Have you noticed—in our increasingly “PC” (politically correct) society, people are often offended by the most amazingly trivial things?
Well, I’m thinking it’s time I expressed MYSELF about something that actually offends ME!
No, I’m not going to list here, ad nauseam, what could be my own arguable grievances with this same society—but a particular issue has come up way too often in my travels as a systems analyst and developer.
I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to work with many businesses—owners and managers. But, frankly, in all my years in business, I’ve never come across so many WIMPY BOSSES, as I do today!
In a time when the economy has caused many owners—who at some point had COURAGEOUSLY risked ALL in order to start or invest in an existing business—to find themselves buried in ever-increasing taxes, regulations, diminished (even demonized) profits, and struggling just to keep their doors open. I’m happy to say, some of these owners call on my company for help in systemizing their businesses, in order to become as lean and orderly as possible in these times. Also, to keep those doors open and to keep their workers (uh, should I say team members, associates or whatever) gainfully employed—having an actual job!
But then—here it comes—there are those owners who have more and more succumbed to that “political correctness” that has caused them to lose courage in the face of the demands and expectations of some they have hired in good faith, only to meet head-on with constant grievances they have apparently lost the courage to address!
According to some business owners today, many employees express OFFENSE at being called “workers.” And, God forbid, these same types of PC-driven employees should have to think of their employer as “the boss!”
What is it in many people today that makes them feel so ENTITLED to equal status, even as a new hire, that they seem to lack the ability to show respect for those who have seniority or ownership in a business?
When I was a young (YES) worker—an apprentice in a printing shop in Baton Rouge, LA—I was excited just to find myself employed, making money of my own, and able to buy the things I wanted with what I earned. The “boss” WAS my boss, and I had enough respect for his ownership—his years of experience and willingness to trust me to work for him—that it never occurred to me to resent him or be offended by his position of leadership over me.
It’s OFFENSIVE to me now to see certain employees, in many companies, causing problems for their employers and others they work with, due to their “offended” sensibilities.
HOWEVER, I can tell you—it is even MORE offensive to me, to listen to the wimpy complaints of an employer who has given in to such foolishness!
I wish I had a dollar for every owner who has asked me, “How do I get my employees to use quality control checklists and follow procedures? They just won’t do it!”
Well, let me think. Uh...plead with them; get down on your knees and beg them to do the job they were hired and paid for; tell them how great they’re doing; express how lucky you are just to have them around? Or you could offer them a raise...maybe even equal pay with you and everyone else—no matter what they do, how long it takes them to do it, how many mistakes they’re responsible for, or how many days they’re absent.
After all, that would only be FAIR—if we want to be politically correct, that is! Everyone gets the same trophy, RIGHT?
No, No, NO!
I suggest—no, I guess I need to beg you as the owner—EAT SOME SPINACH; become Popeye and throw the PC bullies (the “Bluto’s”) out the door. That would be a GREAT system!
Did I mention? Great systems work!
- Categories:
- Business Management - Operations
- People:
- Philip Beyer
Philip Beyer, founder/president of Ebiz Products LLC and founder of Beyer Printing Inc. in Nashville Tenn., is a chronic entrepreneur, business systems analyst and consultant. Author of "System Busters: How to Stop Them in Your Business" and recipient of an InterTech Technology Award for the design and development of System100 business process management software. Beyer speaks to business owners across the country on how to bring lean, sustainable order to their businesses. Contact him at (615) 425-2652.