AN OPEN LETTER TO THE BOSS

This morning, the owner of the company where I work assembled the "top brass", meaning his partner, the Senior Construction Site Superintendent and myself, into the board room and rather unceremoniously informed us all that the Company was "screwed" (his word, not mine). According to him, the present economic situation and resulting loss of business means that, unless there's a dramatic turn-around, the Company may go under in as little as four months.

As depressing a prospect as this is though, I can't say I'm surprised. I've been with this employer since the day they opened the door; I've seen them do many things right, but I've also seem them do many things wrong. Over the years, where I thought their judgement was a bit off, I've tried to give my opinion and it has almost always fallen onto deaf ears. Usually, their somewhat patronizing answer was "we have to play 'devils advocate' on this one, Julie", or even worse, "we're not asking for your opinion on this one". Anyone reading this who's spent any small amount of time in business may wonder why I stayed with this employer, but the truth is I've gotten quite comfortable. I learned early on what they will take on board, and when I'm wasting my time, and my salary, while not the highest I've been paid, is enough to cover my expenses and the job itself is not terribly demanding.

Having said all this, there's nothing either myself or the Site Superintendent (who has also tried his level best at coaching Management) can do about this crisis now. Either the owners will try to pull it together and obtain some kind of emergency funding or we'll simply close the door; there's no more talking to be done. However, despite the fact they've seldom listened to me before and so aren't likely to do it now, I still want my say in the matter, and since I don't want to jeopardize my unemployment benefits, I've decided to write an open letter to them and place it here, where I know they'll never find it:

"Dear Owner/CEO and President/COO,

So sorry to hear the business is failing; we all had high hopes for our prospective success, and for awhile, we were riding quite high in a very competitive field. I know you say our downfall is due to the economic climate and general construction decline, but I have an alternate theory, and it is that our declining fortune is due primarily to poor project management and financial irresponsibility. Let me cite some examples:

• "Profit" means net profit after paying off all subcontractors and suppliers; opening a separate bank account and simply calling it a "profit account" does not make it so.

• A fledgling company doesn't need to move into spacious new offices, complete with wall-mounted big screen TV's, glass panelled conference rooms and kitchen facilities simply because the "other" company (whose previous years profit was $3.2 million) has one.

• Don't tell your employees they can't receive a pay hike, then purchase yourself a 50-foot sailboat.


• Don't hire a completely inexperienced Project Manager because you think she's "hot". That was a two-year mistake, and quite costly to the company.


• Don't take on a project you know will lose money simply for the exposure. The last time you did that the company lost close to $80,000.00 and and the only exposure we received was that we were made to look foolish.


• Don't use company money to finance your second company's opeation unless you plan to pay it back; we're still waiting for re-payment.


• Don't apologize to your key employees, the ones who actually run the day-to-day operations of your company, for not being able to pay them a holiday bonus, then drive up two days later to show off your new Aston Martin DBS.

Gentlemen, I can cite more examples, but the ones I've listed here should give you a general idea of my direction on the matter. While I'm sorry you chose not to listen this time, I hope you carry it forward with your next venture, whatever it may be. It's very simple advice, really: listen to the people you pay to run your business because at the end of they day, they are the ones who have the company's best interest at heart, you cretins.

Sincerely, Your Business Manager."

Alright, so posting my letter here may be the cowardly way out, but I've never been much of a bridge-burner, and doing it this way means I can vent my spleen in complete anonymity; after all, if they've never taken my advice, they certainly won't read anything I write. And that's a good thing because they won't know that, in the unhappy event the business fails, I've already been offered employment with the accounting firm who does the company's books. Unlike my bosses, the accountants have been kind enough to listen to me.