Dear W2

The boss’s son is an idiot and is going to take over the business.  We make about a thousand sandwiches a day for a lot of busy business people and all he does is walk around and nibble on pieces of sandwich meat and look at everyone as if they’re lazy and stupid.  I don’t want to work for him and a couple of us in the salad section are thinking of going to his dad and lay down the law.  What do you think?

Dear Never Going to Make It:

I think you’re in a lot of Bizpain and really need to think this through…  Rarely does it help the cause when a ‘group’ lays down the law with their employer.  Let’s not forget, it’s a family owned business and the owner will most likely protect his off-spring, wouldn’t you?  As a parent, I find that in ‘most’ cases parents know who their kids really are.  I’m sure your boss knows his kid is a looser and might have a negative financial effect on the business…..which is why I recommend the following.

• Be constructive as individuals and a group in your approach.   Approach your boss with concerns (not pointing any fingers @ the lazy one) and possible solutions

• Have individual meetings with your boss (not all on the same day) stretch them out over a week or two.  This will give your boss time to think and make it look as if they have come up with solutions.
• Let the employee who is most quite and never speaks up meet with the boss first!  That will blow your boss away; he’s expecting to hear issues for those of you who are more aggressive communicators, but when the quite ones speak up….they have a much bigger stick! 
• Remember to handle this tactfully for your not only challenging a decision your boss has made to transfer the business to his loser son….you’re also addressing issues about his kid!

Good luck and don’t do anything stupid to get yourself unemployed; unless that’s the outcome you’re willing to accept?

Presley is thinking about ya!