Stormbringer's Thunder

Listen, don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of businesses making a profit. Also, I don't hate the rich (after all how many poor people can give you a job, huh?).What grinds my gears is when any employer, big or little, will take advantage of the employees. I was pondering some of the stories that Neil told me about his cheapskate but very large Fortune 100 company. First, they claim to be interested in "diversity". Their propaganda has phrases like this: Diversity is about having a broad mix of talent in our operations A diverse workforce offers unique perspectives, ideas and solutions [With] diverse workforce, we can better meet the needs of the increasing multicultural clients, communities and individuals Build teams that bring together varied points of view to generate unique ideas and business solutions Age, experience, gender, ethnic backgrounds all contribute to a grand and glorious whole (my summary of some of their other propaganda)   And so o

Buona sera. Yours truly is a little bit steamed today. I have heard and written about things that go on where my friend Neil works. He told me some things, and I feel the need to rant. Maybe a manager with some sense will take the advice that I offer and make his or her company a better place. Some teams don't have to fake it with a forced smile. You take care of them, they take care of you, show mutual respect, everyone does what needs to be done and is happy. There are several things wrong with the organization where Neil works: Untrained managers. People will be hired to boss a department that have no knowledge of the job; workers know the job inside out and managers have the skill level needed to be a Wal-Mart greeter. Too many managers. There are managers, CEOs, COOs, Corporate Officers, Team Leads, Managers, Supervisors — plenty of management, but most of them are not leaders. Capice? Managers are off-site. This company is very large, but does not pay to hire manage

Buon giorno. I should have Neil write this because it's his story, but he's too busy trying to make money to pay the bills. As for me, I'm in a better mood because some money has come to me that I've been waiting a long time to receive. Neil works for a major American corporation. It's very big, and has international holdings. They complained that in their last quarter, they did not make as many tens of millions of dollars as they expected. Poor darlings! Neil says that this company is too big and too impersonal. I agree. The problem is, that's the way most of them get. His company does not care about its employees. They make a pretense at benefits because they could not get anyone to work there if they did not offer them (and their health benefits are laughable; many employees rely on their spouses for coverage). They cut out the overtime that many employees relied on to survive. Instead, they will have to learn the hard way that there is too much work, too li