http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/CEOs_salaries_as_high_as_25_of_companys_net_profit/rssarticleshow/3442578.cms
Not that i do this with a purpose except perhaps lament the fate of the poor employee who does the dirty job, skips meals due to official engagements, in increasingly becoming unhealthy and is lowly paid!
One thought that struck me sometime back atleast in contaxt of the present day economy and the company i work for:
Do i get paid for the job?
OR
Do i pay the company for the job that i am doing?
Illustration:
A salary is supposed to take care of your expenditures and enable you to save. Mathematically,
Salary= Expenditures + Savings.
The ultimate idea is to generate savings and create assets.
If the salaries are so low that they dont take care of the Bills,loans and the spends that make a life, it is but obvious that you would put pressure on your savings.
For some, like me, the expenditures are "higher" than the salary (can you beat that!). So i end up subsidizing for my low salary from my savings. Hence my savings goes bust to support my expenditures (beacuse my salary is low).
The ultimate idea is now reversed: I loose my savings.
Thus i am paying from my pocket to work in the organization that i am working for.
To put it a bit more coarsely, i am paying for my CEO's BMW!!
Monday, September 8, 2008
The Self Destructive habits of Great Organizations (add on)
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/msid-3457372.cms
A short add on to the earlier post: Cost Cuts and BMWs. It seems that the size and cost of these status marques are very directly proportional to the CEO/Company image etc.
Somewhere... there is a mind loss!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
The Self Destructive habits of Great Organizations IV
4. Cost cuts and BMWs
The year had been hard. The market was not perforing as per expectations. the fluctuating oil prices, the rising inflation were just the beginnings. This year the company had not delivered any knock out products. Normally, each quarter, the company had a record of at least one product which did a lot in the market. It was a different story this year. 6 months and a lot of reorganization later, the company had not delivered winners in the market. Mr CEO and his board were a worried lot. The first half performance being dismal meant incentives being paid out were modicum. That had an impact on the teams and the sales force. Mr CEO tried to maintain the composure by talking about glories and old battles and victories. Employee morale had been plummeting. They saw thru the stunt of Mr. CEO with inane displeasure and disinterest.
Market shares were iffy and nimbler players were throwing around knock out punches. Margins were under pressure, or rather profitability was a question mark for the first time in a long innings. Travel costs were cut. Employees were asked to video/voice conference. Each employee was given a VOIP to cut the costs. The messgae was austerity. Another 6 months or so, the company would probably be handing over pink slips. Employee incentives were dismal. There was discontent in the ranks.
In such times, came the policy. Each management team/board member above a certain rank, essentially the top bosses, were getting BMWs, Toyota Camry and Toyota Corollas as a token of appreciation! Hah Ha! Austerity, margin pressures, profitability took the convenient back seats for this one moment as the top bosses were dished out these very "humble" gifts.
Mr. CEO
- In the days of cost cuts, what examples are you setting?
- Did you consider the dissapointment in those managers and employees who would not get these "humble" gifts.
- Can you ill afford to take these costs on your balance sheet?
As an employees (much junior to the honchos) was quoted saying... i wish they had given us a Atlas Goldline Super (Bicycle) atleast.
The year had been hard. The market was not perforing as per expectations. the fluctuating oil prices, the rising inflation were just the beginnings. This year the company had not delivered any knock out products. Normally, each quarter, the company had a record of at least one product which did a lot in the market. It was a different story this year. 6 months and a lot of reorganization later, the company had not delivered winners in the market. Mr CEO and his board were a worried lot. The first half performance being dismal meant incentives being paid out were modicum. That had an impact on the teams and the sales force. Mr CEO tried to maintain the composure by talking about glories and old battles and victories. Employee morale had been plummeting. They saw thru the stunt of Mr. CEO with inane displeasure and disinterest.
Market shares were iffy and nimbler players were throwing around knock out punches. Margins were under pressure, or rather profitability was a question mark for the first time in a long innings. Travel costs were cut. Employees were asked to video/voice conference. Each employee was given a VOIP to cut the costs. The messgae was austerity. Another 6 months or so, the company would probably be handing over pink slips. Employee incentives were dismal. There was discontent in the ranks.
In such times, came the policy. Each management team/board member above a certain rank, essentially the top bosses, were getting BMWs, Toyota Camry and Toyota Corollas as a token of appreciation! Hah Ha! Austerity, margin pressures, profitability took the convenient back seats for this one moment as the top bosses were dished out these very "humble" gifts.
Mr. CEO
- In the days of cost cuts, what examples are you setting?
- Did you consider the dissapointment in those managers and employees who would not get these "humble" gifts.
- Can you ill afford to take these costs on your balance sheet?
As an employees (much junior to the honchos) was quoted saying... i wish they had given us a Atlas Goldline Super (Bicycle) atleast.
Monday, September 1, 2008
The Self Destructive habits of Great Organizations III
In an earlier post, I had mentioned that the first signs of rot are visible in the middle level managers. Discontent, dissatisfaction and bad blood starts here. However, organizations are pre destined to see most of these middle level managers as disposable assets. Talent (at least in India) is available, a score in a penny. So, when somebody in that level leaves, chances are that the organization fills the space in some weeks. Sadly, amongst other things what goes missing is the experiential learning in the individual.It is difficult to put a metric to this.
On a top management level, what matters is not the indivual but the collective. This collective is measured by organizational surveys, posts or what-ever new fancy tools as applicable. What matters is the number, the score! Things that aggregate into that score are most of the times given a slip. Talk motivation, work environment, content, organizational uncertainities, most of this is left untouched, because, well it is difficult to understand and touch it.
The Dead Moose theory is again not an original idea. I assume it is a north American idiom/ phrase. I first heard it from a guest speaker in one of the classrooms. This guy goes by the name of Peter J Stark who is the Innovation and Strategy speaker at INSEAD.
Dead Moose theory
The other way of putting this is Organizational Myopia. It is the ability of the organization to talk and address most of the surrounding issues and not addressing the main issue in the same breath. Call it escaping reality or turning blind to the most important issue at hand. Organizations keep doing it to consumers, markets and its own employees with alarming regularity. More so in the case of successful organizations.
Figuratively, there is this Dead Moose on the table, and there are these people examining it. They marvel at its antlers. They comment on the hooves. It is a very well muscled animal, the prime in its species. Its coat is a brilliant coffee colour and this moose was undoubtably, the best looking in its tribe. This moose was the best as can happen in the forest.
The examiners examine every inch of the dead moose and come up with theories and stories, consensus, reports, and analysis (read org Paralysis in previous post).
At this time, there comes this attendant to serve drinks and snacks to the high level team. He cannot but overhear the conversation and his interest is drawn to the group. He watches the examiners rant on and on. “But Sir, your moose is dead!” Says he.
CEOs.CFOs, HR Managers, General Managers, Consultants some times have the strange god gifted ability to see everything but the truth.The blunt truth. The Moose is dead.
Did they fail to see the death? Did they plan for its survival? Did they do anything to the moose that would have helped it live? Did they kill it?
Hours and multiple man days of talk and discussion did not make your moose live a few more hours.
So, your markets and customers keep slipping (and there are reports and studies commissioned to understand the reasons), your employees slip fall and leave. Morale is down in dumps. And yet the writing on the wall is not visible!
How bad is that Mr.CEO? Are you still doing, your “dead moose” thing?
On a top management level, what matters is not the indivual but the collective. This collective is measured by organizational surveys, posts or what-ever new fancy tools as applicable. What matters is the number, the score! Things that aggregate into that score are most of the times given a slip. Talk motivation, work environment, content, organizational uncertainities, most of this is left untouched, because, well it is difficult to understand and touch it.
The Dead Moose theory is again not an original idea. I assume it is a north American idiom/ phrase. I first heard it from a guest speaker in one of the classrooms. This guy goes by the name of Peter J Stark who is the Innovation and Strategy speaker at INSEAD.
Dead Moose theory
The other way of putting this is Organizational Myopia. It is the ability of the organization to talk and address most of the surrounding issues and not addressing the main issue in the same breath. Call it escaping reality or turning blind to the most important issue at hand. Organizations keep doing it to consumers, markets and its own employees with alarming regularity. More so in the case of successful organizations.
Figuratively, there is this Dead Moose on the table, and there are these people examining it. They marvel at its antlers. They comment on the hooves. It is a very well muscled animal, the prime in its species. Its coat is a brilliant coffee colour and this moose was undoubtably, the best looking in its tribe. This moose was the best as can happen in the forest.
The examiners examine every inch of the dead moose and come up with theories and stories, consensus, reports, and analysis (read org Paralysis in previous post).
At this time, there comes this attendant to serve drinks and snacks to the high level team. He cannot but overhear the conversation and his interest is drawn to the group. He watches the examiners rant on and on. “But Sir, your moose is dead!” Says he.
CEOs.CFOs, HR Managers, General Managers, Consultants some times have the strange god gifted ability to see everything but the truth.The blunt truth. The Moose is dead.
Did they fail to see the death? Did they plan for its survival? Did they do anything to the moose that would have helped it live? Did they kill it?
Hours and multiple man days of talk and discussion did not make your moose live a few more hours.
So, your markets and customers keep slipping (and there are reports and studies commissioned to understand the reasons), your employees slip fall and leave. Morale is down in dumps. And yet the writing on the wall is not visible!
How bad is that Mr.CEO? Are you still doing, your “dead moose” thing?
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