Did you hear the one about the payroll department who can only divide by 12?
The following conversation took place during the Coronavirus outbreak…
Business Owner: I need to decide who to furlough in June.
Me: Well don’t forget you can unfurlough them mid-month so you can change your decision whenever you want.
Business Owner: We can’t do that. We have to furlough them for the whole month.
Me: I don’t think that’s right. You initially have to furlough them for at least 3 weeks but after that you can unfurlough any employee at any time.
Business Owner: No what I mean is our payroll department can only pay people for a whole month.
Me: I see. So your payroll department can divide an annual salary by 12 but not by any other number?
Business Owner: Yes that’s right.
It always amazes me how well-meaning people in companies come up with the strangest concepts like this business owner’s payroll department. And it’s not until an outsider questions everything that you uncover them.
And essentially that is my role when turning around a company. Be an outsider and question everything. You’ll be surprised what I can find.