STATESIDE


Stateside L


ately, I have been thinking about how good and bad employees. Who are they and how long should a boss tolerate incompetence or dishonesty?


The “2013 Gallup State of the American


He attributed their personal “oversensitivity“ to childhoods where participation justified a reward and effort was its own worthy accomplishment


Workplace” report calls only 30% of American employees “engaged” and committed to their jobs. Sadly, 52% are “not engaged” and 18% are “actively disengaged.” Gallup blames bad management, estimating this 18% costs $450 billion to $550 billion annually in lost productivity nationwide. Ironically, more educated employees are less engaged. Women, plus the youngest and oldest employees, fare slightly better than men. Born between 1980-1997, Millenials are the mostly likely to have minimal company connections and change jobs within 12 months. At the East Coast Gaming Conference, Mohegan Sun CEO Mitchell Etess lamented many Millennial employees with undeveloped work habits and unrealistic advancement expectations. He attributed their personal “oversensitivity“ to childhoods where participation justified a reward and effort was its own worthy accomplishment. Etess joked that employer “mistreatment” of these young employees might bring out their mothers in defense. Post 2012 election surveys, which revealed the


under-30 crowd‘s overwhelming support for Barack Obama’s reelection, corroborated that premise. When polled about Obama’s performance regarding their age group’s high unemployment, most graded him either fair or poor. However, Obama earned an “A” and their vote because they believed he reached out and tried. Is trying the new job performance measurement? What about productivity and accountability? My recent conversations with several employers and college professors affirm that this attitude seems to permeate many companies and colleges. Granted, there are always exceptions, like a friend’s


24-year-old grandson who interned with MGM during college and accepted their post-graduation job offer. He relocated to Las Vegas and has already advanced. My husband Norman’s new 23-year-old legal secretary has successfully adapted to the law office by her appropriate dress, punctuality and professional interaction with clients, colleagues and the courts. What is their common thread? Job accountability,


reliability and honesty. Large and small companies cannot afford to coddle employees, nor should they. Too many talented unemployed workers who truly understand workplace hustle and humility need jobs.


10 JULY/AUGUST 2013


Sharon Harris wonders how unions and ‘Right To Work’ will affect gaming in future


Train and guide, but employers, you should never


excuse chronic insubordination or negative behavior. You can’t teach common sense and integrity. I say, give employees documented chances to improve...if they don’t, get rid of them.


My father bought me a used car at 16, but I had to


pay the insurance. Through high school and college, I found office jobs and worked at least 10 weeks every summer to save the money. Few jobs were glamorous, but I always did my best. I’ve quit jobs, but have never been fired. America now has two labor classes. Private sector,


like the millions of gaming-related employees, have few guarantees because most are “at-will employees”, meaning management can always terminate them or their job. Public government union workers are so mired in


bureaucratic red tape that firings for incompetence or dishonesty can take years. Currently, Washington D.C. is facing multiple agency scandals with little accountability. The worst is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS),


where multiple offices have admitted targeting specific political and religious groups. They’ve also wasted over $50 million for conferences from 2010- 2012. Organizers clearly didn’t understand or care about taxpayers’ money. They spent frivolously on line dance instruction, comedy videos, hotel suites, diet pills, online pornography and dozens of other ridiculous items. No one has been fired; several are on “paid administrative leave.” The top IRS brass appeared before Congress, dodging questions with variations of “I don’t know“ or refusing to answer to avoid incriminating themselves. There is public outrage over $70 million in scheduled merit bonuses for IRS union workers. Merit…are they kidding? Even if there was money,


they don’t deserve it. If their top management, who should have superior skills, are such dishonest clowns, what kind of example have they set? When young workers see this pathetic lack of consequences, what should we older folks expect? Gaming management should fairly and honorably


evaluate employees. However, they should also never tolerate slackers or losers. After documenting the transgressions for legal self-protection, unload the dead weight and hire positive staff members whose work ethics and common sense will benefit the company. Age doesn’t matter – attitude does. This is the


workplace, not the home. Whatever bad behavior the family may accept, employers don’t have to.


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