Published: March 09, 2009 03:14 pm      

VALLEY: The right person for the job

Today’s column deals with job placement in high-visibility markets. Noticeably, employment opportunities lost and gained that have been in the news lately. I thought a few were noteworthy enough to comment upon.

Trying to get the right person for the job isn’t always as easy as it seems. Ask President Obama. His nominees to head various federal agencies have fallen by the wayside faster than an Eliot Spitzer rally. Bill Richardson for Commerce Secretary, Tom Daschle as head of the Health and Human Services Department, Tim Geither for Treasury Secretary and Nancy Killefer for a newly created job (I think) to “scrutinize government spending” have all been dropped for embarrassing transgressions — namely (in most cases), for failure to pay taxes. Not paying taxes: a crime for you and me — a transgression for those with political and financial clout.

Not wanting to send the wrong message to America, President Obama dismissed their appointments with a refreshingly candid admission that he had “screwed up.” It would have been nice to hear that from those who failed to put their nickels into the community piggy bank.

GOP Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia quipped that Democrats are constantly pushing for higher taxes “because they don’t pay them.” Funny, but since both sides of the aisle were ready to dismiss Daschle’s $140,000 delinquency — but didn’t because of the enormous public backlash of impropriety — tells this skeptical citizen that they’re all members of a “good ol’ boys’ club who regard their constituents as the only ones who the tax laws were written for. But what do I know? I’m paranoid by nature.

Continuing on with the wrong guy for the job theme: I was watching a golf tournament on the Golf Channel and one of the golfers was Japanese. He didn’t speak English but had a personal translator traveling with him. The following transcript is from an interview that I watched with the announcer directing his questions to the translator to relay to the golfer and back. Totally amused by the results, I share them here:

Announcer: Ask him , if you will, what he thought of the (golf) course.

Translator (after the process): This is my first time to be nervous.

Announcer: What does he think of Tiger Woods?

Translator: I will say hello in Japanese.

I did not make that up. It was the actual interview. But, you see what we’ve got here? Another wrong guy for the job! One of the — if not the ONLY — prerequisites of a translator is to be able to understand and speak both languages that you are dealing with. Quite simple! I pray they didn’t have to ask for directions to the airport.

My final example is the football player who just signed a $100 million contract. I don’t know how many years it’s for, but does that really matter? It’s a $100 million! Anyhow, the deal also has a $15 million dollar “incentive clause.” In other words, if he reaches certain goals, he’ll get an additional fifteen million bucks. An incentive clause? What’s wrong here? If someone is going to pay you a hundred million bucks and you need an incentive to get your tail in gear, then something is seriously wrong. An incentive clause? They’ve got to be kidding! If this guy thinks he doesn’t have to give a hundred and ten percent with that kind of contract, then I say, he’s not the right man for the job.

Here’s the incentive clause that I think he should be offered: If you don’t play up to the highest standards you possibly can AND if you DON’T reach certain goals, then you won’t get the $100 million. Bingo, bango, bongo! Take it or leave it.

AND you have to the pay the taxes on it!

That’s the way it looks from the Valley.