Hasn’t He Ever Heard of Dilbert?

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

I’m surfing the web the other day and I come across this blog entry on the Inc. magazine site – 20 perks that will earn your employees’ love. The blogger, Michael Alter, is obviously no slouch – CEO of an $11 million company that the National Association for Business Resources named as one of Chicago’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For, not to mention McKinsey and Harvard MBA credentials.

So after reading his list, I was struck by one “perk” that was missing that my experience tells me is a huge factor in whether an employee “loves working for you.” That perk is a manager who isn’t a jerk, who doesn’t make their employees’ jobs more difficult, who actually looks out for the best interests of their employees, who isn’t working out childhood issues on company time. Is that too much to ask? Now I recognize that perk #18 down the list -- Positive Words and Opportunity to Succeed – is part of being a good manager but I think Mr. Alter should consider adding a twenty-first perk to make it explicit, and while we’re at it, put it at the top of the list. So here’s my suggestion, Mr. Alter.

Give Them Managers Who Know How to Manage People. All the perks in the world can’t overcome working for someone who is a jerk. Choose and retain people for management because they can bring out the best in everyone they work with.

Besides, your general counsel might be willing to switch this one with the beer perk. Something about having the keg in the manager’s office every Friday afternoon gives me pause.

Hey Corporate X-Ray reader, let me know how you would rank these 21 perks.