how to save the UK economy

[darrenb]

Sounds like they need to hire and fire better managers.

And the managers are hired and fired by... managers.

The higher up the chain you go, the more out of touch they are with the work that produces the value. If you have a 19th century factory with thousands of grunts, a work product that is easy to understand, and a relatively educated elite of managers then (conceivably) this kind of system could work. But how could it ever work when the people at the lowest level in the hierarchy need to have a high level of intelligence to produce anything useful, higher than that of the managers? How can the value-producers be judged and selected?

Ah well there's always HR...

[doodab]

And the managers are hired and fired by... managers.

The higher up the chain you go, the more out of touch they are with the work that produces the value. If you have a 19th century factory with thousands of grunts, a work product that is easy to understand, and a relatively educated elite of managers then (conceivably) this kind of system could work. But how could it ever work when the people at the lowest level in the hierarchy need to have a high level of intelligence to produce anything useful, higher than that of the managers?

Hence the trend for making decisions on cost alone. It's the only thing an ignoramus can understand.

How can the value-producers be judged and selected?

This can also be based on cost. The higher my day rate, the better I am

[bobspud]

That is part of the problem. The management classes have a different set of criteria to the rest of the work force and are also normally at a level where company decisions are made. The single driving factor in the UK for many years has been short term profit. A manager can propose saving millions by outsourcing (not necessarily overseas) a department or a work package. They justify this as the firm they outsource to is cheaper and their own companies exposure to employment law is much reduced. The manager gets a pat on the back and the company saves money. Nobody stops to think that next year when a client is looking for a supplier of those services they will go straight to the outsourced company, or the managers company no longer has the in house expertise to win any work.

**Phew, sorry, went off on one there.

This is what cost my last ever permie company one of their biggest clients. We had dozens of top end £1500 a day guys in there until some idiot though it would be a great idea to sell them additional offshore resources. Six months on they were bob only and we were all out on our ears...

On a separate thought. I had to go to Wales for a meeting yesterday because a client wants to start looking at BPO. Driving down the M4 looking at all the place names made famous by the Miners strikes and the anger as Maggie destroyed the industry because it could be done cheaper elsewhere. I cannot understand the mentality of any Welsh person that would actively seek to offshore a local job knowing what happened to their communities the last time we took the jobs away...

[darrenb]

Hence the trend for making decisions on cost alone. It's the only thing an ignoramus can understand.

This can also be based on cost. The higher my day rate, the better I am

When accountants are doing the hiring, it's always best to be reassuringly expensive.