Comments on Mutualist Blog: Free Market Anti-Capitalism: Blaming Workers for the Results of Mismanagement

To read about a really shining example of how less...

2007-08-15T02:43:00.000-07:00

To read about a really shining example of how less Management, valuing your ordinary employee’s and embracing Union input works incredibly well I would highly recommend reading the book “Maverick” by brilliant Brazilian Businessman Ricardo Semler the ISBN # is: 0-7126-5451-8 He has written a second book called “The Seven Day Weekend;” I have not read this one yet, but it promises to be at least as provocative.

I would like to see Ricardo Semler’s innovative Management principals applied within the Healthcare Industry! We need nationwide regulatory changes put in place to correct the "Deliberate Negligent Understaffing" of US Medical facilities, starting with GUTTING TOP HEAVY MANAGEMENT! Please visit the new WordPress Blogsite for TRANSPARENCY for EQUAL ACCOUNTABILITY in MEDICINE at:
http://medteam.wordpress.com/cut-campaign-for-patient-safety/
To read about the C.U.T! Campaign to CONTROL UNDERSTAFFING TODAY and leave your comments.

I ought to write an article on this, but I'm not s...

2006-09-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

I ought to write an article on this, but I'm not sure where.

A manager a couple levels up was briefing me on how when he took over for the department that he knew things were in bad shape with the highest turnover rate in the company. He was filling 18 new positions, but it was taking a while because he didn't want to settle for second rate employees. A little later in our meeting, he diagramed the pay and employee ranking scale. The top 15% would get ratings of excellent, and the bottom 10% would be rated "needs improvement" and would be managed out of the company. But the important line was for about the top 30-35%. When he got his salary increase budget, it would all go to the top 30-35%.

It didn't cross his mind that this means that no matter how good those not deemed to be in that top 30-35% are, what it implies if they will not be given raises. Effectively and contrary to his claim, the bottom 65-70% are "managed out" of the department. So much for not settling on second rate employees. (Do all the MBA programs require ignoring Deming's excellent work?) That further assumes that they are accurate at ranking employees, and they are not. I've never known any non-management to receive the top excellent rating. I guess that is reserved for management only.

Shortly after, we discover that some positions already hired locally to transition from NY, couldn't be transferred. Management didn't realize these positions required regular occasional work in a client's office in NY. Should they have considered that before planning to transfer the positions and hiring for them?

Thanks for sharing your story, Presto. I've worke...

2006-09-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks for sharing your story, Presto. I've worked in a lot of nursing homes myself, and can corroborate everything you say. As for inspections, there was one nursing home nearby in Prairie Grove (owned by a retired doctor, no less) where all the new, non-threadbare, non-stained linens were locked in a cupboard and taken out only when the state was expected.

Hospitals get pretty much the same warning when JCAHO comes in, and coach everyone ahead of time on just what to do and say.

I worked for a few months in a nursing home as a j...

2006-09-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

I worked for a few months in a nursing home as a janitor. The conditions were bad. My floor was full of late-stage Alzheimer's patients and the management went VERY lean. One nurse and two aides (who had only two weeks' training) for sixty people whose minds were completely gone.

You should've seen feeding time. Few of these patients could feed themselves, so you could imagine the hell as these poor aides had to feed so many by hand. The poor patients were so far gone as to not understand when someone was trying to feed them, so if they were not catatonic, they fought them every step of the way.

I won't even talk about bathroom time, except to say that most of my time as a janitor was spent cleaning up the results.

If someone called in sick, management often refused to pay for a replacement or overtime. In such a case, the nurses on duty had to cover an extra floor. Under these conditions, absenteeism was rampant and people didn't stay very long.

Under these conditions, it was miraculous that serious problems didn't happen very often. The staff tried VERY hard under nearly impossible conditions. Of course, when something DID happen, management found a way to blame some staff member. Ususlly the target was someone who had been trying to fight to make things better.

Complaining to the state was no help. The inspectors would notify management that they were coming, so on inspection day, things were, of course, perfect.

Needless to say, I was very glad to get out of there. I have nowed never to let a family member end up in such a place.