guthrie
10-17-03, 06:05 PM
I dedicate this thread to examples of management stupidity.
At the lab at which i work, attached to a metal works, (It does internal samples from the metal works, and external samples from anyone who wants something analysed.) management stupidity has shown itself in the most horrendous way. They are making 8 out of 19 people redundant, to save money. Whats wrong with that, you say? Well, its because, 1) they are assuming that the internal samples will drop as some people think they will, and 2) that all these analysts are an avoidable cost. Whereas, any familiarity with the actual situation says that half the analysts and couple of administratotors, are concerned with the external work, which is priced so as to cover all costs involved and produce a profit equal to the gross pay of at least 7 or 8 employees. So, we have something covering its own costs and giving a profit, but they insist we axe 8 jobs, in order to save money?!!
Which in the situation, will leave the lab unable to service its external customers in any meaningful way. The proposals include cutting 2 from the trace section, which is busy to overflowing already, and in teh shift analysts section, to cut 2 temps (me and one other) as well as 2 permanent analysts. However, the proposed analysis reduciton of internal sampels that will allegedly allow that to happen, realisitically permits only the cutting of the 2 temps and one off the trace section, since the trace section has too much work already, and one large customer wants to do more analysis, moreover, the internal reduciton they are likely to achieve, covers 2 analysts per days work. To complicate things further, on our experience of the manufactuirng abilities of the rest of the firm, they dont actually know what analysis they get done, and actually need, thus their proposals are plainly mince from our point of view, yet we will be the ones suffering when in 3 months time theres nobody around to do the analysis they want. Anotehr stupidity is that one way of working all this out was allegedly a zero budget meeting, but no such meeting actually occured involving the lab, the lab manager was told they didnt have the figures ready, and in the end any figures involved were cooked up by a certain director. One final idiocy, is that the section of the firm that is planning on reducing/ eliminating its analysis will do so by means of a spark machine. This will take at least 6 months to get properly up and running, yet they want us to start cutting staff now! PLus, they used to have such an instrument, and I know that they have improved over the last 10 years, but whatmakes spark analysis hard to do properly is the actual material and samples involved, due to segregation etc.
To sum it all up, we have internal politics resulting in the absolute demoralisation and destruction of an asset to the company. The lab, which is high enough rated to have been used in the establishment of various british standards reference materials, will die, due to halving of its staff, and the increased stress due to increasing workload of samples. No sensible analysis can lead to the present outcome, however the management has decided, in the good old british management style, that something needs to be done, and will proceed to do it, even though it kills the company.
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Anyway, thats the certain stuff. Internal gossip is that the consultants in just now, think maintenance department should have more staff. The directors want to cut it by 44%. The management structure is diamond shaped, not pyramidal, and shop floor workers are hardest hit by the redundancies. The laboratory manager, who is easily stressed out and rather a wimp, is swanning about with a couldnt care less attitude, meaning that hes being bunged a wedge of cash to shut up, retire and not get in the way of the evisceration of the laboratory. Theyve decided to close a company venture thats 3 years old, swallowed millions of quid, and never made a profit. It was a directors pet project, but was done on the cheap using old technology, and can barely produce product well enough to sell. The lab had a massive amount of trouble from said special project in analysing their product, and when we didnt give them the results they wanted, were blamed for them not being able to sell their product, whereas the actual answer was that they were making shit.
Oh well, rant over. Its sad to watch the death of one of the few british industrial companys left.
At the lab at which i work, attached to a metal works, (It does internal samples from the metal works, and external samples from anyone who wants something analysed.) management stupidity has shown itself in the most horrendous way. They are making 8 out of 19 people redundant, to save money. Whats wrong with that, you say? Well, its because, 1) they are assuming that the internal samples will drop as some people think they will, and 2) that all these analysts are an avoidable cost. Whereas, any familiarity with the actual situation says that half the analysts and couple of administratotors, are concerned with the external work, which is priced so as to cover all costs involved and produce a profit equal to the gross pay of at least 7 or 8 employees. So, we have something covering its own costs and giving a profit, but they insist we axe 8 jobs, in order to save money?!!
Which in the situation, will leave the lab unable to service its external customers in any meaningful way. The proposals include cutting 2 from the trace section, which is busy to overflowing already, and in teh shift analysts section, to cut 2 temps (me and one other) as well as 2 permanent analysts. However, the proposed analysis reduciton of internal sampels that will allegedly allow that to happen, realisitically permits only the cutting of the 2 temps and one off the trace section, since the trace section has too much work already, and one large customer wants to do more analysis, moreover, the internal reduciton they are likely to achieve, covers 2 analysts per days work. To complicate things further, on our experience of the manufactuirng abilities of the rest of the firm, they dont actually know what analysis they get done, and actually need, thus their proposals are plainly mince from our point of view, yet we will be the ones suffering when in 3 months time theres nobody around to do the analysis they want. Anotehr stupidity is that one way of working all this out was allegedly a zero budget meeting, but no such meeting actually occured involving the lab, the lab manager was told they didnt have the figures ready, and in the end any figures involved were cooked up by a certain director. One final idiocy, is that the section of the firm that is planning on reducing/ eliminating its analysis will do so by means of a spark machine. This will take at least 6 months to get properly up and running, yet they want us to start cutting staff now! PLus, they used to have such an instrument, and I know that they have improved over the last 10 years, but whatmakes spark analysis hard to do properly is the actual material and samples involved, due to segregation etc.
To sum it all up, we have internal politics resulting in the absolute demoralisation and destruction of an asset to the company. The lab, which is high enough rated to have been used in the establishment of various british standards reference materials, will die, due to halving of its staff, and the increased stress due to increasing workload of samples. No sensible analysis can lead to the present outcome, however the management has decided, in the good old british management style, that something needs to be done, and will proceed to do it, even though it kills the company.
-------------
Anyway, thats the certain stuff. Internal gossip is that the consultants in just now, think maintenance department should have more staff. The directors want to cut it by 44%. The management structure is diamond shaped, not pyramidal, and shop floor workers are hardest hit by the redundancies. The laboratory manager, who is easily stressed out and rather a wimp, is swanning about with a couldnt care less attitude, meaning that hes being bunged a wedge of cash to shut up, retire and not get in the way of the evisceration of the laboratory. Theyve decided to close a company venture thats 3 years old, swallowed millions of quid, and never made a profit. It was a directors pet project, but was done on the cheap using old technology, and can barely produce product well enough to sell. The lab had a massive amount of trouble from said special project in analysing their product, and when we didnt give them the results they wanted, were blamed for them not being able to sell their product, whereas the actual answer was that they were making shit.
Oh well, rant over. Its sad to watch the death of one of the few british industrial companys left.