Apr 29, 2019 · 5 min read –
“Fairness is not an attitude. It’s a professional skill that must be developed and exercised.” — Brit Hume
Early in my career as a middle manager, I learned a hard lesson about company standards, culture, and treating employees equally regardless of position or title. This very lesson both humbled me at the time and taught me to treat every member of my business team the same in terms of respect, expense accounts and general fairness within the organization. And my reminder of this principle all started with a bar of soap.
I was working for a large institutional real estate owner in the early 1990’s and it was time for our annual conference in Texas with the corporate staff. The conference had a few days with the leasing department, then finished with the property management department participating with everyone. I was the Western Regional Director (upper middle management) at the time. My boss and a few others attended the first few days, then it was my department’s turn to come for the conference. I called to find out the arrangements for pick up at the airport, if I needed a rental car, etc. “No worries” said my boss. “I’ll pick you up”.
I arrived on time, and sure enough, at the baggage claim, was my boss. We loaded his rental car and off we went. A few miles down the road, I inquired as to where everyone was staying. “The Marriott? The Sheraton?”. He responded “No, you’re staying at the Texian Inn. The rest of us are at the Hilton”.
“Huh?” I replied. “Why am I at the Texian Inn and everyone else is at the Hilton?”
“Well, you’re going to be picked up tomorrow by one of the accounting ladies and she’ll take you to the home office so it’s more convenient for you to be there”.
I thought that was odd, but didn’t press the issue. In the back of my mind I figured they were going to go out for a wild night on the town, so they didn’t want me as their Jiminy Cricket conscience since they knew I wasn’t into that sort of thing. Regardless, it still didn’t make sense our group was split up for hotels.
Alas, we pulled in to the Texian Inn’s parking lot and unloaded. I rolled my luggage into the lobby. We stepped into a full scale construction zone! We navigated across sheets of plywood on the ground, stepping over dirt and wood and between a maze of hanging plastic sheeting and arrived at the front desk. A quick glance showed the “Motel 6” logo throughout the premises. Apparently, this Motel 6 was being converted to “The Texian Inn” and I had come during the major renovation and rebranding.
My boss made sure I was checked in, then took off to meet the others at the Hilton. I made my way to my room. I tossed my luggage on the bed and sat down. I started to contemplate what had just happened.
“If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” — J. K. Rowling
To be sure, I am not a picky traveler. Clean sheets and bathroom, a functioning TV and a good wi-fi signal are pretty much my only requisites for satisfactory overnight motel/hotel accommodations. I’ve slept in mud huts with goats and chickens under my cot in D.R. Congo. I’ve shined my flashlight to the underside of the grass roof of said mud hut and seen spiders, lizards and rats scurrying above me. So it wasn’t a big deal to be in a second rate motel in a major metropolis in a large city in Texas. I had hot and cold running water, clean sheets and a TV that worked; my requisites. But just because my standards might be different than most due to my experiences in Congo, that didn’t negate the fact that I was in a lower tier hotel and my associates (some were lower on the corporate ladder than I) were at the Hilton.
This wasn’t about saving money for the company, as our company was huge and spent generously for its staff on corporate events. They’d chartered boats for deep sea fishing, let us play unlimited golf at exclusive top tier courses, rented entire ranches for our events, etc. But staying here while the others were at the Hilton was wrong. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right.
I resolved at that moment to ensure I remembered how I felt being mistreated by my boss and fellow associates. I was relegated to a second rate budget motel, and one that was under construction no less. And I wasn’t sure why.
I saw a bar of soap in its paper cover on the sink counter. I grabbed it and put it in my luggage. I decided that when I was the boss and had the power to have an impact on people and company policy, I would do my best to treat everyone the same in all respects. From the minimum wage janitor or middle manager to the senior executive — all are part of the team and for certain things like traveling to a company conference or event, the standards would be the same.
If the Sr. Vice President travels to a conference where the maintenance staff is in attendance, there should not be two hotels. What’s good enough accommodations for the Sr. Vice President should be good enough for the maintenance staff or middle managers. It’s a matter of equity, fair treatment, team building, and most importantly, basic respect.
Same for expense reports. When I approve an expense report for a minimum wage maintenance man traveling to another office to work, I don’t judge his cost for dinner or have an issue if it’s a little high. He shouldn’t have to eat fast food because he’s a lower level employee while a Vice President eats at a nice steak restaurant and compliments it with a glass of expensive wine while traveling.
It’s a reminder of where I came from and the need to value everyone in the company the same. It is hard to abide by this principle and not divide staff into various tiers, based on position, title, or pay grade. Nonetheless it is essential for business leaders to establish fairness, equity, respect, and a true sense of “team” with all employees. Proverbs 29:14 states: If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will be established forever. This is a simple, yet difficult principle for many leaders to embrace, as so much of our society is based on position, status, title, pay grade, and education degrees. Solomon’s wisdom certainly applies to business leaders and how they should treat their subordinates, and he is espousing fairness and equity. And no doubt, this principle of fairness will yield dividends to the leader and the company.
And when I start to fall into the familiar trap of categorizing staff based on position or pay grade, I recognize this is the wrong line of thinking. To set myself straight, I simply open my top drawer and look at the bar of Motel 6 soap from 1994.
Congo Kid – Article # 6 – April, 2019
Copyright © 2019 by Jeffrey W. Eales. All rights reserved. No portions may be reproduced or transmitted in any format without the prior written permission of the author.