Honesty in Management

I’ve been trying to think of something to write about in this edition for the last few days, and quite frankly, couldn’t come up with anything that I thought would be interesting to me or the readers…till now.  I don’t know how interesting this will be for everyone else, but this topic is something that gets my back up so here we go.

I participate in a couple of online forums related to what I do for a living.  These are mostly “question and answer” type forums.  The “how-to” and “why did this happen” type stuff.  One user posted a question about productivity measurement, and got a variety of answers over a couple of days, most of which seemed ok to me.  Then one guy mentioned what he called “sneaky monitoring software” that the workstation user wouldn’t know was in use.  This stuff records keystrokes, or in the case of some of software, the commands issued. Having been in management positions at different levels, I know that you have to keep the people working on what needs done, and some folks need more prodding than others. But come on folks…is it really necessary to be sneaky? If you are having a problem with employees on a department wide scale screwing off, then you need to look at yourself first.   Why are they doing that?  Go sit among them while they work for a couple days.  Compare those days to output when you are not there, and then try to figure out why it’s different.  Does output go up when you are physically present, walking around observing, or does that cause it to go down?  Take a look at your rules and guidelines.  Do they make sense; are they practical for real life?  One of my previous employers actually had in his employee handbook that “there is no excuse whatsoever for being late to work”.  Ok, but if that’s the case, then why was there another section that said “employees are not to arrive on company property more than 15 minutes before the start of their shift, nor remain on the property for more than 15 minutes after their shift ends.”  Not everyone can change a flat tire with the speed of an indy car pit crew, so what are you supposed to do if this happens, call in and take the day off? Traffic accidents are a real possibility and whether it was your fault or not, you are going to miss that 15 minute window if you’re involved in one.  I guess everyone was supposed to leave an hour and a half early, and park down the street till the allotted time came to arrive.

I don’t know if companies that do this sort of stuff think they are being realistic, or if these things get written by upper level managers that have forgotten (or worse yet, never knew in the first place) what it’s like to punch a clock or actually live by the rules they are setting down.  I have suspected at times that they try to come up with these impossible situations simply to have something to hammer the employees with.  Take for example an incident that happened at a different employer than the one mentioned above.  The department manager called all of us into the conference room one day for a collective butt-chewing session on telephone and internet usage.  He read aloud the vaguely written internet policy, as well as the telephone usage policy, and then set off on a rant that ran for the better part of two hours. I should tell you that there were more than 20 people in the room, and his favorite term during this rant was “wasted man-hours”.  As I said, this had gone on for two hours, times 20 people, so he’d wasted a week’s labor for one person on this meeting.  Out of this crowd there was one guy who consistently abused the telephone privileges and another who would break the internet policy by streaming music which he’d listen to with earphones.  At any rate the boss in this fiasco finally got to the end of his rant and asked the whole group if they understood and if not then “by God, the phones and internet would go away. You guys don’t need this to do your jobs and it can be removed!”   Well, here’s the thing…if I don’t need the internet or a phone to do my job, why did you go to the considerable expense of providing me with them? I didn’t ask for it, it was there when I hired on, so why put it there and then tell me not to use it?  Just so you could make speeches that make you look stupid? If the people in your department occasionally need to access the internet in the line of duty, put a couple of extra workstations in the room that are labeled “research stations” and allow them to have access, and cut the rest of the room off. Have your people sign up for time on them. Problem solved.  The extra workstations will pay for themselves in a single day with the time they save if you have this big a problem.  Same with the phones…if no one needs to be on the phone, why have one on every desk? Share a couple of wireless extensions for those rare exceptions when someone needs to make a call.

Now I know that there are certain high security operations where contact with the outside world has to be restricted and monitored.  In those cases, I understand that certain steps are necessarily taken, but if you’re not doing that sort of stuff, and all you are doing is looking for something to brow beat your employees for, then you need to find a new line of work.

You might be amazed at just how profitable your company would become if you’d surround yourself with capable people, give them the tools they need to do the job you are asking them to do, provide them with a direction and then get out of their way and let them work. Provide an atmosphere of trust, inspire loyalty and encourage those who may struggle at times.  Find out what the obstacles are and make an honest effort at removing them. Be eager to reward success. It doesn’t have to be much, kind words and a little recognition go a long way.  By the same token, if that trust is broken through carelessness or deliberate action, be consistent and fair in applying penalties.  The boss’s nephew has to live by the same rules as the guy that just walked in off the street. If someone just isn’t cutting it, weed him out.  Honest mistakes will happen, so make an effort to find out what caused it.  Cure it and move on.  Lead your employees instead of driving them.  If the only tools you have are threats and intimidation, you either need to sell your business and retire, or replace your employees.

Finally, if you find it necessary to spy on your employees activities through the use of monitoring software, tell them that you intend to do so. How can you expect honesty from your employees if you come off looking like a sneak who’s only looking for an excuse to can somebody?

Blizzards, Electric Cars, Solar Power

At time of writing, the biggest winter storm of the year is supposedly bearing down on us. My brother lives 40 miles north of me, and is actually under a “blizzard warning” from the National Weather Service.  While not unusual in the northern states, this is in southwestern Missouri!  For those of you who may not know, I live in northwestern Arkansas, and this is extremely rare in this part of the country.  Just to give you an idea, it is currently just after 10:00 p.m., and already there are 48 closings listed on a local television station’s website, simply on the prediction!  The first flake of snow is yet to fall.

I’m poking a little fun at the situation, but it is very serious.  For those of you reading this who  are not in this area, you should know that we are simply not equipped to deal with situations like this.  We don’t have fleets of snow plows, nor the budget to run them. Heavy snow falls so rarely that it's simply not cost effective to have and maintain a lot of snow removal equipment. The terrain is very hilly and steep, and even a small amount of ice creates very dangerous conditions on roads and sidewalks.  Most cities and counties in this area have some snow handling equipment, but not very much.  The normal procedure is to wait till it stops, then get out and push the snow off the main roads and let the sun take care of the rest.  A big snow for us is 4 or 5 inches, and is usually gone in a few days. Our problem is not really the snow, anyway. It's the ice. Snow plows don't remove ice very well.

The ice storm of 2009 that hit here left millions of residents without power for more than a week. More than 2” of ice accumulated in most places, and anywhere from 1” to 6” of snow fell on top of that. Power lines snapped, and with the added weight of literally thousands of pounds of ice, power poles snapped and fell in domino effect, sometimes for miles. Business ground to a halt, factories were closed, there were even shortages of natural gas and running water because there was no power to run the pumps and equipment to make those things possible.  People abandoned stranded cars all over the area, making snow removal even more difficult.  

For my more local readers who may have never experienced one, a blizzard is defined by the National Weather Service as  “a storm which contains large amounts of snow OR blowing snow, with winds in excess of 35 mph and visibilities of less than 1/4 mile for an extended period of time (at least 3 hours).” NWS Blizzard Page.  These storms often produce “white-out” conditions, in which visibility is reduced to zero.  The high winds of course create dangerous wind chill factors, and people caught out in their cars in blizzard conditions without sufficient clothing quickly find themselves in life threatening situations.  Combine that with the terrain in this area, and you have the makings of a disaster if people don’t stay home. 

This storm is predicted to be almost as bad as the 2009 storm, so what should people do to prepare?  Well, in reality, by the time you read this, it will be a little late to do anything for this one, and it may be gone by the time some of you find it. In general however, the best thing you can do for this or any significant weather event is to plan ahead. Every family should have an emergency plan, and should practice it. I’m not talking about finding a cave to hide in when the apocalypse comes, but a plan for your family to get through an emergency situation. First of all, you should have pre-arranged meeting places. For instance, if school is dismissed early, do your kids know where to wait for you to pick them up, or do you have to hunt for them?  What about on weekends? Do your kids know how to get hold of you?  A plan for your home can be fairly simple as well.  Lay in a few days’ supply of food and water, any medications you may need, a few flashlights with batteries, perhaps some candles or oil lamps with oil.  If you have a wood stove or fireplace, bring several days worth of wood inside so that it will stay dry and be at hand.  Make sure your cell phone battery stays charged in the event your power fails. Sparing use will make sure it lasts as long as possible too. A battery powered radio is always a good idea, but don’t forget the batteries for it.  Do NOT use charcoal grills, unvented propane or kerosene heaters and similar devices in enclosed spaces.  These give off carbon monoxide and can kill you when used indoors. By the same token, if you find yourself stranded on the road and sheltering in your car, limit running your engine to just a few minutes out of each hour. This will not only conserve your fuel supply, but will help prevent exhaust gases from building up in the car.  If it’s snowing a lot, make sure the area around your tailpipe stays cleared out.  You should carry a couple of blankets and some non-perishable food  in the car when extreme weather is predicted, just in case you get stuck and have to wait it out.

You can read more about preparedness here: Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.

The influx of solar power in homes and electric cars is another thing to think about when it comes to preparedness.  Solar panels don’t make much electricity when they are covered with snow and ice, and if commercial power has failed, your full electric car may not the best choice for evacuation.  Make sure you have a disaster plan that works around these things if they are part of your life.