Corollary to last post: Why Raising Min Wage Won't Help (but Rewarding Good Employees Would)
There are many heads of the "pay equity" narrative Hydra. Diversity quotas, outside of ability. The female earnings gap (which has more to do with choices). The underlying idea that all humans are the same.
We are in a world now where the lowest common denominators who show up with a pulse -- but have some protected intersectional advantage -- are prized above competent workers with no intersectional cachet.
This results in incentive for those who do not do their jobs, and disincentive for those who do. So you get... mediocrity. The antithesis of meritocracy.
Raising the minimum wage, and maintaining mandatory mediocrity, does nothing but propel companies to further automate these jobs. So buhbye, cashiers and stock pickers.
This really hit home for me yesterday. Customer was assembling an electrical supply for a robot (!). Yes, a five foot robot.
I walked him through the adaptors and the 10/12 wiring, then asked "Seriously though. A robot? Can you tell me about it?"
"Oh, my company makes stock robots for big box stores. They travel around and check SKUs to put together a packdown list of missing bay items."
One hand, so cool. Other hand, sayonara to the humans who usually do this. He's already installed at 200 Walmarts.
Second, I'm out in Garden. Corollary to this, personally:
I'm gold star at customer service. I can take care of Ops too, but when I'm with a customer my goal is to make them feel like the only person in my world at that moment (if they want help).
It's so at odds with the mediocrity where I work now it's causing confusion.
Yesterday, contractor comes in (I can smell them now: slightly disheveled, fit, locked on target and usually a decent watch on a tanned wrist). I ask him if I can help.
"Geraniums. Red. A lot of them."
I nod. "Geraniums are here."
I show him the absolute CF of geraniums the vendor dropped off. Various colours, tangled, no rhyme or reason. He frowns.
"I need them all the same colour. Today. 30." He's irritated at the idea of sorting them. It will take at least 40 mins. I don't blame him. I sense I could lose this sale so I act fast.
"You're a contractor, yes?"
He nods. I continue.
"You have better things to do than pick plants. So tell you what. I'll pick them. You come back in an hour (or send someone) and I'll have it ready. Deal?"
He looks confused for a moment but says "Uh, if you'll do that, it's a Godsend. I need to have this done by 5. I'll send someone around. And make it 40 if you can?"
I agree and start picking.
But here's the upshot:
When his employees showed up to collect them, the idea of someone actually taking the time to do this was so foreign, every person they asked "where are our geraniums?" said "We don't do that here.". Automatically.
Not one person thought to ask the person actually working in the Garden. They almost LEFT because "we don't do that here".
So I look up from pulling the last five Rocky Mountain Oranges to a small crowd of people -- no lie -- standing in front of my neat cart of handpicked healthy plants. I'm like "Uhhhh... hi?". The two guys, two employees, the ASM, and two DSes.
All this because Mediocrity Is Now Expected. I didn't turn straw into gold ffs. I picked some plants. Is this not my job?
Not one person considered the possibility I'd provided genuinely good customer service.
But then, why would I... when I get paid the same as people with a heartbeat who just show up.
This model will fail.