Havana, Thursday April 30, 2009. Year 13 / Number 120 Where’s the manager? By Freddy Pérez Cabrera A CubaNews translation by Giselle Gil Edited by Walter Lippmann Having a manager who feels he owns his workplace and is keen on maintaining standards is still an unattainable dream in most workplaces. This obstructs our country’s economic recovery and hinders the efficiency with which we should all work. The National Work Inspection Office (ONIT) recently made a study in Villa Clara. The study showed that 50% of the units visited had serious problems with work discipline, due to lack of management control and a firm hand. Data from thirty eight inspections to nineteen units from six different municipalities showed an alarming total of 4,961 work hours lost, and these absences had been authorized by unit managers. very few clients come to the XX Century shop after 5:00 p.m. during the so called extended work shift. Resolution 187/06 of the Labor and Social Security Ministry states in Article 11 that authorizations to abandon the workplace during working hours should be an exception. Then, how could workers of the Santa Clara Policlinic be absent from their workplaces during 1,664 hours with the authorization of their superiors? Other units with more than 1,400 hours lost were the April 11 Martyrs Policlinic in Corralillo and the Radio and Television repair shop of the Commerce and Gastronomy Services of Sagua la Grande. There were more serious disciplinary violations, like workers who abandon their workplace without authorization to “solve some problem”. Inspectors counted 980 hours of unauthorized absence between the Corralillo Policlinic (392), the General Railway Services Unit in Santa Clara (384), the Ministry of Agriculture fodder factory (104) and the Chichi Padron slaughter house (40), and they weren’t the only ones. Some people arrive late, others leave early, other people sign their entry cards ahead of time, others not at all and none of them are warned about their lack of discipline nor have their salaries been affected or other disciplinary measures taken. This happened at the Sucursal Vigia unit and at the Central Post Office in Santa Clara. The extended work shift was created so people would have the possibility to solve their problems after their work shift had ended. Yet, little has been gained because people continue abandoning their work shift to ‘solve’ their problems. For example, at the XX Century store located at the boulevard in Santa Clara, the average number of clients between 5 and 7 p.m. is 20 clients. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., however it is teeming with clients. The decision to extend the work shift should be revised, is the opinion of Doris Gonzalez Hurtado, vice director of inspections at the ONIT in Villa Clara. Because they verified that people do not find what they are looking for during the extended hours. For example, the Railroad Agency doesn’t sell tickets after 5 p.m. and the Buen Viaje marketplace only sells meat in the morning. problems are not solved with resolutions, but with a firm hand When Resolutions 187 and 188 of the Labor and Social Security Ministry came into effect, units updated their internal disciplinary regulations. However, little has changed since then. If a teacher gets late to work, students do not receive their class; if a worker is late, production cannot be started on time, or if a service operator is late someone’s family iron or stove doesn’t get repaired. It is everyone’s responsibility to behave properly, but the managers’ role cannot be replaced. The State entrusted managers with this mission and if someone cannot play this role, then he should no longer be a manager. In every work place there are a lot of good people, who are in favor of order and discipline. That is why we are not speaking in general. Those who break the rules have names and last names and should be sanctioned accordingly. The resolutions mentioned earlier, by themselves will not bring order and discipline. This can only be achieved by the managers and the workers. Our main objective is a firm hand. http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2009/04/30/nacional/artic01.html |
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