Or a pizza… ‘Cause it’s too late for a holiday party
Last month we discussed cheats here at MCE, and in the comments one pain point stuck with me: cheating your staff out of enjoying time together and relaxing on-the-job, will eat away at your most precious assets—your people—more than you realize.
Yes, I’m talking to you.
Please run over to George Tannenbaum’s Ad Aged. In addition to looking devilishly like Tony Curtis, he writes a witty, ranty, occasionally sentimental blog, skewering all things ad and Mad, and many things perverse and worse.
In his recent post, I guess it’s a holdover from a different era, I found George’s simple explanation for this pain: “I know the economy sucks… but if we give up institutions like this one, we are giving up our soul.”
Don’t just treat your employees well. Treat your employees. Maybe have a lobstah.
It’s a quick read on Maximum Employee Experience, but plan to spend some time at Ad Aged. He’ll draw you in with his wonderful words.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
P.S. For all you readers who’ve known me a while: George also hates emoticons at least as much as I do, but he’s still managed to invent one. I can only claim to have art-directed one, myself, so I’m hugely impressed.
^^
. .
^
o
Groucho wiggling his eyebrows. By Brett—free until 2012, or thereabouts.
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17 January 2009, 8:32 am
Woo-hoo! the wiggling Groucho eyebrows are here!
I get firsties because I’m up early and didn’t do my Viking Fridays
well who said it can’t be Viking Sundays, right?
(It will be good too.)
Can I send my masters over here to read this? Not our CEO, because I think he would get it, but the middle managers. You see, cash is tight like many places and so the word from the top is to cut back.
Have we cut back on things like plans to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista? Nope.
But… the new rule is that they won’t provide coffee (never mind cookies, those were deleted back in December) for any meetings one hour or less.
Now, this may seem petty, but you know what, it just shows us how much they don’t care about us when they nickel and dime us.
So *my* new rule is that I refuse to go to any meetings one hour or less.
We have a Friday morning meeting – one hour – where we chat about what we’re doing. I actually quite enjoyed it.
But – no more coffee. So I won’t go anymore. I’ve got more important things to do (like look for work elsewhere!)
You don’t care about me, I don’t care about you
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 9:06 am
Brett,
I’m sure I’ve said it before, I think your middle management should be here. And your CEO, too. (Sometimes preaching to the converted is a good idea, so send him over—plus he’s less likely to can you when he finds you here nodding your head than m.mgmt.)
Friar’s example of having to bring doughnuts on his own dime for the visiting division from Big City was one that killed me, too.
IMO—people think of this happening to lowly employees in lowly jobs, and we take a big collectively prejudiced look and say well, who cares about office stiffs making 30k who can’t have pizza on Fridays anymore. (I do, for one.) BUT—It’s happening all up and down the ladder, to PhDs at huge Factories like yours, to folks at ad agencies (like but not including George’s, thank goodness), all the way down to restaurant and retail folks who have to account for every soda they drink and explain every lost paperclip these days.
When we treat staff as expendable, disrespectable, and sometimes even verging on criminal, the BIG backlash is going to be finding out that the staff learns to treat THE JOB as expendable.
As if that trend weren’t already coming! Nobody’s going to be around forever. Unless we treat them a lot better, starting now.
Giving up our soul indeed. And maybe changing the workplace forever, too. Do these folks mean to create the Century of Every Man for Himself?
As a post-hippie chick, I’m desperately afraid that’s what we’re heading for. And to me, it looks mighty ugly.
Ack! My comment’s longer than the post!
‘Cuz I care.
Regards,
Kelly
17 January 2009, 9:24 am
Kelly,
I may just do that some time (send the CEO over here).
It is getting really bad, but in a way, it is good for us too. I’m in the middle of crafting yet another email that will be going to the CEO, CFO and CIO about the cost cutting that’s going on, while at the same time they’re planning a rather large upgrade roll-out for our operating system and office suite.
It is not really necessary to upgrade the operating system at this time as what we have will have patches out to 2014 and if we’re smart we can move licences around as needed for compatibility (i.e. if you get a new machine and don’t need XP, you get Vista, if your new machine needs XP for some reason – software compatibility – then you trade licences with someone else).
There’s a lot more in my email than that.
But when I say it is good for us, what I mean is that every time I send an email like this, my confidence grows. My confidence grows and that means that Brett will be consulting in this area at some point, because he knows that while a company may not listen to a lowly employee suggesting this, they *will* listen to a consultant from outside.
So the wheels continue to turn in my head – slowly and surely.
Funny what you said – “do these folks mean to create the Century of Every Man for Himself?” – it really does seem that way, doesn’t it.
It wasn’t that long ago that I felt a strong allegiance towards my company, but something changed. I’m willing to bet that the change was not in them, but in me. An awakening, a realization that I’ve outgrown the collective maybe?
But I know what you mean – maybe that isn’t a path we want to travel down, because if we go too far, we may forget to help each other in the process.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 9:26 am
PS – you’re going to laugh at me, but I forgot to eat breakfast
(You hear that James?)
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 9:45 am
Rock on, Brett.
And honestly—we’re pack animals. We’re meant to enjoy the collective. While I like reading Cali & Jody, I don’t necessarily agree with their idea that we should be productive and get our butts back or. Or WFH.
I think there are changes going on inside people, but again IMO, I don’t think it’s because of each of us. I think the Factories have forgotten that being an integral, beloved part of employee’s lives is an earned privilege, not a right.
When I lived in Rochester, New York, folks used to call Kodak (the major employer at the time) the Great Father. You look at that term and think now that they meant it as a snide comment. They didn’t. Sure, they understood Kodak was overly important, but like folks in Detroit of old, they also loved and appreciated that importance, and Kodak cultivated it the way we hear Pixar and Apple do today.
Yeah. If we travel too far down this road, we are changing big things about how our society functions best.
Great book: Bowling Alone, by Robert Putnam. I might have recommended it here before. It was written maybe ten years ago, but when you read it you can follow the trajectory to today and beyond with ease. Scary to let our social capital decline faster than our stock markets.
Until later,
Kelly
17 January 2009, 9:47 am
… and get our butts back out of the office…
or some such. There was a complete thought there, but my brain took a nap.
17 January 2009, 9:49 am
Sesame bagel with hummus in hand right now. And the ever-present diet Coke.
17 January 2009, 10:05 am
Kelly,
That’s right. We are definitely pack animals. I read an essay that talked about the optimum pack size being around 8, and that’s why we need bosses at work. Each boss has about 8 people reporting to him, and her boss has about 8 bosses reporting to her etc.
And I think that contributes to the dissolution of humanity at some companies. Of course, if a corporation could have a personality, there’s a good chance many of them would be psychotic (I know there’s a book about that).
Those are some great examples you chose – Pixar and Apple. You know, The Factory used to be like that too. Then something changed – if you ask the old-timers, the change happened in the mid-80′s. Probably right around the time “me me me me me” started to rise in a lot of people’s minds. It’s no secret that if the management where we work ticks off all of their boxes by year’s end, they get a rather large bonus. Which isn’t shared with the folks who work for them.
So they pound it into our heads that “it is unacceptable to be late on our commitments”. Yeah, not because it really matters if we deliver quality work to our clients on time. It’s all about being able to buy that new boat.
Sad. But not surprising, somehow.
Did I mention to you that my office hasn’t had any heat at all this winter? Nope. And I’m not kidding either. The only source of heat we have is an electric heater. What happens when the lights go out? Candles? An old oil drum with an open fire?
Never mind coffee and cookies, fix the frickin’ heat!
But you know what? I’m still smiling!!!
Your breakfast sounded pretty good.
I had two hard-boiled eggs and a glass of Perrier water
17 January 2009, 10:07 am
(I didn’t explain the first paragraph well enough – the reason why the 8-8-8 thing doesn’t work according to the essay and in my experience is that the people in the bottom groups don’t feel like they have a voice. But, thanks to email and some guts, you can have a voice. If my boss doesn’t listen or the manager of IT doesn’t listen, well, the CEO does. That’s why I’m still smiling.)
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 10:12 am
@Brett
My office building has heat. Sorta. But it’s a 1960′s era building with 1960′s era heating…some offices are too hot, others are freezing. Many offices like mine have an electric heater to keep the temperature civilized.
I also like the old time windows that don’t seal right. When the wind blows in the right direction, it whistles so loudly through the panes it sounds like a kettle boiling (EEEE EEeee eeeeeeeee) and I can literally feel a breeze across my computer keyboard (even though the window’s shut).
World CLASS. (Or ASS, I should say)
But AT LEAST the factory built a brand new building which will be ready soon…NOT for the engineers, scientists, technicians or trades people who keep the Factory running.
But for HR and security. Yep. Those people are obviously the most important.
Friar’s last blog post…Walking to Work at Minus 37 Celsius
17 January 2009, 10:28 am
@Kelly
I agree….this nastiness at the work place. It seems to be for Widget Factories EVERYWHERE…not just were I work.
It’s like it’s engrained in the Corporate Culture everywhere…no matter where you look.
I don’t know why it has to be this way. There was a “Golden Age” (in the 60′s to early 80′s) where careers were PLEASANT.
I talk to the Old Timers. They tell stories of managers going out for beer with the staff…bosses bringing by shots of booze on Christmas Eve…Junior Scientists encouraged to go talk to the Senior Phd’s to “Learn” from them. Social gatherings, informal meetings at the local watering hole, soft ball games…
They talk wistfully of Work being a FUN place…where you actually ENJOYED it..all your friends were there, and they almost felt sad on the weekend because they wouldn’t see their buddies till Monday.
One guy, who’s just retiring, shook his head when he talked to me. He said “Friar, 20 years ago, as an engineer, they would have treated you as a KING…you’d have a huge office, they’d treat you with respect…it was unbelievable…compared to now”.
And then, in the next sentence, the Old Guys will sigh, and tell you isn’t like that anymore…Its’ totally changed and they’re so godamned glad they’re retired and don’t have to work at “that place” anymore.
Hmph. When I hear stories like this, I’m pissed of. Howcum I (and my entire generation) missed this Golden Age?
What happened? Why did the workplace have to become so NASTY?
And WHY couldn’t we go back to how it used to be, where they treated people like humans?
Friar’s last blog post…Walking to Work at Minus 37 Celsius
17 January 2009, 10:34 am
@Friar,
It is possible to find places like that today, if we look hard enough.
Or, if we can’t find them or grow tired of looking, we can create our own. There exists a business model that is viable that goes beyond “faster, cheaper, better” (and treating the shareholder better than your people).
Every single small company I’ve worked for but one (because the President was an idiot) knew how to treat people. I swear that a lot of big companies have forgotten how to do it – but they can do it too, if they try.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 10:49 am
If you haven’t clicked over to George’s blog, please do carve out a minute. His post today is dead-on back to this subject.
Friar, you will adore his emoticon. I’d swear you two were brothers. His rants are exactly what you’d do if you were an ad man in NYC.
Brett,
Somewhere this month George had a recipe for Squirrel Cacciatore. No, I am not making that up.
NO HEAT? That is a crime. Or it ought to be. I have to use an electric heater at times to supplement the building’s heat, but we have heat. Just not enough to warm my chilly Capricorn heart.
I like the 8-8-8 thing, but yes, too many layers does make folks at the bottom feel like peons. “Flat” organizations are interesting, but there’s something in the middle that’s more ideal. Like how about 8s with a heck of a lot more transparency. Or flats with team groupings. I’ve seen both work.
Friar,
It’s got to move back quickly to that “old-time” way or there is going to be a collapse. Goodbye innovation, goodbye loyalty, goodbye growth potantial. Clock-watchers are not your biggest fans, trying to further your goals and raise your standards. At your Factory, Panthers, or the thousands of others. Big worry.
Sometimes I look at this “economic crisis” and wonder if it’s all tied together. Maybe this is the outward illness showing off the deficiencies that’ve been there for a long time. It’s not all finances and macroeconomics, folks. It’s humans, and microinteractions.
It’s the Experience of being devalued. That does not set anyone’s company (or economy) up for success.
Revolutionary changes? Or collapse?
Hm, hm.
Later,
Kelly
17 January 2009, 11:06 am
@Brett
There’s the Chandreshakhar Limit…about 1.4 times the solar mass. When a star dies, if it’s below this limit, it becomes degenerate matter and forms a white drawf.
If it’s above this limit, it’s go too much mass, and collapses even further under it’s own gravity and becomes a neutron star or black hole.
I think you can make a good analogy for corporations.
Small companies can be nice places to work for. But if they reach that critical mass, they become too large and self-implode under their own bureaucracy and stupidity. Thus becoming yet one more of those faceless corporations that treat employees like crap.
I think I’ll coin an expression. I’ll call this “Friar’s Limit”
@Kelly
Hey, how’s that for an Off-Topic (yet on-topic) comment?
And no mention of giant gorillas, either!
Friar’s last blog post…Walking to Work at Minus 37 Celsius
17 January 2009, 11:10 am
Friar,
Well, if you haven’t got a new emoticon, you can sure coin a great new expression.
Here’s hoping that many small firms on the verge of becoming big can find their way around Friar’s Limit.
17 January 2009, 11:18 am
Oh-oh, folks.
Unless you want to be totally jealous, when you see photos of the Lobstah suggestion taken to a whole ‘nother level, DO NOT click on this link:
Zappos Headquarters Experience by Maria Palma at People to People Service.
17 January 2009, 2:52 pm
Kelly,
I know there are limits for heat according to the Canada Labour Code, but I’m not sure about cold. I’ll have to look it up, there must be something.
It is possible to have a happy medium – transparency. The good companies have it.
I like what George wrote about Circuit City going under:
“In my mind it’s pretty simple. If your only reason for being is that you’re a low-cost provider, you’re doomed.”
and
“I have to believe that no one nowhere will actually miss Circuit City or any other low-cost provider. If clients or patrons won’t miss what you provide when you’re gone, you’re screwed.”
You have to be something other than “the cheapest solution”. You have to stand out. You have to leave an impression in people’s minds – you have to be so darned good at what you do that they think of you when they need a solution.
One way to do that is service before, during, and after the sale.
Hmm, where did I read that? Oh yeah, here!
^ ^
. .
^
o
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 3:00 pm
Brett,
No mincing words with that man. I liked the Circuit City post too. That bankruptcy was one you could see coming from a mile away, at least from the ones near me.
Hehe. Graceful compliments like that, freely accepted. Thanks.
Later,
Kelly
17 January 2009, 3:12 pm
Kelly,
Perhaps the Circuit City bigwigs should have been reading your blog, eh?
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 3:22 pm
Heh. I know of two sets of bigwigs who are watching MCE, and I’m proud to say that neither company has filed for bankruptcy.
Coincidence?
17 January 2009, 3:32 pm
Note to bigwigs watching MCE:
I’m not really disgruntled. Hire me and you won’t be disappointed.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 3:46 pm
Not disgruntled, Brett. Underutilized. VASTLY underutilized.
Have you read Seth Godin’s Tribes? I’m finishing it up today and it is The. Best. Book. Ever. (Don’t ask why I waited so long. ‘Cuz I don’t like bandwagons… or the idea of tribes, until I read this…)
From someone who reads a lot, and who (almost) never gushes. I’m marking up every single page in total thought-ecstasy.
Page 20, if you have the book, is YOU. Underutilized, with the potential to rock your world. I hope that CEO still has the sense he was born with so he can see it.
If you don’t have the book, go get it immediately. You will stay up all night to read it. Sorry to your wife. It’s unbelievable genius, and it should not wait.
*gush, gush*
Later,
Kelly
17 January 2009, 3:54 pm
Kelly,
Yeah – that’s a more appropriate description for sure. Underutilized is exactly the word.
No, I’ve not read it yet but it is on the list. I’ll have to buy it as our local library won’t have it (I know they won’t). I know the concept and there was a free e-book of experiences of the different triiibes that he put out. I had a look at that and it was really good.
The idea of underutilized reminds me of some of Merlin Mann’s stuff – are you familiar with him? (The inbox zero guy at 43 Folders.)
He put this together and like him, I use it as the homepage on my web browsers:
http://www.merlinmann.com/rightnow/
I love it.
Do you know if you can get Triiibes as an e-book? If so, I’ll order it today.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 4:05 pm
Nope.
http://www.amazon.com/Tribes-We-Need-You-Lead/dp/1591842336/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232226148&sr=8-1
Looks like it’s a Kindle book or the real thing only.
Going to check out Merlin Mann now.
17 January 2009, 4:07 pm
LOL. That link is brilliant. Guess I don’t dig into 43 folders deeply enough!
17 January 2009, 4:23 pm
Ack, bloody hell. Stupid Kindle. Why can’t they use an open standard for Pete’s sakes?
Yeah, Merlin’s quite the guy. He has videos too that are worth watching – the Inbox Zero one is good, as well as his Time and Attention one.
I highly recommend them.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 4:28 pm
Okay, it’s cool again – they have an audio version for download. I can do that
All is well in the universe again…
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 4:30 pm
Ooh, not me. Can’t mark up an audio. Or drool on it.
17 January 2009, 4:32 pm
I’ll probably get the real thing too – I just want the instant gratification. The closest *real* bookstore to us is 40 minutes away. And I doubt they have it. They’re more likely to have books about how to field dress a moose.
^ ^
. .
^
o
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 4:41 pm
Maybe after you dress him real nice, you could take him out to dinner.
Squirrel cacciatore, anyone?
Eeew.
17 January 2009, 4:45 pm
I’ve had squirrel too – we did some serious survival camping in the Boy Scouts up here
We spiced it pretty heavily so it didn’t taste too bad, actually.
Moose. It tastes pretty good. But I don’t like eating them. I think they are cute looking (can a 1500 pound animal be cute?) so I don’t want to eat them.
Then again, cows are kind of cool looking too, and I eat them. Maybe we should only eat ugly animals?
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 4:53 pm
Ah! I forgot to wonder until just now what Seth did with the pictures he asked readers to send in last year. They’re on the inside of the dust jacket.
& I’m there. Ho ho!
Another reason to get the hardcover, b/c no one can have enough photos of Kelly, LOL.
Sonia Simone is also there, and Jackie Huba who writes Church of the Customer Blog. And 1,000 of our closest friends.
17 January 2009, 4:55 pm
Only ugly animals… So that would be sea urchins, and walrus. Everything else you can probably make a case for cute.
I remembered you mentioning squirrel at Friar’s. Thought a cacciatore might be just right for you when you’re feeling like really small game hunting.
17 January 2009, 5:09 pm
Hey, you’re famous!
Sea urchin I’ve had (sushi bar). Taste is good – texture, not so good.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 5:30 pm
@Brett and Kelly
Awww..gee, I leave for a few hours, and come back to find I missed half the party. Oh well.
Yes, Brett, acutally I think there are limits to working in the cold. It’s about 17C.
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/archives/hrpubs/TBM_119/oshd-dsst/2006/oshd-dsst01-eng.asp
What’s ironic, is that for office work (non-manual labour) there is no UPPER limit at work. So in May a few years ago, when they still have the heat on, it was over 30C in our offices, for an entire week.
Nobody complained, the managers did nothing “That’s the way it is every year, when they haven’t’ turned the steam off yet”, they told us.
(Holy crap, we got a lot of funny stories about work). Someone should write a book.
Friar’s last blog post…Yes, we have NO Breakfast.
17 January 2009, 6:27 pm
Here’s a title for our book:
“Boys With Sliderules: The Case of the Nookular Menace”
Kind of like the Hardy Boys but not so dweebish.
Brett Legree’s last blog post…ultimate self-help tool – free for a limited time!
17 January 2009, 7:11 pm
Brett,
That was a pretty funny find. Esp. considering the book’s been here for a week and a half and I just thought of it.
Sea urchins aren’t cute, though. So learn to love that funky texture!
You guys would be dweebish. In an LOL kind of way. No way a nookular dude could not be dweebish.
Looking forward to Viking Sunday, BTW. Around here it’s going to be Eagles football Sunday, which ought to look about the same—but with green shirts.
Friar,
Missed you. Then I went out for a while to console myself about your loss. Now I’m okay.
Waiting impatiently for “somebody” to write his book. *taps foot*
Until later…
17 January 2009, 7:24 pm
@Kelly
Well, before I write THAT book…I’ll have to wait till I’m safely employed elsewhere and 500 miles away from Big Brother and his spies.
In the mean time, you can tap your foot about my Basil book, if you like.
Friar’s last blog post…Yes, we have NO Breakfast.
17 January 2009, 7:29 pm
*taptaptap*
17 January 2009, 8:11 pm
Okay..okayyyy….workin’ on the book, boss.
Wipin’ the sweat, boss!
Friar’s last blog post…Yes, we have NO Breakfast.
17 January 2009, 8:15 pm
Got to justify those fine markers, young sir. Keep movin’ forward.
*taptaptap*
17 January 2009, 8:40 pm
@Kelly
Actually, Ms. Tappa McFoot, there’s going to be a color ad in this week’s Splat Creek Tribune. It’s an advertisement for a local event, using one of my cartoons (that I drew with those fine markers).
PS. You joke with me about joining Twitter. But what we’re doing right now (having this on-line conversation via comments) is pretty much the is the exact equivalent!
(But I admit, coming here is more personal and more fun).
Friar’s last blog post…Yes, we have NO Breakfast.
17 January 2009, 8:45 pm
Yes, but I don’t usually get this much play time. I couldn’t put a useful Twitter strategy together, and I certainly couldn’t keep it up long-term. Some things just have to pass me by. 24 hours in the day, that’s all I’ve been given.
Ooh, do put a picture of the ad up on The Deep Friar! Ms. McFoot can hardly wait!
17 January 2009, 8:46 pm
(You, on the other hand, were made for Twitter.)
18 January 2009, 12:14 am
@Kelly
Ahhh…Twitter is 90% of the Cool Kids talking to each other, telling each other how good they are. (I try to focus on the other 10%).
Friar’s last blog post…Yes, we have NO Breakfast.
20 January 2009, 10:23 am
Aw, sadly most companies don’t get it. I read an article by Anita Bruzzese in USA Today that discussed a few companies that gave their employees raises and bonuses last year in spite of the economy. I am seeing 3 out of 4 of my career marketing clients fleeing from corporations to self employment. The facade of a nice work environment, stability and good benefits have given way to the reality that corporate life stinks. Day after day, I listen to horror stories about employers who conduct employee satisfaction surveys but never pay attention to the results.
Karen Swim’s last blog post…This Day In History
20 January 2009, 1:57 pm
Karen,
Isn’t that a shame (about surveys being ignored).
Sooner or later (and these days, sooner) lip service to the employees translates into decreased productivity, poor customer service, and pretty soon, you’re in the same barrel with Circuit City. Why does it take “times like these” for some companies to wake up, and why do some stubbornly refuse to wake up at all?
I personally can hardly wait to see what’s around the corner. For so many companies, there is only one way to go—up—unless they want to go belly-up, so I’m very hopeful. So many wake-up calls are being issued, companies can’t continue to ignore them!
Until later,
Kelly
15 February 2009, 11:06 am
Yeah! More Lobster for us overworked employees! :>P