So I’m going to prepare you and make you aware so that you understand how to deal with people with personal problems. A personal problem could be talkative, liar, theft, trust issues, scary, shy, flirty, sexually exotic, prideful, boaster, need for attention, know it all, playful, aggressive, depressed, etc…. There are so many others but these are off the top of my head. First you need to identify these personalities immediately. You may have a best friend and the only time you don’t like them is when they drink or when they are around someone you like or they like. Maybe you don’t like them if they are not drinking or around someone particular. These are behavior patterns, and at whatever point you don’t like them is the problem area. This is the point where, in their eyes, you change to them also, they might or might not know or notice, but they will eventually. When this situation or point rise that’s when you have to be proactive.

    To identify these patterns watch them, and listen to everything they say. Always keep in mind when people get in front of large crowds, is when they are more comfortable to talk freely not watching what they say. This is the time you listen, but not with a judging ear. Just be in tune with listening and you hear more, and read in between lines better.  Notice what I said, “Listen then you hear more.” Don’t get so use to hearing people talk, and not listening to people talk. Reading in between the line you pickup on things a lot better, because what people feel can be exposed when playing or in large crowds, but you’ll have to read in-between the lines. Don’t focus to much on that,naturally you’ll pick it up, trust you instincts. Sometimes people are telling you the truth while they are playing. “Aww, I hate that shirt. I’m just kidding it’s nice.”

    Don’t just do this in one environment. This is with different environments some or most people change, with social nature, or comfort levels. Guards go down and the true them comes out, you are to know when guards are up and when there down. Ever notice the truth comes out of you when your very upset, and a lot of other people you know. This is a behavior, and your personality is more truthful, while some people are naturally truthful, and don’t sugar coat nothing. That’s a personality, open & blunt or could be cocky. You give it your own title that is all we are doing. Labeling personalities and when they trigger. We do this with our kids, and with people naturally. Some people are more knowledgable doing this. Career’s dealing with multiple personalities daily. Doctors, Lawyers, Salesman, Law Enforcement Officers, Teachers, Parents, etc….

   So after your pretty good at spotting these personalities, and the personal problems they have. The ones that are important are the ones that effect your relationship directly with them. Remember, after you get to know someone, you really don’t have to do this. Every new person you meet, learn their personality so you know what your dealing with. What they have done to others, they will do to you, if they haven’t already. You just have to determine if they have changed, cause people do change. Please, don’t confuse this with judging people, we are learning them. Let their actions tell who they are, and some not all of what they say. Talk really is cheap.

    Now you have a friend that steals. Keep your things safe when their around and you’ll have no problems. A flirt, keep your man away from them, you’ll never have a problem. Make sense? The problem is when they do something and you were caught off guard. You didn’t identify who they were quick enough. That makes you think people are horrible. Well, they are not, try to consider why they do it, or you may already know. Background, who raise them… Traumatic events, etc… NO Father in childhood.. And some people are open to the idea of change, so keep that in mind…

    Now this part might be weird or different but it will make sense. Label your friends and stay within the perimeter. What does that mean? If you have a study partner, cause that’s how both of your relationship blend for both of you best. It goes no farther then that. “So you wanna hit the club tonight?” “NO Thank You!!” You have your club buddy, and this never goes into nothing farther. Having to do with school or personal, etc, is kept separate… You both click better in that particular environment, any other environment expect problems. Or just expect to bump heads. I think you get the picture. Some friends might cover every aspect, or just one or two. It’s like taking the bible study teacher at your church to a strip club. Weird example, but it’s exactly what people do, and that was metaphoric.

   Now carefully choose categories to put people in. Allow time to tell you how to govern this, and remember friends are not bad you just have to remember it’s a relationship, but we use friendship to take the relation part away. Relationship is a connection and it takes teamwork. You cannot change no one, but you do have control over yourself & your actions. You can change you. So if you befriended someone, find the real source why and use this information to find out what went wrong. Don’t allow people to use you and take advantage of you, that’s not a friendship, that’s game. Don’t waste time out your life trying to please someone that don’t really care about you. And when you need them they are no where to be found, but the one that’s trying to be a true friend your pushing them further away.

    Think about this… If you we’re paralyzed tonight from the neck down to your toenails. Is the person you spend your time with going to be there by your side the entire way through or the person your pushing away? Remember paralyized mean you depend on the people who care for you cause you cannot do anything but move your head. Who do you have in your corner? The people you hurt or the people that hurt you? Who would be there at your bed side? The people in your corner? Would they be there? The people your pushing away? This will help you make the right choices on who you give your time to, cause you might need to re-invest time.

EXAMPLE: Your wife has been telling you for years to get rid of those friends. Now your wife is gone, you finally get hurt. None of those friends drive pass the hospital for 6 month’s. That wife you hurt is right by your side, and she wants to know why you hurt her for them. They don’t even care about you. 

    I’d hate for you to be depressed due to being paralyzed and a negative response with the people you tried to impress, and feel bad because the people you pushed away is risking everything for you. If your real friends and family ever hold any event or invite you to anything you had better support them it’s important that you show up. If you stay ten minutes, you better show. Now if anyone happens to go to the hospital are you going to support them. After talking about you. Just think about that. I wrote an entire article on that also…. I hope this information assist you. “Now! Check Yourself!”

   Forums online, workshops, motivational gatherings, group meetings, etc…. Find ways to get and gather more information, and apply it to your business. No matter where your business is continue to push the envelope, find the next height for your business. Create goals to push your progress, and don’t be lazy. Stay on top of your game, and if you have employee’s you set the example. You cannot expect your employee’s to be to work on time if your not setting that example. It’s like telling your children not to leave dishes in the sink, but you do it. Of course your the parent, and the provider, but how uncomfortable would it be for them to leave a dish if it’s always clear of dishes. Then the person that leaves dishes would really stick out causing them to feel uncomfortable.

   Okay, so if I’m a business owner and have employee’s why is, “The Dishes” example important to me? Not only for business owners, but Project Managers, Managers, Regional & District Managers, etc… Any position where your over a person or a group of people. This is why, first you have gained respect from your workers by making it clear through action that you practice what you preach without saying it. Your rules and guidelines are clear and it’s obvious that you follow them, without you needing to boast that you follow your own rules. That respect will make your employee’s work that much harder for you. 

   Create goals for your employee’s, and challenge them, push them. Always acknowledge positive things they do, like reward for three consistent months on time, $50 cash bonus. Never lead them to think that they are doing perfect. It’s always something needing improvement, cause if they think that there the best, they act like the best. Showing up late, feeling like you need them, etc…. Balance this!!! You will see a production growth in just this one change in management, and you stay on top of your duties. You should have a report weekly of the progress gained or loss. Let the entire company know what your goals and intentions are. Including them in your goals helps you to get your unit running in unison. If the company is falling in an area, you need to catch that disease before it spreads, and this is why reports weekly is important. IF you have superiors, get there input, your a student always. They should have advice based off of experience & education. At the end of the day you won’t lose your job or business for doing your job.

   So that’s a lot of managers down fall, getting there employee’s to do the minimum V.S. going all out for you. Which leads me to the next thing. If your a business owner prepare to replace yourself. You should be setting up your company to where it’s running it’s self. Start duplicating yourself. Train a person you trust, or a group of people you trust so you can eliminate yourself from the equation. Whatever your training them to do but sure the methods will work if done properly. That position will make or break your companies progress. Make sure your trainers are taught how to reteach properly. Grade them…. Don’t leave your company to watch it burn. You want the paycheck to grow while your on the beach. Here’s my example:

Example: My Real Estate Company in Florida I was running. It was a long process to complete a sale. I searched for profitable properties, which took time. I found a system that worked for me, and trained someone to do it for me. Then after you find a property you have to usually track down the owners, again long process. I found a system that works for me, and trained someone how to do that for me. Keep in mind, if this is there only job, you pay them very little, because they are not doing much work. After they complete their job they report to the next person. So next, negotiate a price to buy the house, and set up the close on the house if negotiated at a reasonable price. I always handled that, cause it was my money. I hired someone to sell my homes for me, and I trained them how to do that. I usually tried to close on buying a house and selling it the same day. If you know the process of buying a house you understand that. I had an expert at rehab, and it was a good friend of mines. He was cheap too. At the end of the process, I profit anywhere from 9k – 18k and payout about 2 to 3 grand for the people I hired…. What did I do? Hire people train them, negotiated deals they found and made more money then them. I barely did anything, other then train.

   So replace yourself… If I would have paid someone to negotiate, and train I would have got paid just to be a project manager for my own company. I learned this at seminars, and workshops I attended, and I work smarter now. So I’m telling you attend seminars, and always be a student. The moment you stop being a student, QUIT. Also remember if you have employee’s set the example, and build them up. Always push them harder, but make it fun. Find ways to make them work harder, put out bonuses, competitions, or reward progress… Be creative, and get your employee’s working for you, and watch the production for your company when your employee’s execute as a unit. Warehouses have faster growth, or quicker production. Sales Teams weekly average shoot through the roof breaking records in sales. Store owner’s have better customer service, and faster service at restaurants. But you as the example have to continue to gain knowledge to execute progress plans. Last but not least look for a way to push your company to the next level. And network for no reason at all, and find good networking events. You find investors, new investments, things you may need a favor on or visa versa.

   If you have one store, try to push sales on the one you have and start looking for another location. If you have two carpet cleaning vans, create a plan to raise your clientele so you can invest in another van or two. If you have one website, find out different ways you can boast your exposure. Do the one thing you said you wasn’t. IF you market through e-mail, try the phone or local newspapers. Run promotions at your store… Be creative, and put your company in a position where you can begin to replace yourself. If necessary, take classes on Business Administrator so you can properly elect new positions in your company to put your business in position where you can be on the beach while your open for business. If your not in this position, you have some work to do. So start pushing, you should be the first one in and last to leave.. Push & Replace!!! Hold yourself accountable…. And Network….

Eventually, I would get put into some situations at work in which I was getting taken advantage of by the managers. After working at a place for almost four to five years, you can get a pretty good understanding of how things work. I knew how to do everything in that store. I even closed many nights with a manager who was lazy and couldn’t do anything. He’d sit at a table in the dining room and smoke all night long.

He’d always drag me along into his office with him after closing and tell me that it was my job to do paperwork and all sorts of stuff that a manager should be doing, and I was told that if I didn’t do it he’d fire me and hire someone else.

Eventually, it would get to the point where the closing manager would just leave before everyone else was done closing their positions. They’d just leave and tell me to lock up as I left. At first I thought this was cool because I was getting the chance to act like I was someone who had a significant role in something, but after this was happening night after night, I quickly started to wonder what was going on.

I started to think, He’s leaving, and I’m staying to do his job that he’s still getting paid to do, and I’m not making the salary that he’s making to do his job for him. I thought that there was something wrong with this, but I never said anything to anyone because, again, I hated conflict, and I didn’t want to cause a huge scene.

That particular manager ended up being fired and I stayed on as a regular employee. Life became a little easier there for a while. I worked there and went to school at Indiana Wesleyan. I loved playing in the wind ensemble at school.

That particular manager ended up being fired and I stayed on as a regular employee. Life became a little easier there for a while. I worked there and went to school at Indiana Wesleyan. I loved playing in the wind ensemble at school.

Eventually, I found another girl who was in the wind ensemble at Indiana Wesleyan University whom I liked, and I started to try to talk to her. Talking to her was hard for me because she was so pretty and I was afraid she would hate me and ignore me too.

It was at about that time that the social networking site Facebook was coming on the scene for college students. At that point, it was a social networking site for college students only. Now, just a few short years later, it’s one of, if not the biggest, social networking Web site for anyone in the world. People of all ages, shapes, sizes, and colors can now join the site.

I was thinking that maybe it would be easier to talk to her on there, so I added her as my friend on Facebook and started sending her messages just asking her how her day was or what she was up to. I’d also send her random messages saying, “Have a good day.” I loved to be nice to a girl and show her that I cared about her. Unfortunately, it was a common thing in my life for girls not to like me and even hate me. At times, it felt like they hated me just because I was being so nice to them. 

For more information on autism visit http://www.travisbreedingautism.com/

For related articles visit http://authspot.com/short-stories/the-blind-orchestra-audition/

                                      http://healthmad.com/mental-health/job-interview-with-aspergers/

                                      http://www.triond.com/users/breete01

There are different types of abusive bosses, there are the outwardly abusive and aggressive – because of manipulative underhand nature of the average workplace an outwardly aggressive enemy is a blessing, but perhaps more dangerous and common is the covert aggressive type of boss. Unfortunately some Bosses can be very clever and abusive – dressing up talking down as trying to improve to, not giving opportunities, presenting a friendly outward face whilst all the while backstabbing and undermining you. There too many bosses these days who will bend over backwards for their superiors but bully their subordinates.

You have to remember that in all workplaces be a person a subordinate or boss they are are ultimately working in their self interest. In order to scare off abusive types align yourself with the people who have influence, stay with the crowd, ensure your work is top class. Abusive types are always looking for any sign of weakness or something they can use to exert some power over you. Give them no options, no weaknesses, show them no distress or unhappiness with there behavior. Its like the war on terrorism, you must not allow their behavior affect your way of life. Enlist the help of allies at work, there is strength in numbers.

Ultimately the only thing abusive bosses fear is losing their job, they fear other bosses on the same level as them, they fear their superiors, therefore ensure more bad news that gets back to their bosses about them – Ensure you keep creating as much bad news about them as possible without being seen as a troublemaker. Give them no support or help.  If they have a bad trait or behaviour, encourage that behaviour.

Starting recording their behaviour and actions in a file off site, catalogue it, get a consistent pattern of their behaviour you may need this should it go further. Give them a friendly and compliant front and do not allow them realise your watching them.

Bosses who come out with subtle remarks, smirks, aggressive stares, subtle threats, and generally a nasty attitude but won’t actually outwardly say what they mean are another a difficult type to handle. Outwardly agreeable and pleasant to others but behind the scenes slippery and divisive. You must force them to say what is on there mind. An aggressive stare – ask are they stressed about something, subtle threats – force them clarify there remarks in public – make them feel pain with every action they take.

Outwardly aggressive types can be handled by outward aggression, such as insults, although its important to take them on, fight fire with fire. Although remember at the end of the day they are your boss, and going overboard could get your fired.

It depends on the environment,  what is tagged as abusive is just goes with the territory, and you just have to take it.

I was an only child, with two working parents. You would think I was spoiled rotten, wouldn’t you? Contrary to that myth, my parents did everything they could to be sure I wasn’t spoiled. I remember so clearly my question to Mom and dad as I approached my 16th birthday. “So, what kind of car are you going to buy me?” I sincerely inquired. I honestly thought my mother and father were going to fall out of their kitchen chairs with laughter. “Do you have a job?” was my dad’s question. “No,” I replied. “Well, you better get one and start saving your money because your mother and I are certainly not buying you a car,” was my father’s quick reply. “Okay, but you will put me on your insurance, right?” I countered. “Hey, if you’re old enough to work and buy a car, then you are old enough to buy your own insurance,” said my dad. By the way, my parents still thought my questions were amusing and continued chuckling at my youthful innocence.

Less than one mile from our home was a restaurant that featured both dine in and carhop service. I was hired to work as a male carhop. Good grief Charlie Brown, what was I thinking? Back in the days of cavemen, this eating establishment offered a Friday special which included a 2 piece fried chicken dinner, with fries and coleslaw for $.99 and as you can imagine, it was packed both inside and out. The owner was a nice enough guy, although I was always a little leery of him and his cronies. He was a soft spoken Italian who had his own round table in the dinning room where he drank coffee, chain smoked and basically hung out with a circle of other Italian friends. It was an unspoken rule that you were not to approach his table once his buddies were sitting with him, otherwise you get be given a look that would chill your very soul.

One of the most miserable and mean spirited people I have ever met was the restaurant manager. A middle aged woman, with jet black hair, black framed glasses and an almost anorexic stature. She ran this establishment like it was a prison camp. She was the matron and we were the prisoners and the billy club of her authority was wielded at the employees without hesitation. As a sixteen year old, earning a restaurant wage of $1.19 an hour, plus tips I knew it would take forever to save for a car. Believe me, when a dinner costs only $.99 and you are a male carhop to boot, you can forget about making money off of tips. A usual night’s tips might be as high as $.55 and some evenings they were only a quarter, if that.

Another fact worth mentioning in my tale of woe, is where this food establishment was located. It was in a place called Cicero, New York, the heart of New York State’s snow belt. The winters can be and are brutal, especially during the month of February, with below zero temperatures. The warden loved to send me out on these extremely cold nights carrying a bucket of water and a rag. I would be instructed to venture out into the elements and wash off the outside menus at every car station. God I loved that woman! Begrudgingly I would be sloshing the soapy bucket through the snow banks, hands purple from the cold, nose running like Niagara Falls and follow through with the dictator’s orders. However the icy winter’s cold would soon be turning into molten lava.

I vividly remember this particular Friday evening, which as I mentioned, was our busiest night. The only two people that showed up for work were the manager and myself. Holy fried chicken Batman, how was I to pull off this feat? Miss Personality was taking the orders and working the fryers, while I busily filled the take out trays for my deliveries to the cars. Then the explosion occurred. The Wicked Witch of the West snapped. She angrily approached my tray order. In an aggressive and hostile manner she began slamming things around on my tray, screaming, “How many times do I have to tell you the chicken goes here, the coleslaw here and the beverage here!” She was almost insane with her anger. Well, I have never been accused of backing down from confrontation and that infamous night was no different. As if it were a Frisbee, I hurled the tray full of food across the kitchen, and loudly exclaimed, “You are so great at this, now you can do it all by yourself, because I QUIT!” I grabbed my $.35 tip jar and walked out. “Yes” I was free. 

I waited two days to go back and pick up my final paycheck. I fully expected trouble. The owner, as usual was at his table with his buddies. He was grinning from ear to ear. “Hey kid, I heard what you did and I gotta tell you that took guts. Of course, you do realize I can’t hire you back, but I love how you stood your ground. Nobody talks to her like that,” he said as all of his pals were laughing. “I know, but thanks for letting me work here anyway,” I replied.

I never did save enough cash for my first car. I bought a 1959 Metropolitan for the price of a .22 caliber rifle with a scope. Now, how was I going to earn enough cash for insurance? The story will continue….

Written by: DENNIS L. PAGE

OTHER ARTICLES BY DENNIS L. PAGE INCLUDE:

http://socyberty.com/politics/24-hour-news-cycle-killed-real-news

http://socyberty.com/crime/14-dead-in-murder-suicide

http://quazen.com/arts/the-day-my-father-died

Problems with family responsibilities in the workplace is a hidden issue. Some managers, because they do not talk about it in the workplace, thought the workers do not have care needs or family. The problem is quite easy, that many people believe they have to perform at high standards, both at work and at home. This will cause many difficulties in the workplace with unprofessional attitudes. That’s why they never mention their problem to their manager. It does not mean there is no problem and does not affect the organization. Below are the actions that can be taken by managers.

Actions should be taken by managers

• Recognizing the importance of family obligations of the workers.
• Knowing and support human resource policy that allows for flexible working practices.
• Welcoming the discussion of work and family issues.
• Keep up to date on issues of workers with family responsibilities.
• Make sure the meeting is held early in the morning or late at night to allow parents to mesh opening and closing times of the service.
• Recognize that men and women are responsible for care.
• Recognizing that too many hours affect all workers, not just those who have family responsibilities.
• Encourage the workers to work with you to find a solution together with the right to work and family issues.
• Recognizing that child care is not the only type of care that the workers perform.
• Recognize that the workers with family responsibilities are more productive working environment with support from supervisors and colleagues.
• Understanding families from different cultures and different family or celebrate religious holidays, but do not have the benefit of officially recognized holidays such as Christmas.
• Manage staff leave was extended to get a copy of the relevant information. Most people avoid the task of giving the responsibility to ensure that the workers authorized to receive any information about their work, including information on vacancies, staff newsletters and invitations to social functions.
• Provide support, warranty and return the start-up for the workers returning to work from extended leave.
• For the workers who need to maintain contact with their families while they are working, supporting regular contacts by telephone.
• In the workplace where the workers can not communicate for a long time, agree on the number of contacts that can be used in emergencies by family members or service providers.
• Review of training procedures. The program until normal business hours and close to where people usually attend work? Is it possible for part-time staff to attend training or a whole day would be more appropriate to consider a half-day training?
• Travel often cause problems for people with family responsibilities. Try to avoid housing training, even though not possible to review aid (both physical and financial) to their the workers need to ensure that they can gain maximum benefit from this system. Where the workers bear the costs of additional family care, you may want to change the fee.

Full source : Easy Tips, Easy Tips Blog

If this were not awful enough Britain also suffers from a spreading infection called ‘Managerialism.‘

Managerialism starts with the government decreeing a new policy that must be implemented everywhere. The policy is apparently for the common good and may or may not have merit.

The first thing that Local Government and all public bodies, must do is create a managerial post at a significant salary – minimum £70k, in a new department or attached to an existing department. Then adverts must be placed for people to be managed, and they in turn must have salaries ranging from £25k to £35k.

When, after six months or so, all is in place these people then set about interfering in people’s lives by setting targets and requiring monthly returns of data.

Then because the Manager has nothing left to do the original task is deemed not to be comprehensive enough and the manager adds additional tasks. Managerialism when you distill its very essence is a) to find things for other people to do that distract from real work b) to create new manager posts c) to justify their own existence.

Since Managerialism is now rampant in Britain you see the slow inexorable decline of Hospital Standards, Nursing Standards, Educational Standards, in fact wherever there are standards to be maintained Managerialism undermines them.

The front line staff and the recipients of front-line care are no longer as important as sending in bits of paper showing targets have been met. That there are unpleasant unforeseen consequences to the recipients of front-line services is irrelevant to Managerialism.

Managers are expected to apply laws such as Health and Safety, Equal Opportunities, the Data Protection Act, Human Rights act, and so on. Data is now so protected that any question is refused an answer because of the Data Protection Act regardless of whether the question would breach any form of confidentiality. This is of course because Managers are office workers and not trained lawyers or teachers, etc., and so have no sense of proportion. In fact they all enjoy saying “No”

Managerialism is always the route through which cuts and job losses are made. Consequently Managers employ more managers of the junior kind to implement cuts and then they freely remove Carers, Nurses, Cleaners etc., but never pen pushers. As cuts are made the ratio of administrators to people who do real work grows because administrators never sack themselves.

Why is this?  Is it because there are such significant differences between nations and organizations that the argument does not carry over?  Or is it rather because we put more value in organizations than nations – we do not mind the country being badly-ruled, but we need our companies to be well-led?

I think there are a number of reasons why we do not do so.  Not least, we have just not considered it properly as a society.  When we do talk about democratic organizations we do so in the sense that they are fairly decentralized (http://www.worldblu.com/orgdemo/characteristics.php).   What I mean here is actually electing management.

Some would argue that an organization where the managers are elected would encourage corruption, or at least high levels of patronage.  I disagree: though patronage does remain in most democratic countries, they  are still much more transparently governed than non-democracies.

Others would argue that management is not about being popular, and that elected managers would not be able to make hard decisions.  Yet we trust our elected national leaders to do exactly this – to maintain a level of popularity (which they need to win elections) whilst deciding what is in the best interests of all.  Politicians have to learn that they cannot please all the people all the time, and that is what elected managers would also need to do.  But it is possible: politicians in democracies are frequently derided, but in fact most are ethical, conscientious, hard-working and principled – it is the nature of politics that compromises have to be made, and it is the nature of compromises that they cannot please all, or often even please most.

Still others would argue that management in an organization requires specific knowledge sets and experience.  This is undoubtedly true, but this is what electors need to consider, and larger organizations would be able to provide a level of permanent senior staff who are directly answerable to the elected leaders, just as in the party-civil service model.

So what are the key advantages of electing managers?  Firstly, the whole purpose of democracy is to bring greater freedom and equality at all levels.  Unnecessary hierarchy would be removed, and flatter structured organizations would be better placed to meet the challenges of the Internet age.  Secondly, there would be much greater accountability; managers would need to think further through the implications of their decisions – they would not be able to bully or intimidate or think purely of their own career.  Thirdly, it would provide much greater control for individuals in how they live their lives; democratic organisations would need to respond in a much more active way to their staff, and also to their customers and shareholders.  And fourthly, whilst some might suggest that electing managers would lead to weaker decision-making, I would strongly argue the opposite – an elected manager would have a real mandate to govern and make changes however he or she had said they would do so during the election campaign.

So if you do just one thing today, email a copy of this article to your boss.  You could always tell them they’ve got your vote.

Office jobs are largely considered to be rather more comfortable, with office workers enjoying plush surroundings and decent wages, with the stress of a 9-5 shift of chairpounding being nothing in comparison to 8 hours straight arduous labour. But as the industry has gone through a rather difficult time of late, the larger operators have felt the need to be evermore watchful of their performance – and the reverberations of these industry-wide difficulties have impacted upon the daily lives of their employees.

Such companies now need to be seen to be “effective” – in their spending and their use of resource. The most fundamental resource any company has – and most costly – is its work force.

Of course, a company’s effectiveness – be they producers of trainers, cars or insurance policy documents – is most readily measured in terms of output. For an insurance company, number of applications received and converted into active policies is an obvious measure of this output. But as with any industry, the efficiency of the “end-to-end” process – from application to the time the policyholder starts paying premiums is also an important factor.

Time is money. This is never more true than where the processing of life insurance is concerned. The simple fact is that the longer it takes to process an application, the more it costs, and with policies costing as little as £5 per month, it can take a very long time to recoup the administration costs of many policies. There is no simple solution to this problem, although the larger companies have spent a lot of time and money coming up with some.

Allocating times to various common administrative tasks has been one adopted method of addressing the issue. The times given to each task were based on an “average” time it took a “fully skilled” worker to perform the tasks in a series of preliminary tests. But averages don’t always work: there is no such thing as a true average, be it an average task or an average worker. However skilled a worker may be, they may not be as fast as another. And even the fastest worker may be able to produce letters at a rate of one every four and a half minutes for half an hour, but over the course of a full working day? It’s not easy to sustain the momentum often achieved in “controlled” or “test” conditions. What about drink and toilet breaks? All included in the very generous 15% added to all tasks. But when many tasks are only allocated one minute and thirty-two seconds inclusive of the 15%, it’s clear how time management can become tricky for the worker who isn’t as swift as worker as their colleague.

But does the customer care if it took four minutes or six to type them a letter, provided the information it contains is accurate and their name an address is correctly spelled? Apparently turnover is of greater importance than accuracy if it means the cost of the premiums can be kept down. Of course customers want good customer service, but above all, good customer service equals fast and cheap. Or so the workers are told.

It’s perhaps not surprising that many workers feel that this method of monitoring productivity is frequently used as a stick with which to beat them rather than a simple method of measurement. I myself experienced the more negative aspects of the benefits of structuring the working day in this way in a recent appraisal. My manager began by scrutinising my productivity, informing me that I had achieved an average (again, note – average) level of 103% productivity during the last 6 months. That’s three per cent more work done each day than the hours I worked. How did I feel about this? Pretty good, I thought, and said as much. My manager thought otherwise, and proceeded to tell me so, in no uncertain terms for the next 15 minutes. As an experienced member of staff (some six years of service at the time) I should be averaging in the region of 115-120%. Moreover, being capable of much more, I was simply coasting, “working within myself,” and was, essentially lazy, especially considering the manager’s belief that the times were “generous.” My quality (also subject to scrutiny), was well above the objective levels set by the company, but was not sufficient to redeem me, resulting in my receiving a well below-inflation pay rise for the year. A large number of consumers boycott companies like Nike for their alleged use of sweatshop production lines. Far fewer boycott insurance companies on the same grounds.

Used judiciously, and given reasonable times in which to perform tasks (apparently the average telephone call takes four minutes and thirty second. This includes adding notes to the file recording the outcome of the call, and of course, the all important 15% “tea-and-pee” time), such monitoring could be used constructively and could even motivate the workforce. Instead, used as a tool of oppression, it has quite the inverse effect. And a demotivated workforce is a less productive workforce. But should the management worry? Hardly: most of the administration tasks are (supposedly) incredibly simple, and if the workers are unwilling, they can easily replaced by workers who are willing, and willing to do the same job more cheaply. No-one is inexpendable.

The idea of finding willing workers who cost less was taken to its logical conclusion with the offshoring of many of the administrative “processes.” This has indeed resulted in the loss of a considerable number of jobs in the UK. Offshoring has been a key solution to the problem of overheads adopted by many companies. Most commonly, it is call centre work which has been shipped overseas. Staff in India cost considerably less than workers in the UK, even when offset against the costs of training, system implementation, etc., etc. again, the sweatshop analogy seems rather appropriate here.

“Keep up the good work guys: I’ve already got my bonus.” A friendly bit of banter between workers? No, the centre manager’s parting shot to a team of admin staff who are being made to work until all of the work is cleared at the end of the tax year. Somewhat ironically, the staff who are working to achieve the manager’s bonus make no gain whatsoever from their team’s making or exceeding such monthly, quarterly and annual targets – although the company’s sales reps whose business they are processing, and also their assistants – do. It appears that those who actually do the work and make the attainment of targets possible are those who benefit least from doing so.

It should also be noted that the manager referred to here came out on top following the offshoring programme, not only retaining a position with the company, but obtaining a significant promotion. This would suggest that such “whipping” of the workers tactics are not simply tolerated by the company, but considered desirable as a management ethic. Why? Presumably because it “gets results.” Never mind the quality of service or the high turnover of staff: a large percentage of the workforce consists of temporary staff anyway, who may cost more on an hour-for-hour basis, but benefit the company by requiring no sick pay and no notice for the termination of their contract. Again, this is particularly useful in the event of large-scale redundancies. Similarly, the manager who masterminded the offshoring programme has received yet another promotion in addition to his £1M+ bonus in recognition of the vast sums of money he has saved the firm in operating costs.

On the one hand, annual staff surveys question what would make the staff happier, feel more valued and thus ultimately address the issue of staff turnover. Yet on the other, task times are cut, teams continue to be “downsized” (or, equally demoralizing, departing workers are simply not replaced) and very few changes are made to either pay structures, bonuses or general conditions. One “satellite” office had its canteen, across town, closed and the time allowed for lunch cut from an hour and ten to an hour (extra time was given for getting to and from the canteen) in the space of a single week. In short, the workers again suffered on all levels. At a time when many consumers are turning to organic and free-range goods in the belief that happy, free-range hens produce better eggs and if nothing else lead better lives, perhaps some large insurance companies should consider the benefits free-range workers could provide. One would certainly question how such companies could be granted Investors in People (IIP) accreditation given such a record. Employing a handful of people who are registered disabled and providing a reward scheme by which staff can be awarded money to invest with the company for outstanding achievement hardly seems adequate for such an accreditation.

It seems that what really matters is pleasing the shareholders. The larger shareholders are only truly interested in a company’s financial standing, and are unimpressed by large expenditures and unnecessarily high operating costs. The smaller shareholders, the individuals and staff have little or no say, ultimately, in the running of the company. And very little looks set to change in the near future.