I saw a great example of how standard business practices really mess with people today. It really highlighted for me the gap between what science knows about people and what business thinks about people.
I went to McDonald's this morning for breakfast (I got a yogurt in case you were wondering). They were getting slammed. The drive-thru line was around the building and to the street. There was a line of 4 people inside (where I went) being helped by one girl at the counter. In the corner of the restaurant, an employee was sitting drinking coffee before his shift started (which was to be in about 30 minutes).
The employee saw they were being slammed and that they were starting to get behind, and he came up from his table and went behind the counter and asked the manager, "tell me where I can help you most". The manager shrugged it off gently saying, "you can't work while you aren't on the clock". Before I continue, I should share that this McDonald's is well operated and this manager appears to be very good at her job (I am a management stalker...). I should also acknowledge that this is likely corporate policy that was likely created for liability purposes. I know all of these things, but what the employee did next was fascinating.
He ignored the manager and went to work without clocking in. The manager finally went to him and told him, "you can go ahead and clock in early". The employee politely ignored her while grabbing some potato cakes from the fryer. The manager went back to work for a minute or so and then went back to him saying, "you can't work while not on the clock... it's not fair to you". The employee went right on working... off the clock.
Observing the other employees quietly observing this in the chaos, they seemed to get a spark of life. They had been dragging and struggling with the crowd. Suddenly this one employee jumping in while off the clock seemed to inspire the whole team. The line accelerated. Furthermore, the employee worked with a quiet confidence and satisfaction.
I'm telling you right now, many of the management books and MBA programs would tell you that this kind of things should never happen. They would tell you that the employee would never not only volunteer to not get paid, but refuse the pay when offered. They would tell you that the other employees would not work harder when they saw this. They would tell you that the manager shouldn't have let him work and should have reprimanded the employee.
Maybe it's time to start thinking about how people REALLY tick...
I went to McDonald's this morning for breakfast (I got a yogurt in case you were wondering). They were getting slammed. The drive-thru line was around the building and to the street. There was a line of 4 people inside (where I went) being helped by one girl at the counter. In the corner of the restaurant, an employee was sitting drinking coffee before his shift started (which was to be in about 30 minutes).
The employee saw they were being slammed and that they were starting to get behind, and he came up from his table and went behind the counter and asked the manager, "tell me where I can help you most". The manager shrugged it off gently saying, "you can't work while you aren't on the clock". Before I continue, I should share that this McDonald's is well operated and this manager appears to be very good at her job (I am a management stalker...). I should also acknowledge that this is likely corporate policy that was likely created for liability purposes. I know all of these things, but what the employee did next was fascinating.
He ignored the manager and went to work without clocking in. The manager finally went to him and told him, "you can go ahead and clock in early". The employee politely ignored her while grabbing some potato cakes from the fryer. The manager went back to work for a minute or so and then went back to him saying, "you can't work while not on the clock... it's not fair to you". The employee went right on working... off the clock.
Observing the other employees quietly observing this in the chaos, they seemed to get a spark of life. They had been dragging and struggling with the crowd. Suddenly this one employee jumping in while off the clock seemed to inspire the whole team. The line accelerated. Furthermore, the employee worked with a quiet confidence and satisfaction.
I'm telling you right now, many of the management books and MBA programs would tell you that this kind of things should never happen. They would tell you that the employee would never not only volunteer to not get paid, but refuse the pay when offered. They would tell you that the other employees would not work harder when they saw this. They would tell you that the manager shouldn't have let him work and should have reprimanded the employee.
Maybe it's time to start thinking about how people REALLY tick...
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