Alienation, trust, and an open book policy

OK, it’s Marx. Workers that are alienated from the results of their work are actively disincentivized. Most salaried people know that if they show up for the required time, they’ll get paid $X. Clock on, and off, in the frankly ridiculous parlance of factory work in which almost all work is still carried out. During ‘working hours’, people ‘in charge of’ other people, must see to it those ‘beneath’ them are doing work. These were called “charge hands”, and “foremen” in the industrial age. They were called managers in the 80s, and now they are all ‘heads of’ or ‘directors’.

Current thinking has it that employers should employ people they trust and let them get on with their jobs. I have a lot of sympathy for this; however, these people are actively disincentivized because they are still alienated from the results of their work. They know that the passage of time equals getting paid.

Here’s a thought then, the open book policy! Show everyone what everyone else gets paid, and for what. Show everyone the fixed costs involved in running a business and explain to everyone what will happen if that gets damaged in terms of money coming in, vs. going out. Why not? Well, in many cases, the people who can decide to do this are afraid that this will include their own monetary extraction from the business. They are afraid that if everyone ‘knows the truth’, they’ll get the hump and leave.

There are usually very few people making a whole heap of money by what looks like ‘turning up’ just like everyone else, and that’s not fair – maybe it’s not, maybe it is. Here’s the thing though, if you treat everyone like mushrooms, and not adults, what are you telling them you think of them? Tell them the truth, and let them get a fright at how much it costs to open the doors and keep the lights on… maybe some of them will have some great ideas for efficiencies, but at least treat people as adults.

If there are people at the top end of the business raking in huge amounts of cash, and they can’t justify why this is OK, then maybe it isn’t. However, here are few ways of dealing with this:

·????????A person does well if they are cunning about how they craft their career, this is not a fair or level playing field, and never has been, but everyone can to a greater or lesser extent advance their situation. What are individuals doing about this, why should it be them that makes more money than the next person? It doesn’t happen by moaning about it…

·????????Someone at the top end of the income ladder in a business has either lived through a lot of personal risks and hard work to get there and/ or as in 1. Above, been cunning about it, and taken the good luck and rolled with it. There is nothing wrong with explaining this. They should have rare and highly prized skills, experience and probably connections.

·????????Everyone in a business is free to go and join another business if they feel they can do better for themselves – so make sure there is a way for people to do this in your business – open the books, show them how it all works, and reward people that demonstrate that they ‘get it’ and are on board with making the business more profitable, easier to do business with, better to work in, etc.

·????????Everyone is free to place their own assets in jeopardy if they think they can start their own business, and pay themselves handsomely when it pays off.

Have these conversations with people, and find people that are happy to fit in, in the areas in which work needs to be done. Cracking the whip, “the flogging will continue until morale improves” is not the way to do things now. Give people both the anxiety of knowing how the business is doing, and allow them to demonstrate that they want to ensure that it does well, does better, thrives, and reward those that are exemplary. In this system, by the way, you don’t need to plop leadership badges on people and send them on course to learn how to act ‘like’ they were actual leaders… you’ll spot them. They stick out like a sore thumb. So will the people who are perfectly happy doing what they do.

One of the biggest mistakes that people who think they’re Capitalists make, about Marxist thinking, is that a revolution does not have to mean replacing everyone ‘at the top’ with other people that can be at the top. It means involving everyone by directly linking them to the results of their labour. This does not mean that everyone is equally paid, it means they are all equally treated. The resolution is in upsetting the class hierarchy whereby people derive money from the labour of others without fairly being involved in the effort themselves. Where most people who think they are Marxists make their biggest mistake is in not admitting that people who have more specialist and rare skills, take on more personal risk, are socially cunning, will naturally, due to their desirability and rarity, demand a higher price.

The problem comes, dear bosses, when you are actually just riding the system for all it’s worth, without fairly contributing yourself. Of course, if this is you, then no wonder you hate the idea of an open-book policy, and treating people like adults, and prefer the managerial whip-cracking approach.

I ask you though business owners, and senior people – what do you want? Do you want actively engaged professional people that understand the direct result of their contribution? Would it be a good idea that people can see that their own efforts will be rewarded, not just their showing up. That reward is however that works for them. Many are happy just having a job they love and knowing they can as they wish, on the money. Or do you want mushrooms, that live in the dark and are fed on s…? Mushrooms only flourish a few times before they wither away, and then you have to replace them… That’s extremely expensive, inefficient, and shows you’re pretty crap at running a business… Mushrooms feed on decaying matter…

An open-book policy engages everyone and makes everyone responsible for their part. Some make more than others, but that’s a conversation that should be able to happen. Even in the case of American businesses, which are considered medium sized even if they’re making $billions, and the COE is making $millions. This conversation should be able to take place. If it can’t then I strongly suggest there is something wrong with the business, and the people at the top of it.