I have not written a diary here in a long time. My head hurts at the amount of vitriolic animous people seem to be launching at each other these days. But I feel very strongly right now about an issue that might resonate with many right now, so I risk flame wars to broach a topic that has little to do with politics, but is important to me.
My husband's employer has recently sought to cut some of bob's co-worker's pay as well as minimize their bonuses they would recieve. This has obviously made several people upset where bob works. Last night they had a conference call to discuss a union that they had been whispering about for a couple of weeks. And this morning they met with company officials who had apparently gotten wind of the union talk. So i just sat and wrote a letter which i most likely would never send, but which i felt like sharing with someone. So follow me to the jump if you want to hear more.
OK. If you jumped, then I guess you want to hear more? OK. This has a lot to do with the economy and health care and possibly something many americans are going through right now.
Bob has been working for this company for two years now. Before that he worked for a subsidiary of Directv where he busted his butt and got pissed on. He had been promised promotions and helped catch thieves who had been stealing tools, and made his office a model for the nation. After he got screwed enough by the company, he decided he'd had enough and went to this other company.
Here we are now. Recently the company, looking to cut costs, sent a couple CE's to basically a temp/permanent status and then cut the pay of the higher level CE's. Then today bob found out today at the meeting I told you about above, that instead of the 5% bonus they had been promised for performance goals met, they would only be getting 1.5%. So I wrote that letter to vent.
Dear Sir or Madam:
I felt the need to write to you because, as the wife of one of your CE’s, I feel that you should know just how important you should consider these men and women who work for you. In the stores and at the ATMs and everywhere else you service, your on site employees are the representatives and the most basic source of your success.
I understand that you have your jobs in the success or failure of this company. You make hard decisions every day about where to cut costs. While you are making these decisions regarding cutting pay or benefits, please keep in mind that these are people who you are hurting, not just numbers on a spreadsheet.
My husband spent over four years working for a company before he went to yours. He put everything he had into that company. We struggled to pay the bills, he worked long hours. He made the fleet the best in the nation. He helped to raise the productivity of the office. But his ideas fell on deaf ears. He along with his coworkers were increasingly expected to do more work for less pay. Eventually it was too much to bear, and my husband cut his losses and took a pay cut to go to your company.
I am not saying all this to increase my husband’s standing, as if just because he left another company for yours he deserves something. For Bob’s leap is not unlike that of many others in your employ. People who value their work and their effect more than the pay. Yes, it is important to make a decent wage, but for many of your employees, they value excellence and being part of something bigger more than the monetary incentive. And that is a very valuable employee to have.
Employees like my husband put everything that they have into the success of your company. They do this because for them, this is their company as well. When you succeed, they succeed. They live for that success. And they feel that they are an important part of their company. They feel that their contribution is something to be very proud of, and they feel that at the end of the day, everyone who played an important part in the furtherance of the company’s goals would be rewarded.
Unfortunately, it would appear that the company does not seem to value the contributions of their on site representatives. In an effort to cut costs you cut pay and treat your employees as though their unending energy and time they have put into your successes were nothing to you. In an effort to cut costs you have left many of your employees worrying whether they would be able to afford their homes anymore.
Now, I am sure this would not be as big an insult if it weren’t for the knowledge that your CEO would be receiving a 7 million dollar bonus, at the same time the CE’s are expected to only receive 1.5% of the 5% bonus they were promised. You might not realize it, but in doing this, you are demoralizing these workers who are the bedrock of your success. Instead of everyone benefiting from the success of the company, there are those who are being penalized.
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but you are being rather short-sighted in your endeavors to cut costs. You may be boosting profits in the short term, but would be hurting yourself in the long term by this tact. Demoralizing your hard working CE’s will only serve to disconnect them from your success. When an employee feels the pride in helping your company, their company, to succeed, then rewarding that drive for excellence would only serve to leave that employee with a feeling of importance and that their employers recognize the hard work and respect their efforts. This would give the employee a direct connection with the success of the company, and they would work even harder. These employees would not only be working for the bonus, but to earn that respect that they have been shown.
I know, maybe it doesn’t make sense to you, but as a parent, I am ever engaged in this type of reinforcement of the behavior I want to see in my children. The employees you have working for you, most of them anyway, are not the kind who are only there for the paycheck. They want to do a good job. Rewarding that would give them a reason to keep it up. If it seems that their efforts go unnoticed, then they tend to not put in that extra effort. Do you prefer employees who are there just for the paycheck, or employees who feel they have a stake in success??
Thank you for entertaining my thoughts. As the wife of a man who has come home with a sparkle in his eye at a successful job, I urge you to consider the value of an employee who places the excellence of his work over the money in his wallet when considering where you want to cut costs. Because, in the end, the cost to your company may be more than monetary.
Sincerely,
CE’s Wife
I know, it sucks and all and wouldn't have an effect on anything, but it upsets me that company's don't seem to take into consideration that without these employees, they would not be making all that money!! These are not just workers they can pick off the street. They have their pick of the many for a limited number of workers. These are people who have a lot of skill at trouble shooting and put a lot of themselves into their work. they go out and fix ATMs and cash registers and so many other things.
I don't know. I mean, I guess it is an employer's market right now. But from what my husband told me, the company was scared of the union idea and are really interested in heading this off if they can. So....