JULY 2007: FROM THE EDITOR
The age of
negotiation
As CEO of Doussard Family Industries (DFI), I’ve fielded
a lot of questions from other small-business owners about how
we’re preparing to deal with our aging workforce.
It’s a critical issue facing American businesses as the
boomer bulge in the python begins to retire in the next few
years.
Like many executive managers, I’m struggling with how to
keep my experienced older workers employed at the company for
as long as possible. Case in point: The DFI operations manager,
while still a few years away from the age where he could pull
the plug, lately has been talking about “scaling
back.” He sees running ops as a bottomless pit of work,
and pretty thankless. For instance, at a recent board meeting I
decided we needed to upgrade our landscaping operation, and
that he would need to dig at least 20 new holes for the
strategic expansion. There was a solid business reason behind
this: Plants were on sale.
Operations: It’s going to take me all weekend to dig
that many holes.
Management: Think of the business first, will you? Wrap your
arthritic hands and get out there.
Operations: OK, but you’ve got to stack the firewood
while I’m doing it.
Management: I think we need to develop a summer intern
program.
DFI has no upcoming generation of younger workers, so this
summer intern program is not a bad idea because ours is only a
two-person shop. The company in its early years decided to
bypass the development of the next generation, but I can see
now how that has put us at a disadvantage. Without low-cost
youngsters to run errands and do the low-level tasks, senior
members have to pick up the slack. (Our temps, which we recruit
from the canine pool, don’t last long and do not have
thumbs. We can’t count on them.) On the other hand, we
don’t have education and training expenses, not to
mention the multitude of HR issues, such as unauthorized use of
company vehicles or coming back from assignment after 3 a.m.
Like many businesses, our shortage is most acute in the
skilled labor areas. This is where the ops manager has extreme
leverage. With his construction, plumbing, landscaping,
electrical, cooking and poop-scooping skills, he could name his
price with another company. Not that he’s ever looked at
another CEO, mind you, but I still feel vulnerable to
competition. There might be a younger, less demanding boss out
there, one with fewer depreciating assets, who is willing to
overlook his spotty resume; how often do you get this level of
expertise in someone who still has hair to comb?
Memo to self: Cancel the ops retreat in Vegas this year.
But I am not the kind of CEO who ignores the needs of her
workers, so I asked the operations manager to tell me what
would make the company more appealing for the long term. Like
many aging workers, he wants flexible hours, less work, more
creativity, more free beverages and less criticism of the Miami
Hurricanes. These do not seem unreasonable to me and I’m
willing to try them out. But, as I reminded him, DFI has never
reduced his benefits (in fact, the beverage budget has steadily
increased) and has not asked him to visit the CEO’s
mother in 15 years. I doubt seriously if a younger CEO would
offer such an attractive contract.
I would like to think that I could just find a younger worker
to take his place. Someone with more energy who would work
longer for less pay and appreciate my steady stream of
constructive criticism. (None of us is ever too old to learn
and grow, are we?)
But, truthfully, it’s taken me 30 years to train this
staff. Who has the energy to do that again?
— Robin
Doussard
editor@oregonbusiness.com
