It's been an unusually quiet day at the Right at Home Glendale offices today. I assume that probably has something to do with the oft-talked about, but not always celebrated holiday of Columbus Day.
So with a little extra time to take a breath today, everyone at Right at Home in Glendale would like to wish the hundreds...not thousands...no millions of readers of our blog a very happy Columbus Day and we look forward to a great last 2 1/2 months of 2009.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
The Responsibilities of Ownership
A few years back while working at Game Show Network, we had a "Fire Drill." I don't mean that the fire alarm went off in our building and someone we worked with donned a green helmet and began directing us out while my co-workers slowly made their way to the stairs saying things that ranged from "A fire drill now, I'm in the middle of something due today." to "I hope it really is a fire so I can be off all week."
No, in business acumen, a "Fire Drill" is a fairly lame metaphor to describe a time when some sort of business "emergency" has occurred and everything you're working on needs to be dropped and all hands are called on deck to put out the "fire" of this particular emergency.
The fire drill I refer to had to do with a radio ad that was playing in Las Vegas that incorrectly stated that Game Show Network could be seen on Comcast cable, when in fact the cable company for the area was actually Cox cable. Due to a delicate relationship between Game Show Network and Cox at the time, this was more than just an unfortunate embarrassment and thusly a new radio ad needed to be created immediately and sent to the station that day.
So I called the owner of the production company that created the ad. I remember while speaking to him that there was a fair amount of noise in the background and hullabaloo all around. "Okay, okay," he said to me in a somewhat perturbed tone as I mentioned to him the problem. "I'm at the Dodger game right now, but I'll leave and we'll get something to you before 5pm."
The Dodger game, I thought to myself. I'd hate to be him. Buy those tickets, think you're spending a relaxing afternoon at the ballpark and then some schmo like me calls you up and makes you give up you're half-drunk, $11 beer just to re-record a 60-second radio spot. That's tough sledding.
Yet that's exactly the situation where I find myself today. Because at 3pm this afternoon, I too will be at the Dodger game. And this is no ordinary game, no mid-Summer Wednesday tilt against the lowly Pirates of Pittsburgh. This is a playoff game, against the slick pitching, high-powered Cardinals of St. Louis. And let me tell you, the last thing I want around the 3rd inning is a call from my office with the homecare equivalent of a new radio ad needing to be produced.
So what do I receive at 8am this morning. The "fill-in" caregiver (because the regular caregiver is on vacation) for one of our more difficult clients tells us minutes before her shift that she's got to go to the "emergency room" for an undisclosed illness and can't make her shift. I'll reserve comment on the legitimacy of the excuse, but thankfully our fine office was able to get another qualified caregiver over there and she arrived only a few minutes late. I commend both my office and that caregiver for their quick work.
Then, I receive another call at around 12pm from another client informing me that they need service at a different location than usual - some 48 miles farther away. When I inform them that we might not be able to send the same caregiver - who lives over 60 miles away from this new locale - they don't seem to quite understand why that is.
And first pitch is just 2 hours away.
Still, Right at Home here in Los Angeles is ready to go and certainly not depended on me to operate smoothly. My office staff is prepared, our schedules are set and we don't anticipate any issues for the rest of the day. Still, I full well know as the owner of this company that the buck stops with me...even if I sometimes wish the buck would stop with that other guy in row 9, seat 17 wearing the blue & white dodger wig.
But I made a promise to our clients. That one way or the other, we would always make sure a qualified, licensed and bonded caregiver will be there to take care of their loved one even if it means I have to stop what I'm doing and help tend to one our clients personally.
So, there will be no beer for me today and I'm prepared that my hot dog may have to be left behind half-eaten. But that's the deal I made and all in all, it's not so bad.
Oh, and by the way, GO DODGERS!
No, in business acumen, a "Fire Drill" is a fairly lame metaphor to describe a time when some sort of business "emergency" has occurred and everything you're working on needs to be dropped and all hands are called on deck to put out the "fire" of this particular emergency.
The fire drill I refer to had to do with a radio ad that was playing in Las Vegas that incorrectly stated that Game Show Network could be seen on Comcast cable, when in fact the cable company for the area was actually Cox cable. Due to a delicate relationship between Game Show Network and Cox at the time, this was more than just an unfortunate embarrassment and thusly a new radio ad needed to be created immediately and sent to the station that day.
So I called the owner of the production company that created the ad. I remember while speaking to him that there was a fair amount of noise in the background and hullabaloo all around. "Okay, okay," he said to me in a somewhat perturbed tone as I mentioned to him the problem. "I'm at the Dodger game right now, but I'll leave and we'll get something to you before 5pm."
The Dodger game, I thought to myself. I'd hate to be him. Buy those tickets, think you're spending a relaxing afternoon at the ballpark and then some schmo like me calls you up and makes you give up you're half-drunk, $11 beer just to re-record a 60-second radio spot. That's tough sledding.
Yet that's exactly the situation where I find myself today. Because at 3pm this afternoon, I too will be at the Dodger game. And this is no ordinary game, no mid-Summer Wednesday tilt against the lowly Pirates of Pittsburgh. This is a playoff game, against the slick pitching, high-powered Cardinals of St. Louis. And let me tell you, the last thing I want around the 3rd inning is a call from my office with the homecare equivalent of a new radio ad needing to be produced.
So what do I receive at 8am this morning. The "fill-in" caregiver (because the regular caregiver is on vacation) for one of our more difficult clients tells us minutes before her shift that she's got to go to the "emergency room" for an undisclosed illness and can't make her shift. I'll reserve comment on the legitimacy of the excuse, but thankfully our fine office was able to get another qualified caregiver over there and she arrived only a few minutes late. I commend both my office and that caregiver for their quick work.
Then, I receive another call at around 12pm from another client informing me that they need service at a different location than usual - some 48 miles farther away. When I inform them that we might not be able to send the same caregiver - who lives over 60 miles away from this new locale - they don't seem to quite understand why that is.
And first pitch is just 2 hours away.
Still, Right at Home here in Los Angeles is ready to go and certainly not depended on me to operate smoothly. My office staff is prepared, our schedules are set and we don't anticipate any issues for the rest of the day. Still, I full well know as the owner of this company that the buck stops with me...even if I sometimes wish the buck would stop with that other guy in row 9, seat 17 wearing the blue & white dodger wig.
But I made a promise to our clients. That one way or the other, we would always make sure a qualified, licensed and bonded caregiver will be there to take care of their loved one even if it means I have to stop what I'm doing and help tend to one our clients personally.
So, there will be no beer for me today and I'm prepared that my hot dog may have to be left behind half-eaten. But that's the deal I made and all in all, it's not so bad.
Oh, and by the way, GO DODGERS!
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