Thursday, August 25, 2011

The secret to having happy employees


by Jay Goltz, Thursday, March 11, 2010
The New York Times

About 10 years ago I was having my annual holiday party, and my niece had come with her newly minted M.B.A. boyfriend. As he looked around the room, he noted that my employees seemed happy. I told him that I thought they were.

Then, figuring I would take his new degree for a test drive, I asked him how he thought I did that. "I'm sure you treat them well," he replied.
"That's half of it," I said. "Do you know what the other half is?"
He didn't have the answer, and neither have the many other people that I have told this story. So what is the answer? I fired the unhappy people. People usually laugh at this point. I wish I were kidding.

I'm not. I have learned the long, hard and frustrating way that as a manager you cannot make everyone happy. You can try, you can listen, you can solve some problems, you can try some more. Good management requires training, counseling and patience, but there comes a point when you are robbing the business of precious time and energy.

Don't get me wrong. This doesn't happen a lot. There's no joy in the act of firing someone. And it's not always the employee's fault — there are many bad bosses out there. Bad management can make a good employee dysfunctional. On the other hand, good management will not always make a dysfunctional employee good. And sometimes people who would be great employees somewhere else just don't fit your company, whether it is the type of business or the company culture.

In the worst cases, the problem of a bad fit can have a bigger impact than just one employee's performance. Being in charge does not necessarily mean you are in control, and being in control does not necessarily mean being in charge. Have you ever seen a company or department paralyzed by someone who is unhappy and wants to take hostages? It is remarkable how much damage one person can do. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you watch "The Caine Mutiny." Basically, one guy takes apart the ship. He was unhappy. It only takes one.

This is only my opinion. I don't have a Ph.D., an M.B.A., or even an economics degree. What I do have is a happy company. And that makes me happy. Now I know some people argue that business is about making money, and not everyone has to be happy. That is also an opinion. Everyone has a right to his or her opinion. When you own a company, you also have the right to surround yourself with the people you choose.
I have spent the last year and a half focusing on cutting costs, figuring out how the market has changed, and worrying about the economy. Things seem to be getting better, or perhaps I am just getting used to it.

Either way, I had a good day today. Not because I got a big order, great financial reports or even an employee stopping by to tell me what an awesome boss I am. (That generally doesn't happen. You have to tell yourself. It's a boss thing.) I had a great day because I spent most of it walking around the company and appreciating the fact that even after a year and a half of soft sales and cutbacks and furloughs, I have wonderful people working for me. They care. They are committed. They understand the whole customer–staff–company triangle, where all of the legs support each other.
If you read books on great companies, they usually leave out a dirty little secret. It doesn't make for good public relations — like talking about how you "empower people" or how your "greatest assets" are your people. Both of these well–worn clichés are true. What is also true is that it's hard to build a great company with the wrong people.

When you have the right people, business is much easier. I know because I have tried it both ways.

Jay Goltz owns five small businesses in Chicago.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Irracionalidad financiera


Lo increíble de nuestros sistemas económicos es que un grupo de personas, cada vez más reducido y poderoso, tiene la capacidad de controlar los destinos de millones. Se trata de un sistema oligárquico, imperfecto, inoperante y condenado al fracaso. La naturaleza del mercado se ha desvirtuado por completo, las utilidades han desplazado a las personas, el valor tiene sustento en la especulación y no en el trabajo. ¿Quién pagará el precio de deshumanizar el mercado?

En algún momento, en alguna coyuntura económica, algún grupo de inversionistas decidió que el trabajo y el valor del trabajo no eran suficientes para capitalizar los mercados, que las inversiones tendrían que hacerse en función de ciertos riesgos y variables cada vez más complicadas, que los mercados debían regirse por la especulación. En ese punto los hombres no fueron más hombres, sino máquinas de consumo, las empresas no fueron entes sociales, sino entes deshumanizados. El trabajo dejó de ser el pilar fundamental de la actividad económica. El futuro y la percepción que de él tuvieran unos cuantos, se convirtió en lo importante.

Y esa dinámica nos ha traído hasta donde nos encontramos hoy. Con un modelo económico inoperante, e irracional. Con derivados e instrumentos financieros que permiten a las empresas ganar más dinero especulando que vendiendo sus productos o servicios, y con gobiernos que apuestan al gasto público desmedido como motor de crecimiento. Un mercado que desmotiva la producción tradicional, la generación natural de riqueza, y que motiva a los empresarios e inversionistas a convertirse en parte de esa dinámica destructiva.

El mundo paga hoy las consecuencias de ignorar su propia naturaleza. Las minorías que controlaron el mercado, la avaricia que permeó el ambiente y la búsqueda desmedida de utilidades han pasado una factura histórica. Hoy más que nunca la teoría prueba su razón y acierto: el trabajo no podrá deshumanizarse, el valor no puede determinarse en función de lo que ese trabajo representará sino de lo que realmente representa, y la rentabilidad es y siempre será el valor que los individuos perciben como recibido.

Apostar por las empresas y por la actividad económica bajo las “nuevas reglas” que el mercado -y no su naturaleza- dicten, es apostar también a la especulación y a la percepción de unos cuantos. Crear instrumentos que proyecten rentabilidad bajo ciertas premisas futuras, jugar a la “fiebre del oro” cada vez que hay algo nuevo y prometedor, son la sentencia humana que habrá de condenarnos al fracaso permanente.

El éxito de los individuos – dentro y fuera del sector financiero- no radica en el valor de su fortuna, sino en la constante prueba de que quién sigue la naturaleza del mercado, asume el efecto humano inherente a él, y promueve la creación de valor sustentada en el trabajo, vencerá hoy, mañana y siempre. En lo hondo, racional y coherente de esta apuesta, debemos reconocer nuestra equivocación, y también, nuestra alternativa para un mejor futuro lejos de la irracionalidad financiera.