R.I.P. Ray Harryhausen - The Most Engaged Employee Ever?
by Matthew Stollak on Thursday, May 9, 2013
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| © Rex Features / Chaz Gerretsen |
It was with great sadness that I read this week about the passing of Ray Harryhausen, one of the icons of my youth.
If the name is not familiar to you, you might at least be familiar with his special effects work in such films as Mighty Joe Young, It Came From the Sea, 20 Million Miles to Earth, Mysterious Island, One Million Years BC, and Clash of the Titans. My personal favorites that I cherished as a youth were Jason & the Argonauts and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.
And what makes him the most engaged employee ever? He was a pioneer of stop-motion filmmaking. Unlike the CGI work today, stop-motion filmmaking was a painstaking process requiring you to stage a scene and take a picture. Then, you move an arm, and/or a leg, and/or a sword, and take another picture. Repeat. Given that the typical film speed is 24 frames per second, the ability to turn those micromovements into the illusion of motion is extremely time-consuming.
Take, for example, his work in the aforementioned Jason & the Argonauts. To create the battle with the skeleton army, it took Harryhausen nearly four months, working seven days a week, mostly alone, to create the scenes. Some days, he was only able to get 13 entire frames, less than a second of film, completed.
So, the next time an employee is complaining about the difficulty of their job. Point him or her to the work of Mr. Harryhausen, and see if he/she will continue to be upset about his or her work.
Rest in peace.
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Caught this tidbit on the St. Louis Rams draft in Peter King's Monday Morning QB column at SportsIllustrated.com:
Many have said the Rams are going to have one of these risky high picks -- Janoris Jenkins, Alec Ogletree -- blow up on them, the way Pacman Jones and Albert Haynesworth blew up on Jeff Fisher in Tennessee. I didn't use it in the story for space reasons, but COO Kevin Demoff admitted to me that it was likely that one of these days they'd have an issue with one of the high-risk guys, and it was simply the cost of doing business when you take a talented player who has had issues.For most NFL teams, draft picks are like gold. With only 7 rounds, they are, for the most part, scarce items. They represent opportunity: to fill a position of need...as leverage in a trade...to improve the quality of one's team. First and second round picks are even more valuable as they are one's you can least afford to gamble on.
As an employment strategy, do you agree with the approach by COO Demoff? Is the price of landing that top-notch talent worth it if it doesn't payoff?
- One comment • Category: #8manrotation, draft, NFL, talent
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Over the past week, two major events in talent management occurred in the NFL and NBA
Sunday, April 28 was the deadline for, basically, those basketball players who still have at least one year of college eligibility remaining to declare for the NBA draft. Similarly, this past weekend saw the 7 round NFL draft.
Unlike most organizations, where employers can choose to hire whomever they want at whatever rate of pay they want, and applicants can choose to apply at organizations where they want to work, the NBA and NFL have a restricted model of employment. Instead of choosing one's employer, candidates must declare they are ready to turn from amateur athlete into a professional, and are subject to the whims of the professional teams if they are to be selected. However, there is a risk involved, particularly for the player - once you make that declaration, in most instances, you cannot return to the amateur ranks.
This past weekend, 21 out of 73 (28.8%) early NFL entrants went undrafted. This was only a slight improvement over 2012, where 20 out of 64 (31.3%) were not chosen. The NFL has put in place a draft advisory committee to give advice about where players may potentially be drafted, but, in many instances, the advice is either misguided or goes unheeded.
Currently, few (if any) prospective NFL players take advantage of NCAA rule 12.2.4.2.3:
In football, an enrolled student-athlete (as opposed to a prospective student-athlete) may enter the National Football League draft one time during his collegiate career without jeopardizing eligibility in that sport, provided the student-athlete is not drafted by any team in that league and the student-athlete declares his intention to resume intercollegiate participation within 72 hours following the National Football League draft declaration date. The student-athlete's declaration of intent shall be in writing to the institution's director of athletics. (Adopted: 10/31/02, Revised: 4/14/03, 12/15/06)The NBA draft rules are just as convoluted. The NCAA’s rule is that any player that has entered the NBA Draft with eligibility remaining and that hasn’t signed with an agent must withdraw their name from consideration by April 28th or lose their collegiate eligibility. Once that April 28th date passes, you can choose not to be drafted, but you cannot return to college and play. Further, the NBA has instituted an age rule regarding eligibility:
- All drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft. To determine whether a player is eligible for a given year's draft, subtract 19 from the year of the draft. If the player was born during or before that year, he is eligible.
- Any player who is not an "international player", as defined in the CBA, must be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class.
Its understand why the rules exist....the NBA players union want to protect veteran players, and a greater influx of younger talent means less potential slots for older ones. For college coaches, they want to better be able to project what their roster will look like for the upcoming year and plan for scholarships.
However, why should the player suffer with regard to bad advice.
So, here is what I propose:
1. Eliminate all restrictions on who a team can draft.
If an NBA or NFL team with the first pick wants to draft a high school player or one with college eligibility, let them. That player can choose to sign with the team or not.
2. However, the teams retains all rights to any player drafted only in the first round until their college eligibility is used up.
By maintaining rights to that player, even for years on end, they are able to hold on to a valuable asset. That player can sign with the team, or they can also trade him away, if they are unable to sign him. It would also be interesting to see some teams drafting later in the first round gamble on a player who may not turn pro initially.
3. Eliminate the transfer rule of a player sitting out a year if he transfers.
Players might have signed with a school expecting minutes to be available to play based on a player likely entering the draft early. Now, if a player doesn't go pro, he has the opportunity to play elsewhere without having to sit out a year. Further, coaches are able to change schools without having to sit out a year. The same luxury should be extended to players.
In sum, most players turn pro early because they anticipate being picked in the first round of the draft where money is guaranteed. Further, it is extremely unlikely that any player chosen in the first 15 picks is going to turn down the money available to him. Finally, players who did not get chosen in the round they expected can return to school without being penalized for poor advice.
What would happen if HR truly operated in a truly capitalistic society where everyone is a rational actor?
In such a world, there would be a plethora of choices and perfect information about which choice to make. Needs would be addressed quickly as businesses operate to fill that vacuum at maximum profitability. Employees will find those organizations which put together the optimal compensation package with the appropriate work/life balance. On the other side, companies will try to maximize employment with the best combination of knowledge, skills, and abilities at the lowest wages they can. Equilibrium will always be reached where supply meets demand. Consumers, companies and workers will choose the option that is most appropriate to their lifestyle. Government will not interfere and "distort" the playing field.
What would this mean for HR?
- Would nepotism disappear as it would be viewed as an inefficient way to find talent, or is it, on certain occasions, a politically expedient choice?
- Would all salaries become public knowledge, as pay secrecy leads to imperfect information
- Would negotiation and pay unfairness become a thing of the past as all parties enter the contract with perfect information?
- Would there be a need for training as firms would only hire those who had the proper qualifications and skills to do the job correctly?
- Would there be a need for safety committees or OSHA, as taking shortcuts, in the long run, would be inefficient?
- Would wellness initiatives disappear, as employees make the right choice in diet and exercise?
- Would performance appraisals be done frequently to address any problems that arise, instead of waiting to be done annually?
As a result, we get wage theft. We get industrial accidents in West, Texas and Bangladesh.
How would you see HR changing in a truly capitalistic society?
- One comment • Category: capitalism, nepotism, OSHA, performance appraisal, politics, rational actor., salaries, wage theft
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Three charts have kept my interest for the past few months.
1. Corporate profits are at an all-time high
2. Wages as a percent of the economy are at a low
3. CEO pay continues to grow
4. Workers are more productive, yet wages haven't matched that productivity
Given the combination of the above, I make the following modest proposal to address the above issues:
1. Overall compensation increases for Key Employees and Highly Compensated Employees, as defined by the IRS, will be capped...UNTIL
2. Compensation increases for the rest of the employees averages 5%.
3. Thereafter, the cap is removed.
A simple enough example:
a) It would take $500,000 to raise the compensation of the bottom 92% of employees by 5%
b) The top 8% could not see their overall compensation raised by more than a total of $500,000 until part a is reached.
RATIONALE
1. If you want to pay exorbitant amounts of money to your top level people, go wild....as long as most employees see some gain from the success of the organization
2. By averaging compensation at 5% for lower-level employees, it provides flexibility to recognize high performing employees.
- 2 comments • Category: CEOs, compensation, pay equity, wages
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Based on sterling recommendations from Laurie Ruettimann and Neil Morrison, I picked up the Omnibus edition of "Wool," a series of science fiction novellas from author Hugh Howey.
The basic premise is that the outside world has become toxic forcing humanity to live in 144-story silos, where the bottom third is dedicated to farming and mechanical upkeep, the middle third to IT, and the top third to the professional class and living quarters.
In the first novella, Wool, Holston, the sheriff, is investigating the death of his wife, and decides to resign; this means exile to the outside where he is expected to clean the sensors and windows and die.
In the second novella, Proper Gauge, Mayor Jahns and Deputy Marnes, look to find a replacement for Holston. They engage in succession planning, a series of reference/background checks, and interviewing to make a selection among three candidates.
OMG...ITS A SERIES OF BOOKS ABOUT HR!!!
No wonder Laurie and Neil liked it.
I'm continuing on with the 3rd novella, Casting Off, but I swear if I read about the talent communities at the hydroponic farm...I'm done!!!
- 4 comments • Category: Hugh Howey, job interview, Laurie Ruettimann, reference checks., selection, snark, Wool
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One of my favorite books is the first installment in the Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies called "The Fifth Business."
Davies tells the story of Dunstan Ramsay, a headmaster of a Canadian School for 45 years who has decided to retire. A testimonial dinner is held in his honor, but he takes umbrage at the "tribute," arguing that it has trivialized his life. He is determined to set the story straight.
What, pray tell, is the Fifth Business?
In the preface, Davies defines it as "Those roles which, being neither those of Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain, but which were nonetheless essential to bring about the Recognition or the denouement, were called the Fifth Business in drama and opera companies organized according to the old style; the player who acted these parts was often referred to as Fifth Business."
Toward the end of the novel, he further expounds on the concept when one of the characters says to Dunstan:
‘Who are you? Where do you fit into poetry and myth? Do you know who I think you are, Ramsay? I think you are Fifth Business.
‘You don’t know what that is? Well, in opera in a permanent company of the kind we keep in Europe you must have a prima donna – always a soprano, always the heroine, often a fool; and a tenor who always plays the lover to her; and then you must have a contralto, who is a rival to the soprano, or a sorceress or something; and a basso, who is the villain or the rival or whatever threatens the tenor.
‘So far, so good. But you cannot make a plot work without another man, and he is usually a baritone, and he is called in the profession Fifth Business, because he is the odd man out, the person who has no opposite of the other sex. And you must have Fifth Business because he is the one who knows the secret of the hero’s birth, or comes to the assistance of the heroine when she thinks all is lost, or keeps the hermitess in her cell, or may even be the cause of somebody’s death if that is part of the plot. The prima donna and the tenor, the contralto and the basso, get all the best music and do all the spectacular things, but you cannot manage the plot without Fifth Business! It is not spectacular, but it is a good line of work, I can tell you, and those who play it sometimes have a career that outlasts the golden voices…’
When we are involved in rating and recognizing employees, we spend a significant amount of time on the prima donna, the tenor, the contralto or the basso. However, the crucial employee is the baritone.
Can you identify the Fifth Business in your organization?
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