STORY TELLING: WHO ARE THE BEST EMPLOYEES?

In a business we look at employee performance in terms of corporate objectives as they in Action Plans down the whole corporate ladder. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to do this analysis without the cart before the horse? Acceptable and especially excellent outputs of people are more related to their character, their work ethic and their attitude to the other people they interact with within and outside the company. The company has external suppliers and customers; each individual on the company is an internal supplier and an internal customer. After a lifetime in manufacturing this author is convinced that if the right ethical principles are part of everybody’s character than each customer, internal and external, will be satisfied.

Let’s set the stage for this story that illustrates the contrast of these principles. Chuck and Jack were two receiving clerks in a midsize company. They were responsible to take care of all the paperwork for incoming parts for the assembly line and to inspect incoming material for defects. Charley and Joe were their internal customer, working on that assembly line, using parts and tooling that Chuck and Jack received.

Chuck was meticulous, almost to a fault. He learned to enjoy what he did and took pride in his work, no matter how menial it was. He was cheerful, not complaining and took note of the people he worked with. He aimed to please everybody. When he found out that Joe’s wife gave birth to a premature baby, and they were having a rough go of it, he stopped at the hospital on his way home to check on them, at least weekly during the months the baby was in trouble. He found out they were having financial trouble because of this he took up a collection for them. When Charley’s car broke down he picked him up to get him to work.

 

Jack’s emphasis was on speed, he worked hard to get more stuff out to the line than any of the other receivers. Jack was also a chronic complainer with no cheese to go with his whine. For some unknown reason, he always had it in for Charley. He would intentionally not deliver crucial parts to him so that Charley would have to go after them, loosing time and slowing down the line. When a defective tool came through he was sure to pass that Charley. When they passed out the envelope to collect money for Joe he put in a playing card with the note, “Here, have fun.” When Charley’s car broke down Jack snickered, “The dumb jerk.”

When it came time for annual evaluations who do you think got rewarded for a job well done?

Matthew 34-36   “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,

I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,

I was homeless and you gave me a room,

I was shivering and you gave me clothes,

I was sick and you stopped to visit,

I was in prison and you came to me.’

37-40   “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’ (The Message Bible)

Moral of the story:

The cart before the horse is look at Jack’s output without regard to character. His internal customers, especially Charley, were not happy customers and because their work was impeded by things Jack did, there may have been late deliveries, adversely effecting external customer delight. Do the leaders of this company take more note of character and work ethic than at the surface measurements of an employee’s output?

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