4 ms·

That's a great idea on TJ's part. I have also wondered how giving some amount of project ownership to low level employees would help with morale. In grocery sto

That's a great idea on TJ's part. I have also wondered how giving some amount of project ownership to low level employees would help with morale. In grocery stores you see every little thing optimized by a marketing team; from the way products are stacked, to what the cashier is allowed to say to you. But what if some of these jobs were given to the employees? I think we need to let workers be more creative. Give them a reason to feel invested in what they're doing and reward them for trying hard. You can find what they're good at over time, the hard part is making them feel like what they do matters. It seems like modern management theory has gone out of its way to optimize out the impact that any one low level employee can have on the company. And that makes sense when the goal is to make money. But what you're left with is a society full of people in mind numbing dead end jobs developing psychological issues.

tikhonj 5y ago
> But what if some of these jobs were given to the employees? This seems like another thing Trader Joe's does—I've been to their stores in a few places I've lived, and while they always have a similar aesthetic, a lot of the specific decorations seemed to be unique per store with nice local details. Of course, this could still be done in a totally top-down way—hiring local consultants or something—but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of that was done by the store employees. > And that makes sense when the goal is to make money. Abstractly, I expect that this isn't the best way to make money. Modern management practices seem to value legibility and control even at the expense of expected income and company resilience. This probably says something fundamental about our culture, philosophy and incentives, but I'm not sure exactly what!
- wpietri 5y ago
  Exactly. And if you're curious what this says, I'd recommend reading Spender and Locke's "Confronting Managerialism". It's a great look at the dominant ideology of MBA-style management. And for me Rother's "Toyota Kata" was a good inspiration as to how to think of management not as control layer, but where teaching and support are the most important functions.
- perl4ever 5y ago
  >Trader Joe's It's only been a year since they were in the news for not letting people wear things that say Black Lives Matter. And there was also the employee fired for sending a letter to the CEO about working conditions. https://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/trader-joes-dan-bane-firing-ben-bonnema.html https://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/trader-joes-dan-bane-firin... I think there was a boycott, but people move on so quickly.
  - lupire 5y ago
    There's no need for employees to be able to run personal political campaigns directed at customers at work. Would you also insist that TJ allow employees to wear "Meat/Abortion is Murder" buttons? > employee fired for sending a letter to the CEO about working onditions. Allegedly. The journalist made no attempt to investigate or disprove TJ's side of the story, not even to ask the employee about it.
    - perl4ever 5y ago
      >The journalist made no attempt to investigate or disprove TJ's side of the story, not even to ask the employee about it. They did! The TJ response is right there, after the termination letter, and the way I read it, they confirmed the story beyond a reasonable doubt by producing a denial that only sounds like a defense without context. It says, "store leadership terminated this Crew Member's employment because of the disrespect he showed towards our customers. We have never, and would never, terminate a Crew Member's employment for raising safety concerns". Their excuse is that he was not respectful enough to the customers...by demanding management exclude people (after 3 strikes) who refuse to wear masks and are abusive. And this is not a health concern, nor did they have any problem with the other health concerns. Really?? This is how every professional defends the indefensible these days. They craft a "non-denial denial" that communicates a falsehood to people who don't have the context, and doesn't technically lie or deny anything to people who do have the context. It is truly having your cake and eating it too.

tikhonj 5y ago

> But what if some of these jobs were given to the employees? This seems like another thing Trader Joe's does—I've been to their stores in a few places I've lived, and while they always have a similar aesthetic, a lot of the specific decorations seemed to be unique per store with nice local details. Of course, this could still be done in a totally top-down way—hiring local consultants or something—but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of that was done by the store employees. > And that makes sense when the goal is to make money. Abstractly, I expect that this isn't the best way to make money. Modern management practices seem to value legibility and control even at the expense of expected income and company resilience. This probably says something fundamental about our culture, philosophy and incentives, but I'm not sure exactly what!

wpietri 5y ago
Exactly. And if you're curious what this says, I'd recommend reading Spender and Locke's "Confronting Managerialism". It's a great look at the dominant ideology of MBA-style management. And for me Rother's "Toyota Kata" was a good inspiration as to how to think of management not as control layer, but where teaching and support are the most important functions.
perl4ever 5y ago
>Trader Joe's It's only been a year since they were in the news for not letting people wear things that say Black Lives Matter. And there was also the employee fired for sending a letter to the CEO about working conditions. https://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/trader-joes-dan-bane-firing-ben-bonnema.html https://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/trader-joes-dan-bane-firin... I think there was a boycott, but people move on so quickly.
- lupire 5y ago
  There's no need for employees to be able to run personal political campaigns directed at customers at work. Would you also insist that TJ allow employees to wear "Meat/Abortion is Murder" buttons? > employee fired for sending a letter to the CEO about working onditions. Allegedly. The journalist made no attempt to investigate or disprove TJ's side of the story, not even to ask the employee about it.
  - perl4ever 5y ago
    >The journalist made no attempt to investigate or disprove TJ's side of the story, not even to ask the employee about it. They did! The TJ response is right there, after the termination letter, and the way I read it, they confirmed the story beyond a reasonable doubt by producing a denial that only sounds like a defense without context. It says, "store leadership terminated this Crew Member's employment because of the disrespect he showed towards our customers. We have never, and would never, terminate a Crew Member's employment for raising safety concerns". Their excuse is that he was not respectful enough to the customers...by demanding management exclude people (after 3 strikes) who refuse to wear masks and are abusive. And this is not a health concern, nor did they have any problem with the other health concerns. Really?? This is how every professional defends the indefensible these days. They craft a "non-denial denial" that communicates a falsehood to people who don't have the context, and doesn't technically lie or deny anything to people who do have the context. It is truly having your cake and eating it too.