The Three Signs of a Miserable Job - Sonicbids

More documents

Recommendations

Info

“It’s diffi cult to accurately estimate the magnitude of the problems caused by miserable jobs.” “Employees hang onto fulfi lling jobs as long as they can, mostly because they know that their chances of fi nding another are relatively slim.” Relevance What You Will Learn In this Abstract, you will learn: 1) What are the three primary reasons employees are miserable at work; and 2) What you as a manager can do to make them happy about their jobs. Recommendation Business books take many forms, but seldom are they fables. Patrick Lencioni breaks the mold with this charming book about a manager who turns his workers’ miserable jobs into fulfilling ones. He presents the fictional story of Brian Bailey, a big-hearted CEO who gets bought out, finds retirement dull and tries managing a seedy pizza parlor where the employees hate their jobs. Bailey quickly changes everything by the way he treats the shop’s people. Later he works his magic as the new CEO of a failing retail sportinggoods company with a ruinously high turnover rate, where his humane techniques turn things around again. Lencioni’s book is fun to read; its fable is touching yet credible. He reinforces important lessons all managers should know about getting the best from the people who work for them by providing empathy and recognizing the meaning of their work. If you are up for a parable, getAbstract recommends this engaging book. It spotlights a clear axiom: Treat people humanely and they will do as you wish – a valuable lesson for any manager or, indeed, anyone at all. Abstract The Fable Brian Bailey never had enough money to attend a full four years of college. Instead, he went to work in a San Francisco factory that manufactured automobiles. He married young. He and his wife Leslie had three children. Bailey was a smart, hard worker. The car company’s COO made him the plant manager when he turned 35. She liked him, his work ethic and his desire to get ahead. Later, she recommended Bailey for a CEO position at a nearby exercise equipment manufacturer. He got the job. Board members liked his friendly demeanor and his ability to communicate. In 17 years at the firm, he moved it to the top of its field and made it a great place to work. Employee satisfaction ratings were the highest in the industry. Then one day a larger company bought the firm. As is typical, CEO Bailey was asked to leave. With the kids grown, Brian and Leslie retired on his buy-out money, and moved to Lake Tahoe, Nevada, a wonderful retirement site. Yet Bailey quickly got bored. He loved being a CEO, managing people and events. He wanted a new challenge. He soon got one, but nothing that he had ever expected. The Pizza Parlor It all started when Brian and Leslie ordered Italian food to pick up. They drove to the restaurant, a tacky, shabby place called Gene and Joe’s. They pulled up to the window, and waited and waited. Finally, a man with a big tattoo stuck his head out of the window. He wore a dirty white T-shirt that showed two men smiling. In large red and green letters it read, “Gene and Joe’s Pizza and Pasta. Here, There, Everywhere.” “Yes?” the man said disinterestedly. Bailey asked for his order, the man fetched it and took $20, not even smiling when Bailey gave him the change as a tip. At home, the The Three Signs of a Miserable Job © Copyright 2008 getAbstract 2 of 5
“More people out there are miserable in their jobs than fulfi lled by them.” “The Sunday blues are those awful feelings of dread and depression that many people get toward the end of their weekend as they contemplate going back to work the next day.” “Scores of people suffer – really suffer – every day as they trudge off from their families and friends to jobs that only make them more cynical, unhappy and frustrated.” “Employees often fail to fi nd fulfi llment in their work because they place too much emphasis on maximizing compensation or choosing the right career.” Baileys found that the pizza joint had forgotten their salad. Bailey drove back to get it. He went inside. Only a few customers were eating. The carpet was torn. The paint was peeling. “Help wanted – cook, delivery driver, weekend manager” read a sign beside the cash register. Bailey asked for his salad. “You sure you didn’t get it?” the tattooed man quizzed Bailey. “Of course, I’m sure,” Bailey said. A large balding man ordered the cook to get Bailey his missing salad quickly. He introduced himself as Joe, one of the owners, and gave Bailey a coupon for a free pizza to make amends. Bailey took his salad and coupon, thanked Joe and left. Later, he called the restaurant and asked if he could come talk to the owner again. That call changed Bailey’s life. The next day, he applied for the job as weekend manager. At first, Joe thought Bailey was kidding. But he knew Bailey was serious when he offered to invest $12,000 in the restaurant. The man quickly hired Bailey, warning him that the restaurant’s turnover was terrible. Bailey thought he might be able to do something about that. Then he went home and told Leslie what he had done. She asked if he’d gone crazy. He told her he would relish the opportunity to make a difference and to manage people again, especially people who seemed so miserable. He thought he might be able to make a difference. He began the next weekend. First, he met the employees: Joaquin, the main cook; Kenny, a prep cook; Tristan, who handled the cash register; Salvador, the dishwasher; Carl, the drive-through window man; Harrison, who handled deliveries; Joleen and Patty, the waitresses; and Migo, a young guy who did a little bit of everything. After his first few days, Bailey told his wife the place was like a morgue. It drew few customers, the employees all seemed unhappy, nobody ever smiled and no one seemed to care about their work. Bailey soon shook things up. One day, he scheduled a meeting with the employees a half hour before the normal starting time. He opened the meeting by asking how many people liked their jobs. No one responded. He then asked how many people felt excited about coming to work. Again, no one said anything, although a few of them snickered. Bailey told them seriously that his job was to make them feel good about their jobs, and he was going to start right away. As a CEO, Bailey had discovered three important rules that applied to managing employees, engaging them and making them feel valued. First, people need to feel appreciated. Second, they need to feel that their work matters. Third, they need some tangible ways to measure their progress. Bailey put these principles to work. He told the employees that he was instituting a two-month test. During that period, he would pay everyone $1 more hourly, if they would all support his new program and give it a fair chance. He explained that anyone who didn’t want to try could quit and that all the employees would be in this together. If even one person stopped cooperating, everyone’s salaries would revert back to the old wage. The workers agreed to try things his way. Later that night, Bailey spent a few minutes with Carl, the pick-up window man. “Let’s see if we can make your job more measurable,” Bailey said. They agreed that Carl could track his progress on cutting down on wrong orders. Getting a customer to smile would be a plus that Carl could measure. A laugh would count as four smiles. Carl was skeptical, but said he would give it a try. Bailey then helped the other employees establish their own individual measurables so they could track their own progress. It didn’t happen on the first day, or the second, but after a few days, a new mood became evident. The employees were more excited about what they were doing. They would huddle with each other briefly to compare their measurables. Tips were up for the waitresses and fewer customers complained. The employees were actually smiling at work. Things were beginning to change. The Three Signs of a Miserable Job © Copyright 2008 getAbstract 3 of 5
Page 1: Focus Take-Aways Leadership & Manag
Page 5: “Great managers and companies don

The Three Signs of a Miserable Job - Sonicbids

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?