Yawning or snarling

One of my very favourite bloggers (in terms of writing and being just generally swell) recently posted about an experience at work (she's enviously self-employed*) -- a job she normally wouldn't have taken but for a gut feel she had regarding the client.

Her whole post was an indication to me of the exact opposite tack my company is taking right now.  Over the past three years we've made the transition from family-owned and -oriented company to semi-public to, just over the last month, being publicly traded on the NYSE and the TSX with a successful IPO (initial public offering).  Heck, our CEO rang the opening bell on Thursday to open trading on Wall Street.  VERY BIG DEAL!

We have implemented strict policies and procedures, procurement practices and preferred vendors, delegations of authority and a project controls matrix that spells out cast-in-stone project account codes and activity relationships.  Our efficiency initiative has reached the point where implementation is mostly complete and the new focus is on sustainability going forward.  (Did any of that make sense?  Should I be scared at how easily it rolled off my tongue?  err, fingertips?)

This is all a level of detail at which a company our current size *must* operate in order to comply with government regulations in both Canada and the US (regulations largely in place to avoid fiascoes like Enron and Worldcom), as well as to keep a tight enough rein on efficiency and the bottom line.  When I came on board in 1999 we had just broken 200 million in annual revenue and were run by a pair of brothers, sons of the man who started the company with a single bulldozer in 1953.  Now, seven years later, after being sold and now trading on the stock market, we're pushing 750 million and will break a billion in short order as we grow our resources with the cash influx from public funds.

However, if any sort of situation like the one described in the post I linked were to crop up, it would be summarily dismissed with a snide chuckle and quickly forgotten.  When I read it for the second or third time I asked myself, at what point does the corporate entity usurp the culture of family-oriented business?  (Perhaps I should say human-oriented business.)  That's the font of my frustration.  I'm not so naive as to be ignorant of the fact that we're in business to make money.  But that impetus, here, now, has reached a level where customer-client relations are suffering, employee turnover is at an all-time high, job satisfaction is low and people actually find themselves (seriously!) running to the HR manager in tears.

Hell, even two of our top brass put in their notices through November and December.  The timing is no coincidence since, after the company sale, they signed seven-figure bonus agreements that would see fruition only after three years.  Were we in Denmark, methinks I would smell something rotten.  (Points for catching that reference.)

I'm not too sure what else to say, really.  The near future will probably see two types of people attracted to work here.  Those who have established themselves (or come on board) with the intent to rise to positions of authority and compensatory comfort, and those who are willing (would prefer to?) come get lost in the bureaucratic morass that is inexorably insinuating itself into the workings of the corporate machinery.

Where do I see myself?

I used to laugh almost every day at my Dilbert comic -- from a distance.  Now I'm starting to chuckle uncomfortably.  As soon as I start printing them out and pasting them all over my office (or, god forbid, my cubicle) I'll know I've overstayed my welcome or accepted my lot.

(* I realise self-employment can be and often is a double-edged sword, but I trust you see the perspective from which I'm coming at this.)

Comments

[Mark]

Man, Si, I didn't know it was getting that way for you. Our company was started by two guys out of the back of a lawmower repair shop (they were writing and selling computer software, not repairing lawnmowers) in 1976 and has been on the NASDAQ for a while now. We have more than 3,000 employees nationwide now.

Employees of as little as a few years can remember the free donut Fridays, and when free soft drinks were stocked in all the refrigerators.

I'm seeing more and more of the big-company crap seep in just over the 2.5 years I've been there. We're acquiring companies at almost a Microsoft pace.

As part of our 30th anniversary celebrations throughout the year, on Friday we can take 30 minutes to do whatever -- sleep in, leave early, take a long lunch, etc. So, they're still trying.

It's a tricky mix, keeping the caring feeling while dealing with a huge bottom line. I liked many things about working for a consulting firm with only three technical guys (including me), but there wasn't much job security.

I hope things don't get worse (is that a nice thing to say?).

[marian]

After working at many different kinds of jobs, I started my own business when I was 38. That was 17 years ago. Although being self-employed requires an ability to tolerate uncertainty and enjoy adventure -- to live without a perceived safety net -- it also gives you the huge reward of being directly connected in every way to the source of your income. Every job is a personal relationship. Or a personal challenge.

If I couldn't be self-employed I'd find a way to make it work in a regular job, but it would be hard.

[Moksha Gren]

It is a fine line for a company to walk. I wish you luck dealing with the continuing changes. My company is still very much a Mom and Pop outfit. The management team are all friends of the CEO from pre-company days. I wouldn't trade it.

So, did the employees have any access to that IPO...or do you just get the satisfaction of knowing you helped out ;)

Also...I'm looking at your list of VPs and wondering which of them is Muffy. None of them look like they have laser vision...but it's hard to tell from these pictures.

[Simon]

Mark, yes that was a nice thing to say. Oddly. And this is just me venting a little more than anything else. Not sure what changes the new year will bring.

Marian, that's sort of the attitude I expected you to have. And I am a little envious of the opportunity.

Moksha, Muffy's initials are the same, which should narrow it down for you. And we did get a chance to buy in on the IPO before stocks went to the public. I just didn't have the chump change in my back pocket required for the minimum purchase.

[Alec]

Don't have much to contribute, but I'm obsessed with points, so...a line from Hamlet, by Marcellus specifically.

[Moksha Gren]

Ah yes...there he is. I should have recognized him…the marks on his cheeks from the burlap sack are just barely noticeable.

[Tal]

As usual, a thoughful post that resonates. I work for the provincial government so I can definitely undertsand your railings against the bureucratic nightmare that is working in a big workplace. The "bottom line" is what allows unionized employees to make as much (and sometimes more) than the people who manage them. It makes the little things that make you happy to come to work, like birthday cakes and christmas parties, or heaven forbid early dismissal on a long weekend friday next to impossible. I guess the trick is to find a way to make work enjoyable (or at least tolerable). If that means Dilbert cartoons, then embrace it. I'd suggest reading Scott Adams' blog too. He's a funny guy.

Besides, you'll notice that even Marian didn't bend over backwards - just did the client the kindness of accepted the job. I do hope that it works out for her though.

[Linda]

Hmmm... yesterday I wrote a lengthy, insightful comment here full of statistics and interesting facts aboot my place of employment that perfectly described the contrast between family-oriented versus non-atmosphere. Obviously I neglected to click "post." Dammitanyhow.