Appreciate Work? Well, Yes I Do.

I have no beef with @JoeNation. In fact, I much enjoy interacting with him as it offers me a viewpoint into our changing world that I typically wouldn't have considered on my own..... Joe commented on one of my posts several weeks ago and the comment has haunted me and as a businessman that does care about the people that work hard for me, I want to open this up for discussion because I really need to know how the mind of the 21st century employee thinks.

I cannot find the quote directly so I will paraphrase. It was along the lines of, "You sound as though people should appreciate working for you"..... At the time and in the context of the discussion I let it go, however it has haunted me ever since. Likely because it is a concept that is entirely foreign to me. I was brought up in a world where I was thankful that I had two strong hands and a coherent brain that afforded me the ability to work and provide for my family. I have always been keenly aware that any person that I accepted a paycheck from had everything on the line. If they failed, I would move on to another line of work and that they would move on to the the poorhouse. And that has always been the way I viewed the employer/employee relationship.

Now, do not misunderstand. I value the people that work hard for me. I routinely hand out a bonus to a person that is taking a hard earned vacation. I want people to know that I truly appreciate them. I don't micro-manage people. And these days with daycare's closing unannounced when Covid strikes, I don't berate them, I wish them my best. I do give a damn about people. So please help me understand why rational, healthy and able bodied people shouldn't appreciate their job/employer?

 

I have a question for you first MD if you'll afford me the opportunity. I think it will help me answer better.
How many employees do you have and can you name them all?

 

I have eight and I know their names as well as their families names.

 

Kind of what I figured.
Working for people like yourself is a hell of a lot different than working for a large corporation wouldn't you say?

Your employees are much more than a small cog in a large wheel. They know and you know it.

I've worked in both environments so I guess you could say that makes me understand it a bit better than many. I'll get into it more later but gotta run.

Time for my daily antibiotic IV.

 

Hey Randy. I'm not sure which comment you are referring to. It would help greatly if I could read it again and try and remember the context. One thing I am sure of though, I certainly never meant that you didn't care about your employees. You have been very clear and consistent stating that you care about your staff and that you treat them with respect and trust them. I believe you 100%. If only every business owner had your attitude, this would be a much better country. Seriously, you are one of the good ones.

I've met a few like you in my time and have always had the utmost respect of all of them. I wouldn't let anything I said about the general culture of employee/employer relationships these days bother you. You are the exception not the rule. I apologize if you thought I was referring to you. I wasn't and certainly don't know you or your business and anything I or anyone said about it would be purely speculation.

This ironically falls on the same day that I just found out that my younger brother was fired from his job after he refused the abuse his employer was heaping on him and the other employees he worked along side of. It's a long story with lots of threats and intimidation that happen to culminate in a scheduling issue that was the last straw. The company used this scheme that had their employees working 6 and 7 days in a row without over time. They did this by making Saturday the start of the new work week. So if you worked M-F, they could schedule you Saturday and Sunday without paying you overtime because your 40 hours were in the previous week. Anyway, it was more complicated than that but suffice it to say, this company was abusive in so many ways that my brother finally walked away. It is more the norm for companies to behave this way than the way you treat your staff.

I have also been chewing on a thought about workers and maybe I should start a new thread but it seems so close to this topic, maybe it fits right in. The claim or assertion that you hear a lot is that people don't want to work anymore. That made me wonder so I have been paying attention to people's situations lately and a question came up. Is it possible that people have realized the American dream and found ways to survive without having to be a part of the workforce? Many would assume that they are living off of relatives or the government or some other benefactor but not necessarily. Certainly a large percentage of those people like myself have retired after decades of participating in the daily grind and to one degree or another, they/we are living on a pension or Social Security or 401K's or some combination of those sources of income.

Others may have found a comfortable living situation with relatives or perhaps are families where only one spouse works. Some have taken jobs like influencers (Yes, this is an actual job) where they don't need to participate in the 9 to 5 work world. Many people had to adjust their lives and reevaluate what is really important during the pandemic. Maybe people just like their lives without the abuse they face in so many dead end jobs. Isn't that realizing the American Dream? Maybe we have to acknowledge that we have succeeded and that we have reached the goal of a happy balance between our work life and our home life. I know I have.

When massive amounts of money in a never ending quest for more and more isn't fulfilling anymore, is it OK to sit back and enjoy your life? Isn't that what we've been striving for all along? Maybe we're there? Have you ever considered this? I mean, it means that Capitalism succeeded when you really think about it.

 

Headed off to the farmers market. Can't wait to see your thoughts on all of this.

 

Actually, I think you are closer to being on the mark than you realize. I think the downtime that Covid created did in fact allow people to become creative in the way they earn their money. I know if I had been a creative thinker like that, I would have better memories of playing baseball with my boys rather than running myself wide open for forty years trying to find time to play ball with my boys. So you may have hit the nail on the head.

See, we open school down here next week. I have two schools that won't have visual display boards for the teachers to use. Have another school that won't have wall lockers in their gymnasium among others and I am daily looking at threatening emails from these folks. Heck, I get it. But I am sure not used to it. And it all comes down to supply problems. Manufacturers are unable to source labor to build product currently. And yes, I'll be the first to admit... If I had the choice of sweating eight hours a day in a manufacturing facility or sitting in my living room selling doo-dads on Ebay... I know which choice I will make.

Yes, Joe... Your point is quite valid and well taken. Sure is making for a rough patch for this old fellow and I fear what the future may hold.

 

Hang in there Randy. I think the administration has plans to shore up the supply and distribution lines once their focus turns from the pandemic. Nobody wants to see small businesses go under. It isn't good for anyone. I also know plenty of people in education both on a professional basis and a personal basis. They will use their creativity to work around problems in the classroom. They always have.

If Americans are nothing else, they are innovative. This means more than creating a product and selling it for a profit. It means that if they don't like their situation, they will find a way to change it. If not this generation, then the next. That maybe what we are seeing. The pandemic may have only sped things up that were well on the way to happening anyway.

I look at my three boys and see what the future will be like. They all have a work ethic that is rock solid and at the same time have very little tolerance for meaningless work. By meaningless, I mean that they want work that is both personally and professionally fulfilling. A lot of jobs these days are service sector jobs that any kid with or without a high school diploma could easily do. Adults find these jobs dead ends and uninspiring to say the least and they can't envision themselves doing that kind of work for the rest of their lives. I don't blame them. Even when our parents worked jobs they hated, at least they were paid well enough to buy homes, raise kids, have a car, even if they didn't live high on the hog, they were building something. That just isn't the case in today's job market. Low wages, no pensions, no benefits, you basically work until you can't and then live in poverty. That's today's reality. Who needs it?

 

Well Mopar Dude you appreciate you r employees and I'd be willing to bet they appreciate you. Tends to work that way in smaller operations.

I was in small retail setting management for years but I was just store level cog in much larger corporations. I cared about my employees but as one goes up the line that gets lost. You are nothing but bottom line and those folks really lose touch with what goes on in the front lines.

After Covid so much has changed and a lot of those little cogs have had enough time to think of it. Why go from one crappy job to another after all?

The next time you get gas take a look at the person waiting on you when you pay. Ever see them sitting around BSing? I doubt it. Those people work hard and most that feel "superior" couldn't handle that job. Really.

It's easy to say "well work hard, start you r own business etc." That sounds great but not everyone can be the boss. Not everyone has the brains or resources. The world needs workers and if you crap on them enough you lose them.

The best job I ever had was painting. I went into it in my early 40s with no experience. Long story but we were a small crew. All new construction.
Then we expanded to drywall because we were fed up with following lousy drywall crews. I became the "patch and prep man" before final painting. Got damn good at it too.
I'm real creative at fixing holes that other trades have made in walls.

It was difficult and dirty work and I loved it. My boss treated me well. He treated us all well as long as we did our jobs and we knew what they were.

Did people get fired? Yes, it wasn't a gravy job.

Are there people that want a "free ride"? Of course. Always has been and always will.
However, I think most people actually do want to work.
They just don't want to be turd receptacles.
Eventually people like Jeff Bezos will run out of fresh meat.

 

Randy has no problem retaining his employees. I think that says it all

 

Well your stock just went up in my book…. Clembo, I have built houses, cars, multi-level decks…… But it takes me two buckets of mud to do one small closet…. Man, that is an art that I never got the hang of!

 

I'm glad wages are rising and people are getting a break from the treadmill. you only live once. it shouldn't be for min wage in a meat packing plant

 

The one nice thing was if I knew I'd be in the same place the next day I could just leave my tools. No one in their right mind wanted to do it.

 

Randy, I heard this today and it reminded me of this thread. Here is a perspective I hadn't heard before. I guess the recording will not be available until this evening so you have a bit of time to think about whether or not you want to listen to it. It is worth it. It is a "This American Life" story called, Essential.

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/

 

Being the technologically challenged fellow that I am, are you saying the content isn’t available until later? I went to the link and it said it was a preview.

 

Exactly. It was a current story and they don't post them in their entirety until later in the evening.

 

do you have a local NPR channel? you should tune in

 

I never looked it up but I bet they are on Sirius

 

usually it's an FM station in the lower numbers

 

I have listened. Twice in fact. I find it telling that no employer prospective was offered, though I do understand that isn't what the piece was about. The undeniable fact here is that any employer that loses touch with his staff's challenges and concerns has no business wearing the employer hat to begin with. And perhaps that is what Covid is doing for us; weeding out the less than competent employers.

There were four distinctly different stories presented, but one really hit home for me. The lady that worked at a pizza restaurant. She was deemed essential during Covid while the restaurant owner disappeared (her words)... When he did show back up, he was driving a new Corvette and that quite simply pissed her off. Thing is, we don't know if that man had run that restaurant for two years or thirty years. Perhaps it was time for him to reward himself for his efforts. We will never know.

Here's why that hits home for me. As an over the hill rock star, I borrowed 1.2 million dollars at a high interest rate from an individual to start this place twenty years ago. To say that I put everything on the line is an understatement of vast proportions. I worked my kazoo off to make this place viable and make it a rewarding place for people to earn a living and thankfully the place has done well. I am now at a place where I am positioning myself to retire in a few years. One item on my plate is a small retirement beach shack. Something I have promised my wife since I met her. The sleepless nights worrying about a million dollar loan or the years of 16 hour workdays plays nowhere in the mind of a disgruntled employee who could feasibly see that beach shack in the same light as the pizza worker viewed her boss's new Corvette.

See, when Covid hit and we were all collectively up in the air last year, my guys all went on rotation. My office was at half staff the entire duration. I never missed one day of work and my guys never missed one second of their earnings. There was no pandemic playbook for employers to refer to and in hindsight, maybe by the luck of the draw, I got it right. That is yet to be seen. But the fact is, Covid was and is a challenge for employers as well as for employees.

Long and short is this. Employers typically do not start businesses because they love to work. Few do love to work. We put everything on the line because we want our legacy to be meaningful and we want our families to know we did all we could to give them the best livelihood we could. Statistically, more new start up businesses fail that survive. It is a daunting statistic, but we do it with the long range hope of creating something worthwhile. I do not want my headstone to read, "He was one greedy SOB".... And I'll tell you, in 21st century America I believe I have become the enemy to many. We are witnessing a changing value system in America right before our eyes. I frankly do not know if the result will be a good thing or not.