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Guest Column

Good CEOs listen and care

By MARC J. YACHT
Published April 9, 2007

I'm a month into retirement and can look back on a rewarding, challenging career. Overseeing 200 employees, I came to realize quickly that a CEO has two major responsibilities, one is to provide a quality product or service, the other is to appreciate and encourage the staff that makes that possible. One is just as important as the other. The manager who does not understand this simple concept will be faced with high turnover, disgruntled employees, and often compromised services or products.

I read with interest the 25-cent per hour pay reduction of a 75-year-old employee who worked as a bagger for a well known grocery chain. It seems his recent work was lacking and the logic suggested that if merit increases are given to employees who do exceptional work then salary reductions should be implemented for those whose efforts fall short.

My initial reaction was one of outrage at such a heartless decision and I looked forward to public response. To my surprise, it was somewhat mixed with some readers appalled and others showing support for such an action.

I must admit, though I have done hundreds of employee evaluations, I had never considered lowering someone's wage as a result of poor performance. I cannot deny the thought began to intrigue me. The first challenge would be a performance tool appropriate for a senior citizen. Perhaps one could subtract the age of the employee from 100 and multiply by a factor that would allow a handicap based on the elder's physical condition.

If a 75-year-old worker had a knee replacement and high blood pressure, the score for bagging might allow an additional 15 seconds filling the bag as compared to a healthy 65-year- old's assessment. Another example would be retrieving carts in the parking lot. Someone with bursitis and diabetes might be allowed a handicap that added 6 minutes to this effort in a similar comparison.

An employee scoring from 70 to 80 would be viewed as adequate and be recognized with a certificate at a staff meeting, but no raise. However, a score less than 70 would result in a payroll deduction and less than 60 - well, a pink slip and out the door. A score of 80 to 90 might result in a 5 percent raise, and a score above that might mean 10 percent - then add a three-month supply of Geritol to any senior who scored 100.

During the industrial age the concept of Therbligs was introduced through time and motion studies. The focus was to make employee production more efficient, a reasonable concept. The more an employee could produce in an hour, the less expensive the product. If that employee made eight movements to do the job and you could design his work space so that he could do the same thing in six movements, voila, increased production, less cost!

Charlie Chaplin understood the concept well in his film Modern Times. In fact, he took the idea a bit further. Lunch breaks are very costly to production, and a chair was introduced with gadgetry that could feed the employee while he continued to do his job. The possibilities of such a contraption were endless.

Returning to the present personnel policies, we continue to dehumanize the workplace. We lose sight of the human side of employment and pile on policy that may improve production in the short run, but at what price? The result may be a humorless work environment where there is little joy or incentive to improve; so many in the work force would change jobs and careers if possible.

I've been lucky; I enjoyed my position as health director. I hope I fostered a good working environment for staff. Our low turnover led me to believe that. Jobs are not just about money, and I doubt that there will ever be a perfect work environment.

There are problems that can't be solved, surprises that cannot be anticipated, and staff complaints that may not be addressed. However, a good CEO, manager, supervisor does his or her best to listen and make every effort to resolve concerns. If staff members feel you are supportive and not just looking for their inadequacies, they will be appreciative. Their work product and loyalty will shine. It is very rare that an employee purposely does poor work. I have seen and I have made mistakes, sometimes big ones. I will also mention that there have been great successes.

Back to the 75-year-old who lost 25 cents an hour. I suggest that a chief executive of that grocery chain evaluate the manager or supervisor that came up with that policy - allowing handicaps of course.

My wife, who doesn't say much, gave her view of that action this way. "I'm not shopping there anymore!"

Marc J. Yacht recently retired as Pasco County health director.

[Last modified April 9, 2007, 08:12:36]