In the private sector, this phenomenon was once the order of the day in many national and international corporate theatres.
However, many corporate structures have been downsized to minimize expense and stabilize profits. Some of this has beenbrought to bear in some cases by shareholders. Other decisions have been made by owners or CEO’s after realizing that therewas managerial overload and something had to be done as natural attrition was not a balancing factor.
Sometime ago, the City of Penticton had a cleansing, if you will, of some hired positions. Some reasons given were that certainprojects were completed so that management and crew involvement was no longer necessary. Natural attrition due to retirementwas touted and redistribution of services was mentioned. All in all, we were led to believe that this “restructuring process” wasboth needed and it was of benefit to the city. Sounds good, but was it?
Presently, we have seen a marked change of what was to what now is. Our infrastructure is in disrepair and lack of adequatefunding seems to be the order of the day.
At our local level of government, we seem to experience operational overload as well. This is evident in the last 18 months or soby the hiring and the releasing of various upper corporate management members. But wait, the management overload filtersdown into the rank and file team as well. Let’s examine this first.
To better understand this, I encourage you to go to the City of Penticton website and click on staffing. You might be somewhatshocked as you read through department lists to find out how many people are on the payroll. Better yet, when you read eachlist see how many positions have the same title and the same number beside them (e.g. job 1). Look for a job 2,or 3 as well. Askyourself this question what do these people actually do that two or more are necessary? Also, check for support staff for theseindividuals. If you are in doubt, ask questions and get answers that satisfy you. On the outside, it looks as though the “PeterPrinciple” may apply in certain areas. Find out for yourself.
Hiring is one thing, however, hiring with a legitimate purpose is another.
Ron Barillaro
Penticton
