What’s Wrong with our Companies Today
What is wrong with companies today? Perhaps the best way to answer that question would be to cite some examples from my own experience, contrasting the way things were handled in my company during the early years of my thirty-five year career, which began in 1974, vs. the way the are handled today.
We are given gifts to commemorate our anniversary dates for each five year increment of service, and the company used to have awards banquets every two years to honor those who had reached one of their five year milestones since the last banquet. One's boss would shake his hand, publicly thank him for his years of service, and present him with his anniversary gift.
The company discontinued the anniversary banquets and began handing out the gifts individually in private whenever they "got around to it." I had almost twenty-nine years of service by the time I received my twenty-five year watch, and if I had not pestered the Human Resources Department, I would not have received it at all. The watch was presented in a very classy way; I found it in my chair at my desk when I returned from lunch one day. There was no handshake or thank you from my boss. The watch bears no inscription to indicate that it was awarded to me for my twenty-five years of service. The company logo is not to be found on the watch. There is not a single thing on the watch to identify it with either the company or with me. The watch could belong to anyone.
Years ago, long time employees were seen as valuable assets due to their experience and their contributions. Today, they are seen as liabilities, the costs associated with their salaries and benefits being viewed without regard to the contributions made by these employees.
Over the last two years we have seen one out of four salary positions eliminated in our business area of the company, and some of those people who were let go had thirty years of service. If we were not profitable, it would be much easier to understand these cuts, but our business area has been very profitable throughout our history. We were already lean, but they made these cuts anyway. Needless to say, morale is at an all time low. There is no such thing as job security, no matter how productive a person might be.
In the past, the company was concerned not only about immediate profitability, but they also made provision for the future in the areas of equipment and training. Now, however, there seems to be a total disregard for the future profitability of the company, and the management strategy is to maximize the current month's bottom line, even if future profitability is jeopardized in the process. This is especially true when it comes to personnel. The people who were let go in our company were contributing, and the ones left behind are having to pick up the slack. This is placing ridiculous demands on the "survivors," and while they may be able to handle the extra workload short term, there is no way that they can do that for the long haul. Some things are simply not being done any more, because there is no one to do them. We have also lost our back-ups for the various jobs, and it will be very difficult to cover for vacations or absences due to illness.
The company used to have people working under more experienced employees, so that they could be groomed for advancement. I will be forever grateful to the man who took me under his wing and helped me to learn the things that I needed to know. Today there is no thought for developing younger employees. One of the people most recently let go was a very bright young lady who had a world of potential, but because her job was seen as being non-vital, she was terminated. I would have gladly shared my knowledge with her and would have mentored her. There is no one coming along behind me, and I can see no evidence that the company has given the first thought as to who will replace me when I retire and take my decades of experience with me. Believe it or not, I have learned a few things over the years, things that can only be learned by experience or by being passed along by someone who has the experience. They are not things that can be learned from reading a textbook. They are not things that can be learned in a matter of weeks or months, even with a good mentor. There should be an understudy in place right now, and I would do my best to train this person and prepare him or her to take over for me upon my retirement.
In general, companies today view their employees as financial liabilities, not as valuable assets, and the management philosophy is to maximize the current month's bottom line, no matter what the implications of their downsizing of the work force might be with respect to future profitability. A member of top management can look like a hero in the short term by slashing the payroll, because production does not fall off immediately, but rest assured, the time will come when it will be painfully evident that the infrastructure that was in place was needed for the long term profitability of the business.
