FALL 2019

40 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

40 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Robert Footlik Robert B. Footlik, PE is a retired Professional Industrial Engineer. With over 50 years’ experience as a Warehouse and Logistics Consultant to a wide variety of clients including Fastener Distributors, Bob has a wealth of valuable information for our industry and he is willing to share it. While Footlik & Associates is now closed, his expertise is still available to his friends and our readers. For friendly advice, a second opinion or just to start a conversation, he can be reached at robert@footlik.net. DEALING WITH DOORKNOBS AND OTHER PROBLEMATIC EMPLOYEES Did you ever contemplate a doorknob? It’s a simple device invented anonymously long ago to solve a single need with little thought or instruction required by the user. No one asks much of a doorknob and it does a single task quite well. But there are also human doorknobs, people who provide a single task relatively well as long as you don’t ask too much of them. Every day you interact with both the inanimate and human variety, usually without conscious thought of their role. All are useful, but any flesh and blood doorknobs in your warehouse can sink even the best managed company. Identifying a Doorknob This is a simple task once you know where and how to look. The doorknobs in your operation will usually identify themselves. They accept every task without questioning the “how” or “why,” refuse to accept responsibility for their actions, push decision making onto others and act without thinking. That’s at best. At worst, they cut corners to the point of antagonizing your customers and jeopardizing your reputation, lie to cover up, blame other employees unjustly, and consciously or unconsciously act against the best interests of their coworkers and employer. For example, the sloppy employee who complains about insect infestation while ignoring sanitation issues leaving food scraps all over the breakroom counter and CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLE floor is expecting a solution from others without initiating preventative measures himself. Without a cleanup and a sugar bowl cover the ants will soon be back and then he can blame the “lousy exterminator.” Similarly the manager who calls the landlord to complain about a power outage without looking out the window and checking with neighbors is clearly expecting others to solve his problems. He can then blame them for things that are out of their control. With this strategy any loss of productivity will be attributed to anyone and everyone dishonestly. Many doorknobs will automatically lie in the most absurd manner to conceal their own deficiencies or failures. Often this is done without any consideration of the documentation that refutes their falsehoods. A good example is the manager who failed to check the outside doors when locking up, denies the validity of police alarm reports when a door blew open and finally figures out that the door is still unlocked four months after the incident. Undoubtedly you have personally encountered doorknobs who blame “company policy” for their own lack of common sense. Ever have a merchant deny your child or grandchild the use of a washroom because “the facilities are for customers only”…without regard to future customers? Or the usher who refuses entry without trusting that you really do have a ticket that your friend is waving five rows away? CONTINUED ON PAGE 120