Whip It, Whip It Good

[hobie16]

Steve Lopez: Disneyland workers answer to 'electronic whip'

In the basements of the Disneyland and Paradise Pier hotels in Anaheim, big flat-screen monitors hang from the walls in rooms where uniformed crews do laundry. The monitors are like scoreboards, with employees' work speeds compared to one another. Workers are listed by name, so their colleagues can see who is quickest at loading pillow cases, sheets and other items into a laundry machine.

It should come as no surprise that at the happiest place on Earth, not all the employees are smiling.

Isabel Barrera, a Disneyland Hotel laundry worker for eight years, began calling the new system the "electronic whip" when it was installed last year. The name has stuck.

"I was nervous," said Barerra, who makes $11.94 an hour, "and felt that I was being controlled even more." full article

[shilohmm]

Lovely.

I'm not convinced Disney does a good job as a hotelier. Some of the gripes I see on the Internet could be from the fact that Disney hotels are overpriced, but in my Timeshare system DVC "costs" the same as most Orlando resorts, and even there I hear a lot about cleanliness and maintenance issues. Not nearly so excited about staying there as I once was. :(

[DisneyMom]

Good Article. Hubby and Co-Workers recently voted to strike rather than change healthcare plan. Thankfully an agreement was made, but next time?
Too many jobs are going to come up short for too many people. :(

Sure most of us can relate to the skipping breaks to up productivity, but to have your productivity compared openly in the workplace to others SUCKS :mad:

[hobie16]

A network equipment company I worked for years ago was probably one of the first to up the employee contribution towards medical insurance. There was a huge uproar so HR decided to hold informational meetings.

The meeting I went to was attended by a mix of sales organization people, engineers, and people from manufacturing. The manufacturing guys were probably the hardest hit as they made the least.

The HR people started in with their happy talk and were immediately interrupted by the manufacturing guys. They knew they were being screwed but were having trouble articulating their gripes.

The HR drones continued on until one stated that everyone from top to bottom would have their contribution increased. Whoopsie. I was sitting next to Mark, who had an MBA from Stanford, and knew where every penny he'd ever had currently resided. Mark stood up and stated that, according to the latest annual report, the execs were given free medical insurance and, in case of some procedure not covered by the current health plan, the company would pay for it. He also put forward a proposal that the more you made the more you paid. The dam broke.

The manufacturing guys now were really pissed. But instead of trying to explain their objections, they'd stand up, point at Mark, and yell, "What he said!"

HR beat a hasty retreat with their tails between their legs. The increase went though but word spread fast and Mark became an instant hero throughout the company.

[hobie16]

Steve Lopez: Disney responds to ‘electronic whip’ criticism

My column today on Disney hotel workers, in which they share concerns about the possibility of rising healthcare costs and the use of a productivity-monitoring system they call the "electronic whip," has drawn lots of comments on our website from readers. While perusing the comments, I noticed that one was from Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown.

I'd like to thank Brown for reading, and of course she's free to comment, criticize, etc. However, I'd like to respond to a few of her charges.

"Mr. Lopez's use of a sensational headline for his lopsided column about Unite Here Local 11 and Disneyland Resort is disappointing," Brown wrote.

The headline was "Disneyland workers answer to 'electronic whip.' " full article

[TdcOgre]

More than once in my work career I have had "heart to heart" talks with new, "hot dog" employees; pointing out the error of their ways with regard to engaging in contests to see who could produce the most. It is much better to simply try to match your fellow employees than to significantly out do them. No one "wins" in the type of race management likes to set up. It's interesting that the "Hot dogs" come and go but I'm still there after 34 yrs..
:waldorf:

[Amphigorey]

That's disgusting. What an insult to the dignity of the workers. That department's management team should be ashamed of themselves.

[avengador1]

I wonder what management would do if people lowered their work standards to the lowest common denominator, instead of the highest, like this system tries to promote. ;)

[Alyssa3467]

I never liked it when the above-store folks at Pizza Hut came up with things to create competition amongst my crew, and my store didn't participate whenever we could get away with it. And yet, we were the top store in our area and one of the better stores in the region.

[PatchOBlack]

Personally, I think the only "whips" at the Disney resorts should be Dole Whips and those related to Dr. Henry Jones, Jr.