The 10 Million Dollar Man
This is a post I wrote about 4 months ago, and never
published. I’ve completely rewritten it,
because now I feel I have been able to step back a bit and reflect in a
slightly less passionate context. That
is, with a little less anger and rage.
I’m sure we will all experience something like this in the companies we
work for. I just hope you will
experience a little less of both emotions than I did(and still do))
Now that I’m at mid age, my value system has changed quite a
bit from when I was younger. I’m a wee
less arrogant(not much), thx to failure a wee more modest, and with a clearer
picture of what it takes to succeed. I
will definitely pass on to my children the lessons I’ve learned. I will expect them to both surpass me. Yet one thing I’ve yet to overcome is that
basic American belief of fairness, and the feeling of getting “screwed”,
whenever company rewards do not equal effort.
That’s right;
Americans in particular I think really take it hard when things aren’t
“fair”. It’s a naïve expectation to
have, I know. But it still lingers in
America and dies only a very slow death.
Americans very much expect fairness in an American company. Bitterness amongst the workforce is always
rooted in the lacking of this concept.
I’m going to go out on a limb and kinda sorta reveal my
political bent. Trust me when I say my
views have come about the hard way. A
very, very slow turn in this direction:
Whenever I read the above I think about the story below. True, folks in other Western countries will
have the right to roll their eyes and comment “you aren’t the only ones with
that problem”. Still, I feel it is
especially prevalent here, and unfairly so.
I’m talking about the bonus structure between managers and their
workers, and the very gross discrepancy that exists between the two, when “awards”
are passed out.
American bonus rates are often based on “title”, not
“value creation”. American companies often see
no contradiction with this. The assumption
is the Sr Mgt will get a larger share of the bonus pie because he created and
executed a strategy that was his idea.
So it’s only right he gets the biggest slice of the Pie. However the downside to that is everyone else
below a certain title will get the same percentage. So, to use an extreme example, the front desk
receptionist would have a % bonus the same as mine.
But what if he didn’t execute a plan? What if he came into the plan, after the
fact? Should his compensation still be
based on his title? Apparently,
yes. That’s what happened to me.
I was hired into an organization to create an Asian supply
chain for our products. I certainly did
that. My status within the organization,
upon the success of our fledgling Asian operation increased. Suppliers constantly tried to take me
out. Fortunately for me, I was flatter
proof. I’d already lived in China
several years. (When choosing who will
run your China operations, always find someone that’s already been there awhile,
and thus flatter proof)
I limited my exposure with them to 40 rmb dinners. It was
my way of showing them they’d get nowhere with me. I felt it important to set the tone of the
relationship. We’d be about results, and
little else.
Than, once the supply chain was up and running, and we had
our first successful product inhse, my new manager came in. He was a graduate of a certain military
academy. As was the CEO. (Folks, don’t underestimate the importance of
college!) One day my Sr VP told me
to meet this guy. I had no idea who he was. I was a “Mgr” of the company, and he was a
“Director”. He was two levels above
me. I had a seen a certain fellow
roaming the halls. Alone. Never paid attn. to him. After seeing him pass by once, a coworker
of mine pointed at him and said with a snarl “there goes a guy with a title and
no responsibility!”.
Sure enough, I walked into this fellow’s ofc and it was
him. In short, I explained our biz model
to this guy. Told him what I did. Went over our biz terminology, cost and
margins. The whole ten yards. I made him a believer.
(I’ve referenced this fellow before:)
He’d never been to
China. Had no idea what to expect. Took him to the factory doing our work. Loved it.
I loved the fact he was happy with me.
Loved the fact he was dependent upon me. I felt important. He called me his “good soldier”.
As I got to know him I learned he was the typical Conservative. Very pro Republican. He was virulently anti Union. Extremely confident in what he did. Very careful with his money. Loved to talk politics. I asked him once in jest if he’d ever thought
of running for governor, and he took me seriously.
Eventually we started an operation in Hong Kong, hired a
fellow to run that, and I in turn reported to him. We both performed well, and made a lot of
money for the company. I figured I
saved the company $5 million a month, for several years. It was a pretty smooth operation. The guy in HKG knew what he was doing. So did I . Our Director was smart enough to
stay out of our way.
Than he caught the bug.
What is that? If
you’re a Man, doing business in China, and have suppliers that need your business,
you will know what the BUG is. His
first trip to China we took him to a KTV(I am still surprised at people that
consider themselves “China guys”, who don’t know what KTV is.)
KTV is Karaoke.
Except that it’s not Karaoke.
Let’s just be blunt. It’s
prostitution, Chinese style. Chinese
suppliers do not take us there to sing.
They take us there to break the ice.
First one has dinner. Than we are
taken to the KTV afterwards to relax, MAN STYLE.
There is fruit, snacks, and lots of free
alcohol.
I was a bit nervous because this may have been a bit too
quick for my boss. One needs to immerse
into China slowly. You can’t immerse
too quickly. But on this trip, the
suppliers were Americans. They were the
ones taking my boss to KTV, so I had cover.
My boss was a fish out of water. (for the last time. Soon he became Poseidon)
He liked the games.
Than towards the end the suppliers pushed him to take a girl back with
him. He couldn’t put his mind around
this, no matter how they tried.
Eventually he gave in. My hotel
room was next to his. I was smart
enough, and (already past the KTV phase), and let him go up first with his
chick. I could tell he felt she was well
endowed(he apparently wasn’t a pushup bra expert yet). I went up to my room 5 minutes after he
did. His room was next to mine. 5 minutes after I came home his door opened
and I heard a female voice utter in Chinese “what was that about?”
His lady had left.
The next day he uttered she wasn’t that endowed. They’d gotten into the shower together and
he’d than had second thoughts. He felt
guilty. Fine. None of my business.
That was the last time that ever happened. Soon, he was coming over as often as I
was. He and the HK Director of
Operations got along fabulously(for all the wrong reasons). I
lost my direct line of communication with him.
When did he cross the line? Probably
when he discovered he could come to Asia, have fun, and get away with it. More so when he stopped showing interest in my
work, and took me and my work for granted.
Not a total idiot he read my disdain towards him. Smart enough to remain hands off, he ceased
asking questions, and quite frankly caring.
I was his “China guy”(blue eyed China guy, mind you). I kept doing what I did, in the factory, 6
damn days a week. I was getting back to
my Shenzhen aprt at 9pm on Saturday
nights. I had nightly conference calls
at first 10pm and than 11pm. Despite our savings, I found myself
constantly being berated by coworkers who didn’t rank high enough to even merit
a ticket to China.(aahhh such is life in the American company. Directors let everyone below their rank
beat each other up. )
Our company culture was all about making the numbers. When I smashed the numbers, I’d get an email
from the CEO(twice!). I got quarterly
bonus checks. I had $200 diem, per day
while in China as well, for both food and travel. I was top of the food chain. We were making a ton of money. Our HKG laowai were taking the helicopter
from HKG to Macau for party weekends, on company expense.
And our Director?
Well, he was now VP! I was up to
Sr Mgr(I wasn’t promoted. HR bumped me up when they saw what I was
making). In three years I had gone from
75 to 96k. Meanwhile my bosses love for
China suddenly deepened. And Macao. And Hong Kong. Suppliers loved him, too.
Took him everywhere. Our dinners were suddenly over a thousand
rmb! I than realized my Boss simply loved the
attention. He loved it when they
listened to him, and when they all nodded obediently. They’d gotten to his ego. They’d come upon his sense of self
importance. Soon, I was not important
enough to merit even a phone call, anymore. (gee, I wonder why!) This is how China works. Find out who the important guy is and get him
a woman, free whiskey and fine food.
Yes, I know the West works that way, too, but we are just not as straightfwd as the Chinese are.
My ego took a hit. He was spending more time
with the suppliers than with me! The
ironic thing was I was the only one in our company that spoke Chinese. As such, I was the only one they couldn’t flatter. My sense of self importance took a very steep
nosedive. It was painful, I admit.
I resented my boss for this.
I smoldered. This idiot that knew
nothing of how to run our operation.
Someone who had been assigned to the program, not fucking created
it! Someone that was given something
that was already working! (Smart enough
not to mess it up, true). Yet he figuratively drove by the factory gates
on his way to the local KTV, with me
inside getting product out the door so he could make his numbers. And of course his bonus was larger than
mine.( as it should be )
As the years dragged on, this “military man” couldn’t even
find it in him to compliment me face to face.
The last time he came by the factory to see me and to review things(a 30
min visit. Think about it. A 15 hr flight to Hong Kong, with a 30 min
visit to the factory….), he had his DO of HK Operations phone me to tell me “He
likes the way you handle your people”. I
guess it’s not in the military manual to compliment a “good soldier” face to
face.
Than one day we bought a company. There was a stock swap. Due to the arcane ridden rules of American
Finance, he actually received a $1 mln payout.
News still reached me of this, in an email. I forwarded the email to him and asked if it
was true. He called the author of the
original email a “jock sniffer”, said the email was false, and than mentioned “thanks
for sharing”.
A week later a fellow that also got a settlement told me it
was true.
“ Settlements are based on title. We all received the same letter. We all know what each other made. What you heard was correct.”, he said.
I was bothered when I realized that I was now working for a
company that based it’s compensation above and beyond salary purely on
TITLE. The above incident reinforced
that.
Than one day our company decided we had just grown too
big. We couldn’t manage things by the
hair of the dog anymore. They brought in
conservative leadership. A few of these
people were from outside the industry. So
it was easy to paint with a broad brush.
I saw the end of the tunnel, and soon after was let go. I was a vestige of the past, and they didn’t
like what they saw. My last year there
I made $120K.
Yes, I know I had a good job.
Yes, I know I was
lucky.
So why am I complaining?
HR let me go over the phone and told me with an even tone
your 20k severance package is the largest we’ve ever given anyone within Supply
Chain. I knew I deserved more, but 20k
was nice to have in the bank. I wasn’t
Director level, and thus had no contract.
I had no leverage, and by law they didn’t have to give me a damn dime if
they didn’t want to. I knew this and I
took it.
Not too long after, the word finally spread about my boss’
tastes for the night life. He managed to
hang on a bit longer afterwards. They
eventually stripped him of all responsibility.
When they let him go, however, he took $10 million home. Everything he earned was based off his title
and the work of Asian operations. Why did I not get more? Look at
my title. Everything I was given was
based off that.
As for his $10 mln. He later bought a nice big house with it. I
figure$ 2 mln of that belongs to me.
But what can I do? I smile when I think his wife probably thinks
he earned it.
Feel free to disagree.
In my view this fellow perfectly symbolizes what is wrong with American
business culture. There is little
right, for sure.
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