Communicating

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

When I was a little girl there wasn’t a Presidents Day. To me, this is George Washington’s birthday. Again, Happy Birthday, George!

I’m facing today with a cold and anyway going to work. I’m hoping to make it through my shift without sneezing and offending.

Yesterday, the Big Brass came into the store. Regional managers. Each interrupted my work, introduced himself (all were men), addressed me by my name (Diana is written big on my apron), asked how I like working at HD, and explained his role and why he was in the store. They were there for a scheduled meeting with local managers.

Over the past year, I’ve worked for three different businesses. Home Depot is the only one where managers actively practice what I call “managing down.” In other words, they communicate regularly with lower-ranking staff members. The managers in Bend’s HD always speak to me, are helpful, and now I find their bosses doing the same. That’s what I know as good management in large organizations.

I’m trying to align what I understand about managing an organization with my year of experience. It’s been hard to understand why businesses lack effective new employee training and regular team meetings. I suppose they’re profiting anyway in today’s economy without having to provide valuable resources for training and development.

I hesitate to speculate more, for these times differ beyond post-Covid changes. Maybe it’s that young people are visualizing a world different from what earlier generations understood. That largely might be influencing modern management’s directions. Anyway, Home Depot seems to be sticking to what for organizations always works best: mightily communicating up and down the line.

Dear Friends: Such attention calls for responses that suggest one’s listening and serving skills. Diana