Bad Decisions = Bad Leadership

By Amy Fernandez

So life is wonderful here in NYC at the moment… NOT!  Our mayor recently announced big plans for a tickertape parade and Fourth of July fireworks…give me reason to live…NOT! Actually, he walked that back pretty quickly. Oddly, he didn’t mention the latest ER stats. Yes, the numbers appear to be going down somewhat, mainly because people are afraid to venture out even when they need help. That, of course, entails its own set of risks, primarily the ever present dread of visiting an ER.

Moments like this do tend to clarify your thinking, thus making it difficult to get sidetracked by promises of future festivities. No, here in NYC we remain anchored to boots on the ground solutions because sooner or later we are gonna get out of this.

So, once again, hats off to AKC for firing everybody in the middle of a global pandemic. Their April 2 announcement of massive layoffs was explained as financially unavoidable. AKC has, (well had), about 450 employees, most of them doing cube work, recordkeeping sort of stuff. Yes, they maintain a world class art collection and library, both optimally situated and open to the public, which is the basis of their nonprofit, educational institution status. But most of the staff toils in a far less glamorous corporate niche.

They characterized these layoffs as temporary, lasting approximately until August and thoughtfully furnished each pink slip recipient with an explanatory note for their local unemployment office. AKC also claimed that they were forced to take this drastic measure because as a nonprofit they were not eligible for the federal Paycheck Protection Program (get the connection). It was designed to prevent precisely this kind of massive layoff and keep the economy limping along rather than totally tipping off the rails into a devastating, long-term nationwide depression.

Well, they maybe didn’t read the fine print of that $2.2 trillion CARES Act because companies like AKC are exactly what the feds had in mind when they designed the parameters of this bailout package. A wide range of businesses have applied for those SBA federal assistance loans but they are specifically meant for those with less than 500 employees.  And another $320 billion is coming their way, approved by Congress last week after the first round of loans disappeared in a mere 13 days.

For lack of other diversions, many of us have been following the paper trail of how that money pie got sliced up.  And it appears that several recipients will be returning their undeserved portion–like Shake Shack and Harvard. Actually Harvard, the wealthiest educational institution on the planet, didn’t want to give it back. You know what prompted their change of heart? They discovered that no amount of creative spin could reinvent this grabby, self-interested behavior. Public perception tends to play out in especially unfriendly ways during a pandemic.

Yes indeed, as this horror show rolls on, the fury of the masses is ricocheting all over the map. Shake Shack and Harvard are not looking real good right now. But you know what else isn’t looking so good is unpleasant revelations like AKC executive compensation–16 people–hovering around $5,200,000. No, not a typo, also somewhat surprising for a relatively small, nonprofit corporation.

Although there’s been some debate regarding SBA eligibility of nonprofit organizations it mainly concerns political interest groups. It certainly doesn’t apply to thousands of others, many of which employ hundreds and sometimes thousands of people. For example, the Red Cross is quite busy right now. They employ over 20,000 people, (gee, their CEO actually took home less pay that AKC’s CEO last year.) Anyway, lots of these organizations, large and small, have substantial motives to keep their mission statement in play at the moment.

That federal bailout money was specifically meant to offset the tidal wave of unemployment claims inundating every state. (That includes New York and North Carolina). Actually, in terms of the big picture, nonprofits have a much more pertinent reason to avoid enlarging their state’s revenue burden right now. Nonprofit=tax exemption, so instructing the workforce to apply for taxpayer funded assistance… not a good look at all.

There are other stop-gap solutions. I mean if AKC doesn’t need employees, presumably they also don’t need big expensive corporate get-togethers. Really, if the Supreme Court can tolerate videoconferencing alternatives at the moment, come on! I think AKC can cut some costs, too. And seriously, under the circumstances they really should terminate the endless fundraising solicitations. That not only costs plenty, the optics couldn’t be worse.

Here’s another good reason for not firing 1/3 of the workforce, long term morale. The impact of that April 2 decision ripples far beyond a few hundred ex-employees. Like everyone else, AKC loyalists are desperately seeking a shred of good news, some assurance that there really is light at the end of this tunnel. But that shortsighted decision to lay off the workforce… that said it all.

With or without federal assistance, businesses everywhere are taking tangible steps to fight for their survival; cutting hours, cutting pay, and in many cases opting to temporarily forego any direct compensation for upper management. They see beyond the immediate bottom line. Their priority is to guarantee that there is something to come back to when this nightmare ends.  And that starts by keeping a viable workforce in place ready to roll.

And that’s the other reason. Since “life or death” seems to be the overarching theme of the moment, let’s talk survival of this sport. This pandemic catastrophe is playing out in plenty of quirky social phenomena. Jigsaw puzzles, beekeeping, bird watching–all sorts of time consuming, complicated pastimes are trending like never before. Anyway, purebred dogs rank pretty high on the list of suddenly popular cultural interests.

Most of all, the general public is desperate for the return of mainstream sports. Deprived of those traditional sources of social thrills, they have taken to watching all kinds of offbeat competitions from darts to curling. Everything is on the table right now.  And local dog shows are likely to return long before major league sporting events in packed stadiums.

Mainly, people are frantic for anything to offset the panic that permeates daily life. Just going to the grocery store is a horrifying ordeal, starting with the long lines to get in and the weird, draconian health and safety rules when you do. The sparse inventory somewhat alleviates the worry about paying for it. And I can tell you that the issue happens a lot lately. Everybody is standing in the monitored, one-way line hoping they don’t get sick and praying that their card goes through.  You gotta admit that things are bad when unemployment isn’t your biggest fear at the moment.

As we know, no one can refocus the mood like a dog.  The rent check bounced, so what…take me for a walk NOW!  And dinner is NOT optional under any circumstances. In the worst moments dogs are the one thing keeping you connected to life. Been there, done that.  People are desperate for companionship, normalcy, and unconditional appreciation. Dogs were built for this moment.

Life is strange. There will never be a better moment for AKC to recapture its former glory. Instead of capitalizing on this bizarre, transitory opportunity they have dusted off the bad management playbook and basically admitted that it is time to take the money and run.

The saddest part is that none of this needs to happen.  Dog people are so tough. Check the record. Our demographic wrote the book on fortitude and resilience. It’s too bad that upper level management chose to discount their primary asset when it matters most. We will survive the pandemic and we deserve a better takeaway than the one given to us by the once-venerable AKC.

Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=183172

Posted by chesliepickett on May 4 2020. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.