‘Hand Me Down’ Fenton
When inefficient, sloppy or ineffective workers cause a company to lose money, reputation and risk its very existence, it is time to make serious judgement calls.
Merely shunting failing employees off to a subsidiary or Head Office says in effect, that we are allowing you to go make a mess elsewhere.
I could not fathom why the church sent Catholic priests to a new parish and allowed unsuspecting parents to entrust their little boys to these disgusting, child molester, pervert priests. Similarly I will never understand why Administrators send failing teachers and principals to infect other schools that would be better off without them.
I have searched the annals of books on how to manage underperforming staff and nowhere have I found that magic tablet that says shunting them off to another portfolio would change their ways. Sending Dr. Ferguson to the Ministry of Labour sends a message to Jamaica and specifically to that Ministry.
It is not a pretty message. Should we believe that suddenly the minister’s memory will improve? Will he suddenly change his recalcitrant ways and make the people’s reports available or will the Prime Minister have to intervene and direct that damning audits be made available? Will there be conflicting dates with his new chief of staff when troubles arise? Will he refer to holiday workers, household helpers and apprentices as pseudo-workers and not real labourers? Why should we believe that suddenly he will be more proactive and diligent over at Labour?
Hand-me-downs can be beautiful and useful but not all used items are created equal. As much as it may hurt to turn down some gear that would really save your wallet, the operational, safety and health risks are not worth it. As far as Jamaica’s management team is concerned, I think we may happily accept some hand-me-downs, but in this case, we the people and the Labour Ministry should politely decline.
Sandra M. Taylor Wiggan is a retired army officer, education administrator and Justice of the Peace.