After reading Milton Hunter's post (which I encourage everyone to do), and the responses from Barbara, Rosemary, and an anonymous neighbor, I feel compelled to briefly share my experiences as an employee of various-sized organizations, as it relates to this topic.
I have worked for small firms (i.e. privately owned, the size of the village staff or smaller), mid-sized firms (100-200 people) , and large corporations, with faceless stockholders, boards of directors, etc.
In my experience, the best kind of company to work for in order to maintain a healthy work/life balance is a privately owned, mid-size firm. Small firms tend to pay less, offer less opportunity for advancement, and have less efficiencies in their processes, which can often lead to longer hours as folks are forced to wear many different hats, often without additional compensation. However, the main benefit is that you probably know the owner; you might even know him/her well, attend family gatherings, exchange Christmas cards, etc. However, that doesn't change the fact that an organization that can not grow can not therefore offer you much in the way of increased compensation, career advancement, etc.
Conversely, a large corporation might have great pay scales, a variety of advancement paths, and more long-term stability as a company, however, it is far less likely that you will "know" the owners, who in many cases turn out to be stockholders, and to be specific, majority shareholders (founder's children, investment banks, hedge funds). And to be blunt, they have one overarching goal - to make more money and grow the bottom line, even if that means taxing employees to work longer hours, sacrifice family time, personal time, skip vacations, layoffs, etc. I've been a part of that world for longer than I care to admit, and while I've done OK, I've been "downsized" twice. The most recent episode was actually quite a welcome change for me, as the corporate culture I had been experiencing was absolutely nerve-wracking. It's much easier to treat your employees like crap when you don't know them, and thus don't have to relate to what they experience on a day-to-day basis.
The "sweet spot" then, in my opinion, is in the middle - a mid-size company where you know the owner, and there is enough efficiency in the size of the organization to earn more money, advance through the ranks, and yet still maintain a healthy work-life balance. It's the best of both worlds. This is what Waste Pro sounds like to me, although I have not gone to visit their office and meet the owner, which I would encourage our staff to do.
In summary - you're less likely to get paid a fair market value for your time at a small company, and less likely to maintain good work-life balance at a corporation. There is a happy median, and while I'm not saying that Waste Pro is it, I would encourage our crew to consider that maybe this company is worth looking into. I'm surprised on one hand to hear that they are resistant to a change that could result in a 50% compensation boost, as well as a savings to the villlage, but we all fear change to some degree, so it's understandable.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
John Holland
Resident since 2003
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ReplyDeleteYou are probably are right as to what size company is the best to work for as you have work for many.
ReplyDeleteThe salary quoted by Waste Pro is based on a 50 hour work week and the BP is based on 40 hours. So I don't see how they
receive 50% more while maintaining the same life-work balance? We should be charging $715 for trash the same as Miami Shores and pay our employees more and plan for the future with reserves for trucks and equipment.
Can we improve service and make the Park an even more desirable to live?
Harvey,
ReplyDeleteThe quote of a 50 hr. work week is not required. Those who can finish their route earlier can go home and still receive the 50 hr. pay.
As for keeping the service in-house, how does this make up for the loss of the franchise fee, the current outsourcing fee for the medians and the trailer expense? All this adds up to much needed revenue as you well know.
My figures for the above would add up to between $71,000-$109,800 annually.
Harvey, if we do nothing, just to keep things the way they are...what happens in 4/5 years when the money runs out?
For me it is about delivery of the same level of service at the same level of quality. This can be obtained through good contracting and contract management. By far the most valuable component of our collection system to me is the collection of trash and yard waste from the right-of-way on a weekly basis. This assumes that it will not be necessary to cut all of our debris into minuscule pieces for collection. However, the collection of garbage can easily be performed through the use of one armed bandit rolling containers, without, as far as I'm concerned, a reduction in the level of my services. I do not believe that this would be aesthetically undesirable and the input of labor required from me to place the container on the street twice a week is well within the realm of virtually everyone in the community. It's important to mention here as well that we may also use these containers twice a week for depositing leaves and small yard debris and small household trash items that would normally be set out on the Public right-of-way for collection. The use of a one armed bandit for the collection of recycling is possibly the most valuable increase in service-level to us as a community and to the environment in that much larger volumes of recyclables will likely be collected through this process.
ReplyDeleteit has gone without mentioning by several commenters elsewhere in this blog that the village has the opportunity to apply equitable costs of maintaining our roadways and drainage infrastructure to the waste collection fees. These are costs that need to be incurred in order for our community to prosper and utilizing the waste fee as a vehicle for collecting these dollars will remove this burden from the ad valorem tax structure, which we all know is reaching its limits. If we agree that utilization of the waste fee for funding these improvements is an equitable process, then we must consider adding that portion of the fee to both a village performed service or a contract service. This would raise the fee for Village perform services do in the neighborhood of $850 not $717. This is compared to contract services with the fee tacked on at approximately half that cost. Although the numbers expressed here are not exact I do believe that they are relative.
The most responsible decision by our commissioners should be primarily considering the residents of the community and the lasting improvements that can be brought about through contracted waste collection services. Contract out the waste collection services and concentrate our remaining public works department efforts in the areas of aesthetic improvements to our community. Insist on a strong contract that both provides reasonable accommodation for our current employees and provides the Village Manager with strong contractor management tools that will protect the residents of the community.
Dan Keys
"The most responsible decision by our commissioners should be primarily considering the residents of the community and the lasting improvements that can be brought about through contracted waste collection services. Contract out the waste collection services and concentrate our remaining public works department efforts in the areas of aesthetic improvements to our community. Insist on a strong contract that both provides reasonable accommodation for our current employees and provides the Village Manager with strong contractor management tools that will protect the residents of the community."
ReplyDeleteI agree completely, it is the right thing to do for the future of Biscayne Park.
We have a very capable Village Manager that has done her DD on this issue and has made the recommendation, it would be foolish not to follow the advise of the one we hire to advise us and has the best interest of Biscayne Park and the residents as her duty.
Well said, Jorge... hopefully responsibility will prevail, and our very diligent and capable Manager can do her job to keep Biscayne Park the best place it can be. We have to look out for the long-term quality and viability of the village.
ReplyDelete