Long-time readers of this blog will recall that I started the job which I just left back in April of 2010. The company that I worked for before fell victim to the Great Recession of 2008/2009, so I found myself unemployed. It took me six months to find another job, which is not bad compared with some of the stories of job search frustration that I've heard.
I have to credit the management of the company that I just left for seeing beyond my technical knowledge, which was not a strong match for what they generally sought in a potential employee, and seeing some promise in my long years of work experience, doing many of the same things that their employees typically did, albeit with different technology. Also, full disclosure, I was able to get a referral from someone close to the company president, which probably didn't hurt my chances either. No matter, the fact remains that they took a chance on me, and I spent almost nine years hopefully vindicating their faith in me.
Sadly, I was never truly happy in all the time that I worked there and, the longer I stayed, the clearer it became to me that none of my fellow employees were happy either. The company in question is a small, family-run business with only about 13 employees excluding management; i.e. members of the family that owns the company. In spite of my nine year tenure, I was the second newest employee in that company. They have hired a new person since my departure yet, even so, I believe that leaves only two current employees with less than 9 years tenure. Most of the remaining staff has been there for 20 years or more.
My point is that this company is blessed with a small but highly experienced and dedicated staff. You would think that they would want to do everything in their power to hold on to people like that. Instead, the company management seems to be doing almost everything wrong where their employee relations are concerned. If they had a handbook outlining their managerial policies and practices, it would probably read something like this:
Blood Lineage Is The Only Managerial Qualifier
Never, under any circumstances, grant any form of managerial or decision making authority to any employee whose last name is not the same as that of the company owners. A business is to be run as a kingdom. God has ordained that only those of the proper lineage shall rule. There is no need to search for managerial talent outside of the family bloodline. Heaven forbid that you might accidentally import any new and strange ideas about how to manage the company from outsiders.
Do Not Communicate
Never tell your employees anything. Everything is a Big Secret. Don't tell them if you're planning on hiring someone new or if someone has given notice of their resignation. The others will find out for themselves in due time. Let that rumor mill run rampant.
Expect Employees To Accept Work For Which They Are Unqualified
Feel free to make your employees responsible for doing things that are outside of their job description and for which they have no formal training. A good employee should be able to figure things out for themselves. To cover yourself, be sure that all job descriptions include verbiage such as "Other tasks as required", which can mean anything from mopping the floor to flying an airliner. And, whatever you do...
Do Not Train
Employees who receive formal training acquire credentials that only make them more attractive to other enterprises. This inevitably leads to their leaving your company and then all of the time and expense that you invested in their training is out the window. If an employee lacks the knowledge to perform a task which has been assigned to them, why, that's that Google is for.
Do Not Document
Writing down standards and procedures takes time and reduces productivity. If you do document anything, do it once and never review it to ensure that it is still current. After all, change doesn't happen.
Do Not Replace Staff When They Leave
If someone leaves, simply re-assign their duties to the remaining staff. Nobody ever works at 100% capacity and there's always room to take on additional responsibilites.
Micro-manage
Your employees cannot be trusted to do their jobs in an independent and professional manner. It is up to you to tell them how to do everything, right down to the precise wording of e-mails to customers. Freeing your employees from the burden of prioritizing their own work and thinking for themselves helps to reduce their stress levels.
Punish Good Performance
When you do need to assign additional work to someone, be sure to give it to those employees who are the most productive. This only makes sense as they will be the best equipped to handle the additional workload and stress.
Reward Low Ambition
There will always be those employees who whine and complain any time that you try to assign them a task that falls outside of their perceived responsibilities, just as there will always be those with more of a "can do" attitude who are willing to accept new challenges and learn new things. When assigning new tasks, it's best to assign them to the ambitious ones. They'll put up much less of a fuss, thus saving you time and frustration. Don't worry about lopsided work loads and responsibilities, or "fairness", whatever that means.
Avoid Giving Performance Reviews
Employees should not need regular reminders of your goals and expectations of them, especially since these never change. They should also have a good idea of their own performance without need of feedback from you.
If you tell an employee that you're pleased with their performance, they will likely expect increased compensation. Conversely, don't express your concerns to an employee who is not performing up to expectations, or provide goals or suggestions for improvement. If they can't figure out and correct their own shortcomings, you can always fire them. If it does come to this, see the directive about not replacing staff.
The Job Is Of Prime Importance
As a business owner, you eat, sleep and breath your work, often putting in 50 to 60 hours a week. You should expect nothing less from your employees. Never mind that they are almost certainly nowhere near as well compensated as you are, nor that they will naturally be less invested than you, having no personal stake in the business beyond a paycheck. They owe you complete and total loyalty for being given the privilege of working for you. Family responsibilities, health issues, personal hobbies and general well-being should not impinge upon work responsibilities. The work-life balance should always be weighted toward work. Your employees should live to work, not work to live.
In my letter of resignation, I did not elaborate on any of the above. Instead, I merely commented that the company has a morale problem and that the staff feels over-burdened and over-stressed. Sadly, I fear that this too will merely be dismissed as the unimportant grumblings of a malcontent.
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