I agree with much of your analysis based on what I've learned mainly from reading your blog.
You've worked in management. Just curious: Did you manage people? Did you have training in how to effectively do that, and regular refreshers and coaching along the way?
Most of us have been on the receiving end of some very bad management in our working lives, mainly because the managers we had were never trained in how to manage people. They were skilled at selling, or manufacturing, or mechical repair and service, or policy and procedure, medical care, fire fighting and rescue, etc., and moved up a ladder within the organization, but no one ever offered them or required of them, training in how to manage people well. In my experience, few managers are naturally good managers of their employees, and even fewer seem to receive any education in how to become a good manager. This really is an injustice to both the person put in the position of managing and those s/he will manage. And it usually results in just the sort of disaster our town finds itself in now.
So a big need going forward is, as you say here, assessing the management of all the departments in town, including our TA. We've allowed too much focus to be on budget management, and not any it seems on good management of staff. Once that's done, the town should probably employ a good consultant who has a reputation for teaching managers how to hire and manage their staff in ways that are legal, safe, fair, and equitable, and fire them when necessary and appropriate.
Yes, this will cost money that won't be available with a tax cap of 4%.
And Yes, it will surely help attract and retain staff, which always saves money in the long run.
I suspect the town will end up kicking this can down the road. A lawsuit could be a blessing and a curse. Of course it will be even more needless money spent on this debacle, but it might be the dire circumstance that propels us to enact the kind of forward thinking changes that need to be made so this scenario doesn't just get put on repeat.
I have an MBA in Marketing and Quantitative Methods from Cornell and an MS in Organizational Theory from the University of Pennsylvania. I've had a lot training in managment theory, but none of the organizations I worked for did much in terms of any practical training or coaching for people in my discipline. While we marketing managers do manage a few people - I did - mostly we manage vendors. The number of people who report to the typical CMO is probably less than 1% of the number that report to their typical COO peer.
I think we treat our town employees like we treat our town buildings. To save money we skimp on preventative maintenance and we end up getting stuck with big repair bills.
The voters' attitude towards the tax cap is slightly paradoxical. They like the cap, but they're also willing to add spending to the operating budget when presented with reasonable proposals. Just this year they added extra funding for maintenance. Maybe in the next election cycle they'll add extra funding to address our personnel woes.
The town has a history of getting sued and never seeming to learn its lesson. As my step-father (an investigative journalist) liked to say: "sunlight is the best disinfectant."
One thing they teach in business school, via the case study method, is to think carefully about what the options are for each major decision and to think carefully about what the consequences are likely to be for each option. All done under conditions of considerable shortages of data, uncertainty of data quality, and with simultaneous time pressures to act.
I agree with much of your analysis based on what I've learned mainly from reading your blog.
You've worked in management. Just curious: Did you manage people? Did you have training in how to effectively do that, and regular refreshers and coaching along the way?
Most of us have been on the receiving end of some very bad management in our working lives, mainly because the managers we had were never trained in how to manage people. They were skilled at selling, or manufacturing, or mechical repair and service, or policy and procedure, medical care, fire fighting and rescue, etc., and moved up a ladder within the organization, but no one ever offered them or required of them, training in how to manage people well. In my experience, few managers are naturally good managers of their employees, and even fewer seem to receive any education in how to become a good manager. This really is an injustice to both the person put in the position of managing and those s/he will manage. And it usually results in just the sort of disaster our town finds itself in now.
So a big need going forward is, as you say here, assessing the management of all the departments in town, including our TA. We've allowed too much focus to be on budget management, and not any it seems on good management of staff. Once that's done, the town should probably employ a good consultant who has a reputation for teaching managers how to hire and manage their staff in ways that are legal, safe, fair, and equitable, and fire them when necessary and appropriate.
Yes, this will cost money that won't be available with a tax cap of 4%.
And Yes, it will surely help attract and retain staff, which always saves money in the long run.
I suspect the town will end up kicking this can down the road. A lawsuit could be a blessing and a curse. Of course it will be even more needless money spent on this debacle, but it might be the dire circumstance that propels us to enact the kind of forward thinking changes that need to be made so this scenario doesn't just get put on repeat.
I have an MBA in Marketing and Quantitative Methods from Cornell and an MS in Organizational Theory from the University of Pennsylvania. I've had a lot training in managment theory, but none of the organizations I worked for did much in terms of any practical training or coaching for people in my discipline. While we marketing managers do manage a few people - I did - mostly we manage vendors. The number of people who report to the typical CMO is probably less than 1% of the number that report to their typical COO peer.
I think we treat our town employees like we treat our town buildings. To save money we skimp on preventative maintenance and we end up getting stuck with big repair bills.
The voters' attitude towards the tax cap is slightly paradoxical. They like the cap, but they're also willing to add spending to the operating budget when presented with reasonable proposals. Just this year they added extra funding for maintenance. Maybe in the next election cycle they'll add extra funding to address our personnel woes.
The town has a history of getting sued and never seeming to learn its lesson. As my step-father (an investigative journalist) liked to say: "sunlight is the best disinfectant."
Just noticed your background. I have an MBA in Finance from the Johnson School at Cornell. Small world.
I just looked at your Linkedin. I was a summer intern for Joe Thomas, too!. We're also on the same reunion cycle. You're 5 years before me.
One thing they teach in business school, via the case study method, is to think carefully about what the options are for each major decision and to think carefully about what the consequences are likely to be for each option. All done under conditions of considerable shortages of data, uncertainty of data quality, and with simultaneous time pressures to act.
Thanks for your analysis and recap of the events. Not Nottingham's finest hour for sure.
So its now Feb. 20. 2024. Has anything been resolved?