I just finished reading an article about Circuit City employees that were laid off because they were making too much money. This was not one or two random people who had been with the company for a long time, but instead 3,400 people who had been with Circuit City for years (think 15 -20 years.) In return for their loyalty to the company and the fact that they were sticking with a job that usually has high turnover (retail sales positions at a big box store is usually considered an entry-level job, and as a result has very high turnover) they have been laid off. As the saying goes, “With friends like these, who needs enemies?”
The part that makes this hard for me to understand is that when you have a job with high turnover, the small things get lost. No one remembers that the shelf third from the back is rather shaky and cannot have heavy things put on it. No one knows that special person back at corporate who will do anything needed to keep a customer happy, when the regular 1-800 sales people would tell you “Too bad.” No one knows that although the supply truck is usually on time, the fourth Thursday of the month is always going to be behind because the trucker has a class he attends before heading out for the day. There are many small, even minute details that people that have been with a company for a long time know, and the new teenagers off the street have no concept of. It’s called continuity–when you have turnover, the new staff has to learn everything the old staff did, restarting that training clock over again. If it is high turnover, the new staff is leaving before they can even be considered old staff, and quite frankly, no one has any idea of what they’re doing.
There is also a level of comfort with all of the products offered–not just what is written in a sales brochure, but hands-on experience with old products, new products, and everything in between. When someone comes into the store wanting to know what the best computer is for them to buy, they can ask that question and get a real answer, not an answer based on what the salesman saw in some promotional advertising about the latest and greatest.
In Circuit City’s case, some bean counter sat and tallied expenses, and decided this is what they should do. These bean counters are so far away from the reality on the sales floor that they have no concept of how this decision is actually going to affect the company.
Well, if the bean counters want some numbers to chew on, how about this: The top six executives at Circuit City made roughly $33.5 million dollars over the past three years. If the bean counters had managed to cut those (outrageous) salaries, many salespeople could have had their jobs saved from the chopping block. It’s nice to think about, even if it would never happen.
Just keep this in mind as you go to work today: Are you making too much money? The bean counters at your company may have a different take on that answer than you do.