The Ford parked on the school lot next to my car had seen better days. Its tires, particularly, could have done with a gush or two of compressed air. But what drew my eyes was a mysterious bumper sticker:
“Wal-Mart,” it whispered. “Low Pay, Low Morals.”
What was that all about? Had our local temple of cheap Chinese discount merchandize added a red-light area to its blue-light specials? A carnal candy counter staffed by loose women eager to service the discount shopper at bargain-basement rates?
Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed, and my sugarplum visions of scantily clad, buxom Wal-Mart greeters popped like a technology stock bubble. It was a union sticker. And instead of the low morals it promised, low “morale” was all they had to offer.
***Now, anyone who has ever run a company has encountered “low morale” in the workplace. It is a stereotypical buzzword employed by middle managers who believe they’re underpaid for what they’re doing but have neither the necessary skill nor the motivation to improve their situation themselves.
Low morale, in my experience, is never a function of low pay but of low motivation.
And trying to fix low motivation with more money is just about as futile as trying to keep a balloon from flying by pumping in more helium.
The last time I heard “low morale” being cited as a reason for concern by two managerial staffers was half a decade ago. The solution turned out to be quite easy. I fired both of them. Magic happened. With the malcontents gone, there suddenly was room to breathe, room to advance, room to grow. People enjoyed coming to work… or at least they pretended to. Business took off. Effort was rewarded. Morale soared.
Of course, that’s not quite the thing you can tell a union guy. Which is why I got into my car without further comment, leaving our friend to make his tantalizing if dyslexic promise to the gullible…
J. Christoph Amberger
Executive Publisherand The Taipan Group’s247profits e-Dispatch Team
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