Modern Senior Management = Demotivated Workforce?

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When I first became a corporate minion, I was pleased that the company’s senior management took an interest in me and the rest of the staff. How did I know they cared?

Well, the CEO and CFO and COO and any other O and line managers got off their arses and walked the floors saying hi to everyone. They did this at minimum twice a week. This informal ritual only took 30 minutes or less to let us see them and for them to see and get to know us.

Even when I changed jobs, the same thing happened at the new company and I was a happy drone. So were all the other drones and we felt great loyalty to our company and our bosses. They walked the floor and got to know who worked for them. In time, a familiar face would be spoken to and this recognition went a far way to further endearing the big boss to us drones. We were happy and at the company Xmas dances, we were able to relax in their presence and have fun. We also were handed our annual bonus letters by senior execs. This too made the worker/boss bond stronger.

We also got to go to the farewell parties when senior execs resigned or retired. And we all got to meet the new bosses when they started. We’d all be gathered together in the canteen or room that could accommodate the entire department or full workforce to be introduced to the new person. The big boss would do the introduction and bring the new boy onstage or out front and let him speak to us.

In this way we got to meet the new boss in the flesh. It helped break the ice especially when the time came for his first walkabout. It was a great way of leading the workforce. Morale always remained high and demotivation was quickly seen to if it set in. The leaders kept showing their faces to the most important component of the business – the workers.

The bosses knew that without a happy, loyal and motivated crew, their fatcat bonuses were pie in the sky. So they did the right thing, the simplest and easiest thing. They did what business leaders should do everyday and for cryingoutloud – there is no charge involved to expense. It is free.

What went wrong? Where did the relationship between worker and business owner/senior executives turn sour?

Which accountancy school that spawns the new model bosses decided that us drones are faceless expendable numbers? Which module was ripped out of the management manual? What spineless bosses elect to either never introduce themselves to their staff or if & when they do, they do it via emails, faxes and the new modern managers’ favourite, the impressive conference call instead of having the balls to stand up in front of his staff and say, “Hello, thank you for welcoming me here. My name is Paul and I am the new director for ……..etc?

What price good manners and respect for fellow workers?