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Why are you so busy?

tomlingham.com

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Re: Why are you so busy?

#11

Post by stemlord »

howmayiannoyyou wrote: post #6

Those of us who loathe laying off good employees are busy because we are understaffed. We're understaffed because we are sure that a downturn, recession or worse is upon us (or coming soon) and that the agony, expense and distraction of layoffs (to equalize income & overhead) are a bear market squeeze not worth the bull market juice. So we get by with fewer employees, more part-time & gig workers. We work harder than…

>We've had two good employees leave in good times for less work for more money. Both came back after a few years when boom business cycles that drove that dislocation reverted to the mean.

Did they experience a pay increase between leaving and coming back?

Re: Why are you so busy?

#12

Post by idiocrat »

There was a saying: If you want something important to be done, give it to the busiest person, not to a person who is free.

The busy people tend to be more efficient and organized. You do not need to explain them what to do -- they can figure out themselves.

The people who have free time tend to require external motivation/explanation, so you will end up micromanaging them, wasting your own time.

Re: Why are you so busy?

#13

Post by xyzzy_plugh »

howmayiannoyyou wrote: post #6

Those of us who loathe laying off good employees are busy because we are understaffed. We're understaffed because we are sure that a downturn, recession or worse is upon us (or coming soon) and that the agony, expense and distraction of layoffs (to equalize income & overhead) are a bear market squeeze not worth the bull market juice. So we get by with fewer employees, more part-time & gig workers. We work harder than…

That's great for you, but this is rarely, if ever, logical for the employee. This is very much a "you should be happy with your stable, lower wage job because it's stable" argument that is frequently used to suppress wage increases.

As an employee, the only thing that really matters is the dollars flowing out of your account into mine on a regular basis. Trust, job security, growth opportunities, work life balance... they're all just words until they're not. Unless you're willing to sign a multi-year contract guaranteeing job security, put your money where your mouth is or I'm out the door as soon as greener pastures present themselves. And in this industry, there's always greener pastures.

> We've had two good employees leave in good times for less work for more money. Both came back after a few years when boom business cycles that drove that dislocation reverted to the mean.

Sounds like they were properly maximizing their opportunity.

Alternatively, give people job security and also pay them what they deserve. It works even better than whatever "the mean" is.

Re: Why are you so busy?

#14

Post by lumost »

xyzzy_plugh wrote: post #13
howmayiannoyyou wrote: post #6

Those of us who loathe laying off good employees are busy because we are understaffed. We're understaffed because we are sure that a downturn, recession or worse is upon us (or coming soon) and that the agony, expense and distraction of layoffs (to equalize income & overhead) are a bear market squeeze not worth the bull market juice. So we get by with fewer employees, more part-time & gig workers. We work harder than…

That's great for you, but this is rarely, if ever, logical for the employee. This is very much a "you should be happy with your stable, lower wage job because it's stable" argument that is frequently used to suppress wage increases. As an employee, the only thing that really matters is the dollars flowing out of your account into mine on a regular basis. Trust, job security, growth opportunities, work life balance...…

To add to this, There is no guarantee that the company that makes you hustle doesn't simply lay you off in the bad times anyway. I'd much rather earn an extra 20% for 5 years and have 1 extra year's cash in the bank, then work in a "stable" environment that may or may not think I'm worth having around in 5 years.

Re: Why are you so busy?

#15

Post by maxsilver »

howmayiannoyyou wrote: post #6

Those of us who loathe laying off good employees are busy because we are understaffed. We're understaffed because we are sure that a downturn, recession or worse is upon us (or coming soon) and that the agony, expense and distraction of layoffs (to equalize income & overhead) are a bear market squeeze not worth the bull market juice. So we get by with fewer employees, more part-time & gig workers. We work harder than…

> providing security for the business, the employees & the owner

The problem is that everything you've described only provides stability for the owner, and no one else. There's zero reason for an employee to believe money in your bank account somehow provides for their security -- even if you are honest and ethical and magically choose to do it, no one else ever does -- there is no way a reasonable person can believe the owner is just going to keep them on through hard times, just out of the goodness of their heart.

Re: Why are you so busy?

#16

Post by bananamerica »

howmayiannoyyou wrote: post #6

Those of us who loathe laying off good employees are busy because we are understaffed. We're understaffed because we are sure that a downturn, recession or worse is upon us (or coming soon) and that the agony, expense and distraction of layoffs (to equalize income & overhead) are a bear market squeeze not worth the bull market juice. So we get by with fewer employees, more part-time & gig workers. We work harder than…

I don't think a lot of people expect small businesses to make up for a largely unequal and unfair economic system. That should be the an atribution of government and society as a whole.

Re: Why are you so busy?

#17

Post by sdwr »

howmayiannoyyou wrote: post #6

Those of us who loathe laying off good employees are busy because we are understaffed. We're understaffed because we are sure that a downturn, recession or worse is upon us (or coming soon) and that the agony, expense and distraction of layoffs (to equalize income & overhead) are a bear market squeeze not worth the bull market juice. So we get by with fewer employees, more part-time & gig workers. We work harder than…

Thanks, I mostly see the employee perspective here, good to see the perspective of an employer responsible for other people's stability.

Re: Why are you so busy?

#18

Post by JadeNB »

idiocrat wrote: post #12

There was a saying: If you want something important to be done, give it to the busiest person, not to a person who is free. The busy people tend to be more efficient and organized. You do not need to explain them what to do -- they can figure out themselves. The people who have free time tend to require external motivation/explanation, so you will end up micromanaging them, wasting your own time.

> There was a saying: If you want something important to be done, give it to the busiest person, not to a person who is free.

> The busy people tend to be more efficient and organized. You do not need to explain them what to do -- they can figure out themselves.

Sounds like a great recipe for burning out your highest performers.

Re: Why are you so busy?

#19

Post by brailsafe »

whaaswijk wrote: post #10
RyanOD wrote: post #4

I turned this into a poster and hung it in front of my desk. Great quote. “as long as you are doing your work well and continuously working on the next most important thing prioritised by the business, any pressure to deliver beyond what your team is capable of is objectively unreasonable.“

I think the “doing your work well” part is often the question. Am I really doing all I can? Could I do better/more? This then leads to working more and being busier. Maybe the problem is that it’s hard (for some of us) to know what “well” really means.

I think "Could I do better/more?" is just a dumb question. As an employee, I have no plans to ever ask that of myself again. I'll get some things done that I set out to do, sometimes they'll take more or less time than I think, and the rest is either neutral or margin. There's no point in doing more. But you're right, you need a measure of what the right amount is, and I think that varies and can be hard to pin down.

Re: Why are you so busy?

#20

Post by irrational »

howmayiannoyyou wrote: post #6

Those of us who loathe laying off good employees are busy because we are understaffed. We're understaffed because we are sure that a downturn, recession or worse is upon us (or coming soon) and that the agony, expense and distraction of layoffs (to equalize income & overhead) are a bear market squeeze not worth the bull market juice. So we get by with fewer employees, more part-time & gig workers. We work harder than…

Or, you know, I could stay at the same company I’ve been working for for more than 20 years that pays me a hefty six figure salary and I maybe put in 30 hours of work a week.
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