What are those fellows doing? I mean the ones watching the guy with the shovel in his hand. We’ve all seen it, whether they are public works employees, utility company employees, or construction workers, and we all have our perception about what they’re doing.
We live in a world where perception has become more important than reality, with the possible exception of the legal system, and it seems if you can afford to hire a smart enough lawyer, perception can even influence the outcome of a trial. Oops, I almost spilled my O. J. on my computer.
I can remember when I went to work at a very young age in a factory near where I grew up and the company would change a product or how we made it. The perception that I and the other workers had was always the same. “The people running this company don’t have a clue what they’re doing. I could do a better job than they are.” Six months later you would find out that the customer had dictated the changes to the product and if we wanted to retain the business, the company had to comply with their requirements. It was a lesson I remembered as my career in management progressed. I usually went out of my way to make sure the employees I was responsible for were informed of the background and reasoning for implementing any changes the company made.
When we see activity within our city, we very quickly form our own perception of what is happening. I can remember one spring thaw in the community where I was living; a city backhoe was doing some work next to the local cemetery. It was a Sunday morning and the work being done could have easily been left to the next day. My immediate reaction was, “why are we paying someone overtime to be in here working on something that could be done anytime?” It bothered me enough that when I got home I decided to call the public works manager, who was a friend of mine, and ask him what was going on. Another lesson learned. He asked me if our company had a minimum call-in pay policy for employees at our plant. I told him we did, at which point he advised me that the city’s contract did as well and there had been a storm sewer blocked with ice on Trafalgar St. causing the water to flow across the street and begin to wash the road out. It was a 15-minute job to clear it, but rather than pay an employee for three hours to do a 15-minute job and then go home, they kept an updated list of things that needed to be done when they could get at them. The employees had been given the direction that if they were called in for an emergency and had the time available, they were to work on these items until their three hours were up. After I took my foot out of my mouth I told him that I thought that was a great system. Perception vs. reality: there are always facts we don’t know.
We’ve had a recent example in our local government as well. Earlier this year the city hired an Assistant City Manager. The perception from a lot of people is that we’ve added another person to the city staff, thereby increasing our payroll and the city’s expenses and why was this necessary when the previous city managers were able to operate without an assistant. The reality is that although we did hire an assistant manager, we did not add an additional person to the city staff, and we actually decreased the city’s expenses. “It’s a miracle!” you say. Not really, but you need to know the background.
Late last year a decision was reached to eliminate two of the positions at city hall and replace them with two other positions, along with a realignment of duties to increase our efficiency. The Human Resource Generalist position, which also provided help for the accounting department, was eliminated. The Community Development Director was also eliminated. The Assistant City Manager position was created and will be responsible for all the Human Resource functions, updating our personnel policies and reviewing and making recommendations on our benefit policies including our health insurance plans. He will also head up the Planning Board and has been assigned the lead position in updating the Comprehensive Plan for Caribou.
The other position created was the Assistant Tax Collector. This position will be responsible for the accounting duties previously assigned to the Human Resource position as well as the majority of the tax collection responsibilities. We have already seen positive results in getting more people current or back on schedule with their tax commitments.
Not only do I think this re-organization has been beneficial, but I also believe it has added additional depth to our management staff for the future. All this and we actually did decrease our employee costs by close to $17,000. It really is a miracle!
As Paul Harvey always said, “And now you know the rest of the story.”
I’m still thinking about those fellows watching the guy on the shovel. Does that just happen in Caribou?
This column is strictly the opinion or view of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of the City of Caribou’s administration staff, its employees, or other council members. Gary Aiken may be reached at garyaiken@hotmail.com.
