Quote:
Originally Posted by Willravel
This doesn't demonstrate that it's right, just prudent if you prioritize the happiness of the man in the big seat over the happiness of all the little people. It's capitalistically correct, but that's not synonymous with being correct overall or ethical.
I'm way to young to have the experience necessary to be one of these super-CEOs, but eventually I might. I can't imagine a company slashing worker's wages or not continuing to pay them to match the cost of living just so I can get my second yacht being a smart business move. Maybe it's because of my opportunity to be pro-labor despite being in a management position, but it feels unbalanced to completely favor the man of vision over those who make the vision a reality. It should be equal.
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You can want it to be equal. But it will never be equal. Even at Whole Foods where the CEO is paid X times the lowest employee. It's very challenging.
Even just managing people, you have that same responsibilty whether you like it or not. If my boss says to lay off X members of my staff, I have to do it. I may not like it, but it is a requirement of my position.
I fought for every nickel, dime, and dollar that my staff got. My team got paid more than any other because I documented their workload and showed it in comparison to other teams. I was not really liked by other managers because I made them look bad. It's not friends, it's business.
A wise executive said to me once, "As the manager of people, you are responsible for the quality of the food that is on your employees table." I take that to heart when I have any direct reports, but sometimes things like budgets get in the way. Sometimes that's the reality of the minimum wage issue. I get a pot of money that is my budget. I have X amount of headcount and have to divy that money up between them all. Once I make everyone's pay commensurate with their experience and tenure, there's little left for favoritism and extras.
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Further, I hated merit review time. It is a farce for the most part. Again, I get a pool of money, which is usually around 3% increase of the budget. This means I can give everyone a 3% increase. How do I reward the guy who busts his ass and works more than everyone els? But what about the guy that fucks around? I can give everyone 2.75% and then have a point or two to give away if my staff is large enough. Or I can give the fuckoff less of a raise and pass that to someone else.
So I did just that for someone who watched soccer all the time while everyone busted their ass. I gave him a 2.5% increase and he went ballistic. I decided that he could either take the 2.5% increase or he could look for another job. He thought he had me cornered, but by the end of the day, he was packing his things and out the door.
C'mon will, you should know this stuff about budgets and employees. If you don't, you didn't really manage, you supervised.
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