Job Frustrations. - September 04, 2008
It has been unpleasant to discover that many companies are simply too large to effectively listen to every line-level employee idea, even at a company overflowing with optimizers. The top brass, by virtue of a lack of time, are forced to rely on information and criticism from managerial types. In my opinion this is the clearest flaw of the service industry. The managers are directly at odds with the general public and the staff. Useful critiques from both customers and employees are stifled in the name of corporate profit in a game that is more about numbers than customer service.
Much in the same way that your mood and dining companions affect the taste of food more than the cook who prepared it, the people you hire are significantly more important than the specific work that they do. An employee that is constantly seeking to improve things will have a drastically more positive effect than one who simply does a job verbatim. Human beings are natural optimizers, some more than others. The ones who see these opportunities and communicate effective solutions are those who find the most frequent success.
I once worked with a retired bollywood movie star who, while moonlighting as a caterer, decided to give me a bit of business advice. "Andrew," she said, "The secret to business is to let other people do everything for you." While this may be the secret to owning a good business, I believe the secret to operating one is quite different: Hire good people.
