Today, Village Print & Media’s VP, Joseph Ryder, revisits memory lane with our CTO to explain which smart employees you should keep around, and which need to see the door.
“Always keep the smart employees who know ‘stuff.’ Yes, this sounds crazy, but bear with me. I was having a conversation last week with our CTO, whom I’ve been working with for two decades, and we started reminiscing about previous coworkers who could never offer a direct answer to any question asked of them. In other words, they never knew anything. Clearly these employees were working reactively rather than proactively. Let me explain with some simple dialogue:
Employee A = doesn’t know ‘stuff’
Employee B = does know ‘stuff’
JR: How much does the paper you purchased cost? What’s the name of it?
Employee A: Inexpensive, and not sure of name. I’ll let you know.
Employee B: $30, bright white, woven 60#.
JR: How long will it take to order three desks and three computers?
Employee A: Could be fast, maybe a week or two. I’ll see.
Employee B: Two business days. Today is Monday so I’ll have it by Wednesday at noon.
Catch my drift? When in doubt, keep the person who knows ‘stuff.’”