| Aside from being
deceptive in nature, the high risk operator often is
very skilled at developing rapport with fellow
employees as well as supervisory staff and
management persons. Often they can be charismatic and are
influence-rs. They are smooth talkers. Executives are reliant upon their captains (middle management) as they are one of the reliable information pipeline supplies with which executives guide the corporation. The rapport and bond is sealed on trust and confidence. When pertinent information is not passed up to the executive level, those at the top are left in the dark and specific issues do not get appropriately addressed. The issues linger and fester. The skills that most team leads, shift engineers, plant foreman and plant managers possess are technical in nature. Some very exceptional people also possess strong people and leadership skills. But that is the exception. The consequence of that is, technical issues get resolved but people issues more often do not. Corporate bodies have a dismal record with respect to this. Plant foremen and plant managers often feel caught in the middle of not knowing who to trust in a he said, she said scenario. It's not easy and it's not fair. Who is more often believed? Is it the hard working supervisor who focuses on getting the job done or is it the the employee who is not doing his job and has spent time developing confidence and trust with management? Belief goes where the confidence is most prevalent. If the bulk of confidence resides with a conman, then that is the direction where decisions are swayed in favor of. At the end of the day it will be characterized as another personal conflict between a supervisor and a subordinate. If a concerned employee who doesn't get results from his immediate supervisor or plant manager, skips protocol by going over middle management's head to report irregularities that middle management did not pass on to the executive level, the information and the employee that skipped protocol are quickly discredited so as to avoid embarrassing middle management. Executives quickly gravitate to what their middle managers represent because of the "trust bond" and believe reality is as it is described to them by middle management. It's a common misinformed state any of us can find ourselves in when we are not being fed the whole truth. I wouldn't want to be the employee that jumped protocol. Their intentions may be good but... They would have a bull's eye painted on their back after a performance like that. Like they say, "The truth can sound stranger than fiction." This is another factor that causes people to not bring information forward. There are many hurtles to overcome as it relates to doing the right thing to bring about positive change. Not without it's pitfalls. We've all seen the results of ratting out the bad boys at Enron. Whether it be peers or superiors that get busted, the whistle blowers never come out on the positive side. This is why people tend to keep their mouths shut internally and especially externally. Openly discussing this and moving it up the line of management rarely happens. It's every man and woman for themselves. It is still a highly risky social TABOO. Consequently, high risk operators and their behavior continue to be tolerated. This leaves
the corporation as well as those that work for
it open to
victimization and failure. For best results High Risk Operators need to be managed internally. There are solutions to this dilemma. The services of the Undercover Operator provides a solution. Why do people allow the behavior of a Long Term High Risk Employee to continue? For the same reasons why some victims of crime will not report the crime against themselves. - Most people want to believe it's not really happening or at least, it's not a problem.The most frequent outcome for those who report is, it will destroy their career and relationships. The corporate culture and past track records demonstrate a weak commitment or just a bunch of lip service when it comes to doing the right thing. Rarely is reporting on one of your own looked upon as a favorable behavior. Few have the necessary support or are willing to deal with the fallout. At the end of scenarios such as these, lives and reputations can be left in ruin. Etc., etc., etc....
Far too often it seems good men and women do nothing to eliminate high risk operators. The only thing that makes it easy for people to report and appropriate action to be taken, is if the high risk operator is not influential and well liked by all. But that is not why we are here. We are not looking at the short term, unpopular, high risk operator that eventually gets punted. We are dealing with the insidious Long Term High Risk Operator who is deeply embedded in the social fabric of your lower levels of the organization. Few employees have the aptitude to take appropriate action. Most employees fall victim to their social conditioning. The Long Term High Risk Operator is well liked and very influential. This is why they persist and continue to put themselves, other employees, corporate reputations and profits at risk every day they are in control of some part of the business process. The Long Term High Risk Operator can be the greatest threat to everything in your business. Some corporations have the foresight to implement a "Whistle Blower Program". The Whistle Blower Program does have merit and demonstrates the leadership acknowledges no organization is pure and exempted from wrong doing. However there are unfortunate limitations with this approach. Frequently there are consequences suffered by the individual who turns in a High Risk Operator, even if it is through a third party Whistle Blower program where confidentiality is assured. The bad guys may be doing stupid stuff but they are never too stupid to figure out who is blowing the whistle on them which is why few people will utilize a Whistle Blower Program. Most compelling and convincing evidence presented by a Whistle Blower is in many ways directly associated with contact between the High Risk Operator and the Whistle Blower therefore, is little immunity from being known as the Whistle Blower. This is why programs like this have significant limitations on the success of any Whistle Blower program offered by any employer. Whistle Blowers often become casualties of this process. The corporation may succeed in eliminating a bad apple but may sacrifice a well intended employee in the process.
Don't make these mistakes:
These people are not appropriately educated and trained or have the industrial and technical expertise to know and understand enough about your business to do anything close to the kind job you need done. Employees will detect something suspicious very early on and compensate for it, leaving the investigation and investigator compromised.
Without question, these people are too socially contaminated to provide untainted results. A high level of conflict of interest exists. It's like having the fox guard the hen house. The secret is out before the investigation gets off the ground. It don't work!
These people are usually "TOO DARN BUSY" or, out of touch with what is going on and or socially contaminated. If you are using any of these techniques it is the reason why you have Long Term High Risk Operator(s) still exposing people and profits to unacceptable risks. These are the reasons why these approaches rarely, if ever work. It is also the reason why High Risk Operators continue to thrive in industry. Admittedly, there are situations when a corporation has an employee or a small number of employees that are exceptional and can keep the organization or a portion of it "clean". Unfortunately it is rare and in a large multinational organization, it is often hit and miss at best. A possible solution: The formula for superior results is to parachute in an undercover operator (qualified third party) who is truly impartial for accurate reporting results. The undercover operator is not socially connected or live within a hundred miles of the plant site so as to limit bias in reporting integrity. No one onsite is informed of the undercover operator's mission (This includes security, plant manager(s) and or plant superintendent(s) down to the janitorial staff). The undercover operator, operates under an innocuous pretense for their personal protection, to preserve the integrity of the observations and to insure no one is alerted to the fact there is an observation in progress. The undercover operator monitors plant operator behavior.
Once observations are complete, the undercover operator generates a report(s) in the form of GPS stamped, date stamped, time stamped digital video(s), digital photo(s) and word document(s). This revealing, surgically targeted and infinitely definitive report is couriered or emailed from the undercover operator observer to corporate headquarters. The information contained within the report can be impartially digested by select personnel at head office without Social Contamination. Thus, high quality decisions are made by the right people in the right location with the right information. This may give rise to necessary and appropriate changes as it relates to High Risk Employees as well as business process.
Polygraph verification is available for evidence validation purposes at the client's request. Client may choose the polygraph administrator. I do my best to eliminate the guess work and make the final decisions for your team to be fast, easy and with little or no guess work involved. There are three categories of Operator observations available:
Whether it be one plant operator of one thousand plant operators, the undercover operator can weed out the the high risk employees to improve security, safety and profitability for your corporation.
Confidentiality
on the part of both parties is an absolute necessity
so the observation process may bear fruit.
Confidentiality assures the undercover operator's
safety during and after the investigation. It
also preserves the opportunity for the undercover
operator to provide future investigations for the same
client.
Available for assignment in Canada, the USA, Britain, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and Japan. Contact me using your LinkedIn account or your corporate email. Thank you. |