Dear Valued Employee, Thank You For “X” Years Of Service

We’ve all been on the receiving end of that letter.  The CEO of the company “sends” you the letter that officially congratulates you on the number of years of service to the company.  The big years fall on the “Fives”; 10-15-20 etc.

The whole idea of this is that of reward.  Recognition that you have been able to contribute to the viability of the company for those 15 or so years.  And the further up you go, the larger the recognition that you actually “survive”.  And, further, that the company “survived” as well.

See, each of us has a relationship with our employer.  We stay employed as long as these conditions are met:

  1. The burden of going to the office and giving up 40 hours a week is overcome by the amount of money and other benefits I get from the firm.
  2. The burden of compensating the employee is overcome by the productivity they give the firm.

That is, it has to be worth it to both the employee AND the employer.  When it no longer satisfies those criteria; separation occurs.

And, to be sure, while employees and employers look to celebrate many years of happy service, both are looking to maximize their position and take advantage of that separation should the conditions merit.

For example, if I am able to find another job that compensates me for my time in a stronger position; I take it.  And, of course, this includes retirement.  Which is, of course, just another calculation of time and money.  In the exact same manner, the employer is watching to see that my productivity exceeds my salary.  And in the event it doesn’t, the company will go through the process of … well, “promoting me to customer”.

So, it struck me as very interesting to see this article from USA Today that reported statistics on terminations in the private sector and the public sector. Hat Tip Neil Boortz

Federal employees’ job security is so great that workers in many agencies are more likely to die of natural causes than get laid off or fired, a USA TODAY analysis finds.

Death — rather than poor performance, misconduct or layoffs — is the primary threat to job security at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Office of Management and Budget and a dozen other federal operations.

Blink.  Blink.

Is that possible?

The federal government fired 0.55% of its workers in the budget year that ended Sept. 30 — 11,668 employees in its 2.1 million workforce. Research shows that the private sector fires about 3% of workers annually for poor performance, says John Palguta, former research chief at the federal Merit Systems Protection Board, which handles federal firing disputes.

Point Five Five Percent?  That’s not even one in a hundred.  Not one.  It’s one in two hundred.

When question by this stunning fact, the government immediately recognized that the performance of the private sector, much more skilled at such processes due to the competitive nature of organization management was dismal and needed attention.  Right?

HUD spokesman Jerry Brown says his department’s low dismissal rate — providing a 99.85% job security rate for employees — shows a skilled and committed workforce. “We’ve never focused on firing people, and we don’t intend to start now. We’re more focused on hiring the right people,” he says.

Right.

This is in line with my expectation with government.

We’ve never focused on firing competent people, and we don’t intend to start now.

THAT is more in line with my expectation.

As we wrestle with this debt, and deficit business, keep this in mind.

2 responses to “Dear Valued Employee, Thank You For “X” Years Of Service

  1. I remain a hard core Vikings fan and always will be! (And I like Obama too…)

    • I remain a hard core Vikings fan and always will be!

      Yeah, but they cut their poor performers!

      And, don’t look now but they may be leaving Minnesota!

Leave a Reply