Scott Adams has never been a fan of management. Adam’s cynical view of work life is illustrated in his Dilbert cartoons. In the November 6-7 edition of the Wall Street Journal, he said, “The primary purpose of management is to kill any hope that staying with your current job will work out for you.”
Basically, he was poking fun at bad managers who make life miserable for the people they are supposed to be managing. His article said the best way to stimulate the economy is to force good people to quit so they start their own businesses and therefore create more jobs. That is a lopsided way of looking at things, but it does make sense. Adams said that was how he got started as a cartoonist. He was so bored and frustrated at work he started drawing cartoons to maintain his sanity. Finally, he quit his job. Bad management was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Are your managers doing what they have been hired to do? Or, are they creating a situation that will force good people to leave when the economy starts to improve? The scary part is, many of those employees have already ‘quit’ but you are still paying them.
Businesses have held back raises, stopped promotions, cut pay and benefits because of the economy. This has fostered a growing level of frustration and job dissatisfaction. Employees have the growing perception businesses have used the economy as an excuse to punish them so management can hold onto more profits. Unless employers start evaluating and reversing their course there will be a major backlash.
Synovus Financial has a policy that states,
“A manager’s most important role is to serve, grow and inspire his or her people—with no exception.”
Give us a call to discuss how we might be able to help you create a talent management process to attract, engage and retain your people.
