As a lover of Human Resources, and a true believer in the importance
of the protection of the law, especially when it comes to possible
victims (such as employees) who may be taken advantage of by those with
greater authority, the past year has been very difficult. While I have
always been a vocal opponent of Rob Ford, even I was stunned when he
fired TC chief general manager Gary Webster, at great cost to the City,
for providing an expert opinion in a subject he is well versed in. Of
course, this is not newsworthy anymore. He was replaced by someone
presumably more amiable to the idea of siding with the boss no matter
what. Of course, even he hasn't publicly supported Ford outside of a
comment suggesting that Toronto will still a long term subway plan,
especially for the busy downtown core (a statement I don't think would
meet with great disagreement).
This, I find, is the best illustration for the two elements which
make Ford a terrible employer. (a) He violates the law by terminating
good employees without cause, (b) he doesn't seem to recruit correctly,
as he has consistently found his hires to fall short of his
expectations. That is the quintessential bad boss - can't retain good
people, and can't hire effectively (in this case, "effectively" would
mean finding the Yes Men he's looking for).
Certainly, there has been growing animosity between the
Commission and its users, fortunately since the reign of Ford began, we
have seen a slow shift of that animosity towards his administration, and
Councillors from the suburbs (who would doubtfully ever replace their
gas guzzlers with a metropass) who are attempting to dictate how those
within the city will travel. His lack of ethics, complete disregard for
the rule of law, and manipulation of government contracts to profit his
family have done the impossible - they have boosted public opinion of
unions and public sector employees.
Perhaps some good can come of this yet?
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