Have you ever been at the DMV in a long, unmoving line that went on for hours? What about a stuffy, archaic, cave-like U.S. Post Office? You’ve probably experienced the horrendously outdated facilities, technology, books and furniture inside so many schools across American cities or the social service offices in place to help support low income Americans where each employee is assigned dozens and dozens of cases to oversee. Have you ever called the Internal Revenue Service only to wait an inordinate amount of time to not get your questions adequately answered? What about America’s city halls have made it possible for so many workers to earn the distinction of being named the worst example of customer service ever?
Interestingly enough, all of these entities have something in common. They are run by one of the most inefficient, ineffective, and ill-managed conglomerates in the nation: the United States government. Of course, there are some individuals that work for the government who take pride in their jobs, work hard, and make a positive difference in their circles. Sadly, there are not enough of them and the systems in which they work are so broken, outdated, and mismanaged that their presence alone is unable to fix it.
The result? Workers are stripped of their energy, innovation, motivation, and heart. In order to function in such a dysfunctional environment, employees must discover ways to cope. Perhaps the sour-faced woman at the counter used to be an upbeat, friendly soul – and may still be once she leaves work. The slow-moving, middle-aged man processing your packages may have resigned to the fact that he will never be able to keep up with the massive and unrealistic workload laid on his shoulders; so why try? The sixth caseworker you’ve been assigned no longer answers her line or returns phone calls because she is still trying to make sense of the two hundred disorganized files she has inherited from her last two predecessors, both of which only worked there a combined total of fourteen months.
Government workers are people; not just overworked employees or anonymous voices on the phone. Unless they are in the highest echelons – where money, power, corruption, and abuses flourish – they are fighting an uphill battle. Daily exposure to a workplace in which they are sorely overworked is exacerbated by the poorly functioning and ill-managed systems. It’s a lose-lose setup for both the employees and us, the customers.
If the areas of our society currently run by government were turned over to U.S. businesses to manage, do you think they could still get away with running them that way? Could a company stay in business if it operated like the DMV? Without government dollars taken from taxpayers and used so inefficiently, could a company stay in business if it operated like the U.S. Postal Service? In fact, UPS and FedEx have shown us the answer to that question.
Big government running things notoriously leads to waste in time, money, resources, and assets, not to mention condoned and enabled corruption. With that much money flowing in a nonstop stream – often poorly accounted for – the temptation and ability to line one’s own pockets is great. Without accountability, those monopolies continue in their failure to provide adequate or efficient service, while spending enormous amounts of money to do it; or should I say, to not do it. How much money would taxpayers save if government entities were regularly audited by various groups of professional business people and held accountable for all the waste and lack of production? Perhaps it’s time we found out.
#notafraidtothink #governmentwaste #notsheeple
EmmSix 