Conference 7.286::digital

    
    And how can Bright Bob do this if Personnel and their current policies
    and procedures not only discourages such creative utilization of "our
    most important assets -- our people" but actually (to varying degrees,
    depending on perspective) prohibits the creation of such a new job!
    

    You need to find a friendly and supporting host manager who also
    can absorb the headcount, although they may be able to negotiate
    the funding of the position.  It does happen.  It may not be
    intuitively obvious as to "how", and certainly involves some creative
    effort on your own behalf. 
    
    ih

    One way to create the job you like is to come up with a RAD
    proposal and get sponsorship for your idea through RAD.

    One of the biggest roadblocks to getting something like this off
    the ground is the 'head count game' (HCG).   In HCG, a manager's
    budget (i.e. power) and influence is directly proportional to
    LEGITIMATE head count.   This has the stifling effect of maintaining
    the status quo inspite of the opportunity realities.   An 'outgoing'
    manager (unless they are enlightened) has very little incentive
    to participate in shifting people around.   An 'incoming' manager
    has some downright disincentives, like a blown budget, to accepting
    an unplanned head in HCG.   The entire process is also arbitrarily
    constrained to 1 year lumps.
    
    I propose a new rule for HCG.   With my new rule, a manager can
    earn HCG credits (HCGCs).   Any time it is necessary to trade heads,
    managers can use HCGCs as follows.   An outgoing manager earns HCGCs
    whenever an employee shifts to another group.   Incoming managers
    spend previously accumulated HCGCs to take on this employee.  A
    HCGC is equal to 1 person-week.   HCGCs have no limits, i.e. they
    are accumulated for the life of the manager and across fiscal
    boundaries.  
    
    What do you think?

Re: .3

What's RAD an acronym for?

    Re: .4 (Bahlin):  Let's see if I have this straight.  If I, as a
    manager, am a jerk, and drive people regularly out of group, I get
    *credit* for it?
    
    Where do I sign up?
    
    8^)  (with tongue firmly in cheek, if not in check)

    re: .6   Driving people from group
    
    Yup!   This is far better than the present system where managers
    who are jerks keep all their people and simply drive them crazy
    where they stand while continuing to get budget for it.
    
    At least with my method, the incoming manager gets a chance to make
    you sane again.   I suppose we could modify the rule so that if
    too many credits pile up in your account (because nobody will work
    for you) you have to buy them down with your paycheck.

Re:  <<< Note 1002.5 by SMOOT::ROTH "Insist on Wolf's Head Motor Oil!" >>>
    
    Research and Advanced Developemt.  Every once in a while they 
    send out notices (including in Digital This Week (DTW)) for proposals.
    December 19, 1989 Vol 16, No 20 (last) issue had one on page 5.

    Interesting concept, however we would have to hire additinal headcount
    to track it.

Trying to control spending by 'head count' is such a gross over
simplification that it truly demands that those of us in the trenches
revolt and make management aware that it does do more harm than good on
many fronts.  Creativity is just the most obvious.

    re.10
    It's even worse than that. Just saw a note from Human Resources
    that we can't hire students anymore.
    
    They don't get much pay,
    They don't stay long,
    They usually do a good job,
    They are motivated to "be with DEC"
    
    BUT they are in the "headcount", so BASTA...
    (Maybe we want to make sure to never ever have them  apply for
    a regular job, which means disaster to the headcount)
    
    A concerned headcounter
    

>    They don't get much pay,
>    They don't stay long,
>    They usually do a good job,
>    They are motivated to "be with DEC"
    
    I can't agree on points 1,3 & 4. Depending on the type of program
    than the student is involved with they may be getting paid plenty,
    for example graduate students may be paid at a rate equivalent to
    a level 34/36 (read big bucks) to do rather mundane projects with
    fancy names (to look good on the resume).
    
    They do a good job? I'm sure there are motivated hard working co-ops,
    but how many notice the sheer volume of new coop noters every spring.
    I don't know about you but I get a bit ticked off that these part
    timers with specific projects to be working on have the time to learn
    and actively participate in Notes. These people are not noting after
    work from home.
    
    College hires are needed, summer hires I wonder...I think it's more
    of a PR venture.
    
    Gail

re: .0,
>                  -< Can you create your own job within DEC? >-

	No, but in an info-market (note 1024), you could basically offer
    your goods and services for sale in the notesfiles and, if successful,
    use the resulting capital generated from one venture to fund the next.

	In this way, you could basically create your own job as an intra-
    corporate entrepeneur - doing what you like to do (and what others feel
    is worth enough that they are willing to pay their own info-dollars for).

				   -davo

    It's interesting that this topic came up, as I've been wondering
    something for a long time that kind of fits this topic.  Suppose,
    hypothetically speaking, there is an employee with a particular
    skill set for a particular set of software products.  This employee's
    consulting/programming skills are good with this software, and his/her
    presentation skills regarding this software (official seminars,
    customer presentations, etc) are also rated highly.

    Suppose further, hypothetically speaking, that this employee has made
    a lot of friends throughout the corporation because at one time or
    another over the past several years, he/she has helped many people
    and organizations; ie, helped put out fires, did programming and/or
    consulting on highly visible projects that resulted, directly or
    indirectly, in big bucks, made presentations to targetted customers
    when no local people were available or had the expertise that the
    customers required/expected, etc ad nauseum. 

    Now, suppose further yet, still hypothetically speaking of course,
    that this employee works in an organization that seems to be narrowly
    focused on its own goals, such that when opportunities as discussed
    above arise, he/she must turn them down.  In many cases, this results
    in the requestor trying to find another resource.  That's fine, but
    in other cases, this results in applications not being done or being
    done poorly, a presentation to a customer not being done or being
    done with a resource that is clearly not familiar with the software
    or the corporate strategy, etc.  This employee can feel badly about
    saying "no" to the requestor, of course, but the goals of his/her
    current group "must come as a first priority", as he/she is constantly
    reminded.

    Hypothetically speaking, if there were such an employee within
    Digital in a theoretical situation as described above, is there an
    organization within Digital where that employee might want to look?
    Is this part of the AHOD program?

    In this possibly non-existant group/cost center, the employee would
    be responsible for maintaining technical currency with the software
    he/she supports, scheduling reasonable amounts of training when
    needed, and working out a mutually agreeable schedule with any calls
    that come in.  This employee would not *bypass* any of the official
    support organizations, either local or corporate, but would *work with*
    those support organizations to ensure that the customer is happy, the
    proper presentations to the proper folks are made, the software is
    working & expectations are correctly set, etc etc.  In all cases,
    when group "A" or area "B" or organization "C" call to request some-
    thing of this employee, the requestor is more than willing to pay
    for any expenses incurred, so this cost center would not necessarily
    need to have a humungous travel or "misc" budget set aside.

    Is this really a fictitious group or cost center?  Other replies to
    this topic talked about RAD and "creative effort".  Presumably, one
    would have to find a manager/cost center who:
    
    1.  Had room for an extra headcount.  (Do those exist ANYWHERE within
        Digital these days??)
    2.  Who was willing to have a person in his/her group who would be
        making "corporate contributions" instead of focussing his/her
        energies towards this specific manager's goals.
    3.  A partridge in a pear tree.  (If you can find #1 and #2, then
        finding #3 should be a piece of cake!)

    Any ideas?
    
    Hypothetically wondering,
    Jon

RE: .14

	Wow... Someone's been reading my future thoughts!!


						mike

    I think that .14 could be many jobs - depending on your manager. 
    Fortunately, my last two managers have had that approach.  It sounds
    like some Sales Support jobs I know...
    
    If a hypothetical person such as .14 existed, with the skills described
    in .14, I *might* hypothetically know somewhere to send a resume'
    (within DEC).  
    
    One *could* contact me via mail, hypothetically...  :-)
    
    Good luck in your hypothetical quest !
    
    Todd