Let’s Assume That… – Two Scenarios

Scenario no. 1.
Let’s assume that I’ll change the following things in my company:

1. I arbitrarily increase my employees’ incomes without any correlation with their performance, without taking into account the increase / decrease of the company’s growth, the economic context, the given salaries in the market and so on.
2. I give my employees half a day off every Friday; I declare that on Friday there is a 6-hour working day and the lunch break is two hours long.
3. I make various and semi-(il)legal financial scams and give various gifts to my employees, such as vouchers, etc.
4. Every 3 months, I bring in a council of priests to sanctify our office, chairs, computers, walls, floorboard and mice, and I build a chapel where we can all pray for our wellbeing using the company’s money or a loan.
5. I take responsibility for everything, I suddenly become the most beloved of all earthlings, the most smiling, most sympathetic boss, the most permissive, overlooking all mistakes, omissions, blunders or lack of punctuality.
6. I hire an army of paperwork-addicted officials to walk around the office looking “busy” and alert, thus reducing the number of actually productive employees.
7. “Performance” awards are given in advance, one year in advance to be exact, assuming that my employees’ performance will remain unchanged (and that they will still perform).
8. I completely rearrange the company’s headquarters, buying furniture and fancy decorations using our profits from an entire year.
9. From now on, I distribute all the dividends from next year on to everyone working in the company without thinking about future investments, like new computers, advanced gear, updated software, etc.
10. I pay the suppliers in advance, depending on how nice they are, and 40-50% more than their service or goods are worth, without negotiating.

What do I get out of this?
1. I become the coolest, most generous and most loved head of a branding agency in Romania.
2. Everyone rushes to be my employee, there is a queue at my door every single day, everyone wants something, everyone has a request, wants something for free, or needs a favour.
3. I only hear good words about myself and the agency, newspapers and blogs write about me, so I have amazing PR.
4. I go bankrupt in a year if I can’t get a loan from the bank, but I can’t do that anymore because I don’t have a cash flow and my projects stagnate.
5. Our customers become dissatisfied because the agency no longer delivers on time and to the required standards, while the performance, creativity and efficiency leave much to be desired; therefore, employees start to quit their jobs at the company because they can no longer meet their given requirements.

Or
Scenario no. 2.
Let’s assume that:

1. I organise everything to go by the book; working standards, deadlines, costs, budgets, incomes, cash flow and investments are all to be all respected.
2. I delegate attributions and responsibilities, I trust my employees, I give them freedom of expression and a chance to be creative, I don’t simply micro-manage the company.
3. I deal with the company’s clients strategically and I also look for new ones at the same time.
4. I don’t favour anybody, I keep my verticality and I abide by the values that guide me in my work and personal lives, I tell the truth and say what I truly believe.
5. I discuss every aspect and every penny with our suppliers, so as to streamline costs and cash flow.
6. I take our investments into account, I put money aside, I do not spend and do not pay dividends unless they affect the existence of the company.
7. I am constantly considering the implications of my decisions in the short, medium and long term.
8. I focus on collaboration, teamwork and responsibility.
9. I am constantly trying to improve the relationship with our customers, to improve our services and their reach.
10. I respect the contracts by the letter, which are the Bible of any service provider, and demand the same equal treatment.

But what do I get from all of this?
What I get is not entirely certain, although it is worth the effort, since in the medium and long term I gain credibility, both among employees and among customers and suppliers. I get good results, efficiency, ideas, personal contribution from the members of the team, balance, predictability. Of course, I don’t get anything spectacular or worthy of being published in the newspapers every week. I don’t even want that. I have too much work to do to keep the boat afloat and in the right direction to think about “how I am presented in the newspapers”, how “well I counterattacked my opponent” or how ultra-positive my personal image is.
And that doesn’t make me more Orthodox than Protestant, more like a person from Cluj than a person from Galați, more Balkan than Austro-Hungarian. I could be either. It just makes me a part of a well-oiled gear created by me with the help of good, organised, efficient and responsible people who deliver results for both customers and employees.