Klyde Morris 3040 What have you done for me lately

[mnewbery]

http://www.klydemorris.com/strips.cfm?strip_ID=3040

 

 

[Downunder]

I've always though that when a company says it's employees are "our greatest asset", the company actually hates and despises it's employees more than anything... 

 

 

[mnewbery]

This is the difference between BS and lies. Pay attention @fly_tornado because I'm talking about you.

 

When "management" tells the workers BS, there is no relationship between what they say and what they do, or the truth. The BS doesn't defend or predict future actions nor does it have a relationship to any agreed facts.

 

A lie is when someone says something which is proven to have been known as incorrect, in relation to agreed facts.

 

When I hear "people are our most important asset" I hear BS. When that information is attached to actions like "people are our biggest asset which is why we (insert action here)" its probably not BS but also not a good seam to mine for humor.

 

 

[nomadpete]

Way back when I worked for Telecom Aust, they had that motto. As they madly "resource rebalanced". 

 

(That means getting rid of as much of that greatest asset as they can)

 

 

[mnewbery]

About the same time Telecom became Telstra I watched some of those still employed drop dead from heart attacks. In one case, the day before he was due to retire. Let's have some more aviation humour?

 

 

[fly_tornado]

you make a very good point @mnewbery

 

[KRviator]

I've always though that when a company says it's employees are "our greatest asset", the company actually hates and despises it's employees more than anything... 

The hard part with having an accountant for a missus is she's always banging on about "Everything being an Asset or a Liability". Technically, employees are assets - though they are viewed by the vast majority of large companies as liabilities. The worst part is when you have worked for a company that was - and I'm being honest here - a truly fantastic place to work, and one of the best in the industry in which to work, then seeing the damage a change in management and managerial culture can do to employees morale and the businesses bottom line. ?

 

 

[facthunter]

 When a newly installed CEO sacks a lot of the workers they call indispensable assets, the SHARE prices rise.  That doesn't compute if they are assets.  When the company expands the new hires cost more as they need training and have to be carefully selected. The "liability" comes with accumulated  sick and Long service entitlements, but that is a known expense if you have been doing the calcs accurately. Going broke (on purpose) gets rid of that , but being old fashioned .. I regard that as theft.. Worn out plant is a liability IF you want an example as is lack of research expenditure/investment. Any IDIOT can sack people and change Logo's. and scare everyone about being there next Monday. All that does is make everybody think of working somewhere else.. Nev

 

 

[M61A1]

Technically, employees are assets

SOME employees are assets, many are liabilities, telling the difference as an employer may be difficult and liabilities can be costly to get rid of.

 

I have seen positive changes when some liabilities depart the company, morale and production improve, then when their new job doesn't work out (I wonder why), the company for some reason (usually to make up contractually obligated numbers) both morale and production decrease.

 

 When a newly installed CEO sacks a lot of the workers they call indispensable assets, the SHARE prices rise.  That doesn't compute if they are assets.  When the company expands the new hires cost more as they need training and have to be carefully selected. The "liability" comes with accumulated  sick and Long service entitlements, but that is a known expense if you have been doing the calcs accurately. Going broke (on purpose) gets rid of that , but being old fashioned .. I regard that as theft.. Worn out plant is a liability IF you want an example as is lack of research expenditure/investment. Any IDIOT can sack people and change Logo's. and scare everyone about being there next Monday. All that does is make everybody think of working somewhere else.. Nev

I can see how the process may be beneficial to the company. I have seen several times where companies grow and increase the number employees excessively (often middle management) and then stagnate, and it takes such an approach as you mention to clear some deadwood, but inevitably the cycle repeats.

 

There is a book about Boeing that describes this in detail since around the 1930's, but surprisingly they never seem aware of it happening.

 

 

[M61A1]

I should add that researchers have also found that the Pareto distribution also applies in this case. Meaning that about 80% of the work is done by about 20% of the employees.