that her workload be reduced. Her husband was a union representative and knew every trick in the book, and I dare say a tad of coaching was going on. Anyway - she lost her job and it's been very pleasant since she left.

Ah. Theres the missing piece. I was having a hard time getting my head around the idea of a cleaner with nerve like that. I dont know where she was going with it though - I can understand bus drivers going on strike because it disrupts society/commerce, but cleaners arent exactly irreplaceable/indispensable. Anyway good on you for organising her union meeting with herself down at centrelink. Twit.

evand - no it wouldn't be better to offer it to a cleaning contractor / company. Their rates started at 130K pa and went up from there....and then they started banging on about OH&S laws which would have cost me about 110K to rectify stuff they saw as 'risky for their workers - need to fix those before we could even start'.

Interesting world we live in, isnt it. Shopping centres deemed safe for any member of the public/children/disabled etc, and yet trained workers are unsafe at the same site.

Still, it wouldnt be a bad idea to get an OHS consultant in to look at the place as an insurance policy. Funny thing about OHS laws is that if you can demonstrate that youve got policies in place/have used a consultant/made some minor cheap touchups, if you ever find yourself in court you are in a far better position to dodge fines/litigation.

 

[Telejazzer]

I used to work with a company where by clever manouver, the CFO was replaced by creating a position in between the CFO and CEO. Later on, the CFO position was abolished where the CFO ended heading a projects division. The CFO was still getting the same amount of money even with the heavy demotion.

I thought if they can do it to a CFO, then they can do anything to me. That's when I started looking at not relying on simply having a job. I'm getting there.

 

[Blacky]

Dazz - once again you live the life that most of us only dream of.

Im managing an operation of about 160 people, spread across three locations and operating in 4 languages. Of coarse you cant keep everyone happy, and we do have some staff attrition but it is low at about 2%. Mostly the people who leave are the ones we want to leave anyway.

We have about 150locals and about 10expats. I spend more time and more money managing the 10 expats (UK and Australians) than I do with the locals.

99% of the time the people who best know how to do a job, is the person doing the job. My way of managing people is to let them do what they do best, sure, you need to coach, guide and train - but let them get on with it.
Its give and take, and everyone needs to be a little bit flexible, plus never expect anyone to do anything which you would not be willing to do yourself.

Cheers
Blacky

 

[Dazz]

Dazz - once again you live the life that most of us only dream of....never expect anyone to do anything which you would not be willing to do yourself.

Yeah, but the vast majority of people only dream of the end result, hardly any dream or are willing to do the hard yards to get there.


The day that I ran the cleaner off, my Dad (who's in his 70's) and I were literally bogging out the back of the transformer and electrical sub-station. Ten years of accumulated "stuff" came out in 7 wheelbarrow loads, including 4 soiled nappies, 3 used hypodermic needles, plenty of doggy do and a bunch of discarded other nasties. This was in the hot midday sun from noon 'til 1pm.


When you go back inside after that and see your one and only highly paid cleaner still sitting on her bum in the A/C not having moved a muscle.....well, it's time to start writing the 'Don't come Monday' letter.

 

[jaycee]

A joke? Phew, that's lucky. I thought I might have upset the Aryan Brotherhood for a moment there!

No, I'm with you Mark -

"WHITE POWER! WHITE POWER! WHITE POWER!"

Belbo

Saw one of them on the street inthe city yesterday. Felt uncomfortable just seeing him. Had "White Power watch out" "comin' to getcha" on his black t-shirt (cause real men are tough, and real tough mean wear black - t-shirts.. like little kids)