Do You Really Want To Be THAT Company?
July 14th, 2008 by Cali & Jody
British meat company Brown Brothers recently (and rightfully) caught flak for their “Dickensian” bathroom break policy. The company required that workers clock out, and then take off their boots, overalls and hairnets before going to the toilet.
Union leaders complained this amounted to having workers lose pay in order to use the loo. The company countered that they had an incentive plan where more money was awarded to people who could go to the bathroom at preferred times.
I don’t think you need us to give the Results-Only Work Environment take on why Brown Brothers’ policy is boneheaded. You don’t need to use the ROWE mindset to know that it’s unfair (not to mention unwise) to micromanage your employees’ bladders.
But we aren’t galled by the policy. (We’ve heard so many evil, controlling workplace policies that it takes a lot to shock us.) What amazes us is that Brown Brothers didn’t think anyone would find out.
One of the factors working in favor of people who care about work-life balance issues is the increasing transparency of the working world:
If you do something stupid, shortsighted and cruel, then the world is going to find out.
If you do something smart, forward-thinking and generous, then the world is going to find out.
We hope that every HR manager and business leader within the sound of this blog takes these simple ideas to heart. The next time you revisit the employee handbook, ask yourself if you want to be the kind of company that ends up in somebody’s blog for contributing to making work suck. Or if you’d rather be known for doing it right.
Wow, that’s really incredible (in a bad way.) I agree with you that when you treat your employees like trustworthy adults they will perform much better for you. Clamping down and running employees into the ground will do nothing more than foster resentment and encourage the desire to undermine the company.
It also fosters a sense of “when the cat’s away the mice will play”. When will companies get it? They want us to “act like adults and professionals”, but in the same breath they will issue rules or “policies” that relegate us back to elementary school.
“OfficeSpace” was a bit over the top, but there was a lot of truth.