If you could be come in, that'd be great

Next week, a supposed "ball-busting" corporate manager type is coming in to check up on the place that I work. Apparently, he knows enough technical information that he won't be appeased by platitudes and random bs'ing (damn). I'm told he also will sometimes cause problems to see how people react to them, and that with him here "everyone's job is on the line... but don't freak out." I've not been at the job long enough to know this guy, so he may be better or worse than I hear.

The question is, if the rumors are true... what's the point?

I have no problem with corporate wanting to send people to check out how our business is running. I have no problem with someone wanting to ensure the people they pay are doing a quality job, and have a good knowledge of whats going on. The problem I have is how it's gone about. These one or two day stress fests rarely result in an accurate portrayal of what is going on. The floors are polished, the lowly employees are warned and told to clean up, and everyone is on edge. The quality in work will somewhat spike, but it's artificial, and probably unrealistic for the long run.

There isn't a realistic way to check in unnoticed, but if you talk to employees in a relaxed and candid manner you'll have a good idea of what they know and how they work. By coming in and grilling people, you also send the message that you don't trust your other managers to have hired quality employees, or to have fired employees that were not good for business.

Luckily, I no longer work for a large corporate franchise, so this time around, I won't be forced to hear the corporate approved phrases to describe how employees should behave/work. I was actually told in private, with my normal manager, that "speed is life." I lost any respect I had for him at that point. Using those phrases during a corporate review is one thing, but to tell me them during a one on one conversation ... I could barely stop myself from rolling my eyes.

I think younger employees now are too savvy to accept normal management bullcrap, the games and whatnot. We've read too much, heard too many stories. I think the way to go about it now is to just be honest, respect who you talk to, and most employees will be fine with semi-annual audits, and the realities of running a business.

And if they can't handle that... well you can always fire them.