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> it seems like they hardly lie awake at night thinking about their iffy alternator much, if at all.

Sometimes someone can help someone and score big at the same time. Here's a story that I heard from someone who was there:

There was a small company that was in a position where they made money but not a lot so they saved on everything.

At one point the owner caught whiff that one of the employees, - a master craftsman in his traditional craft - was struggling extra because of the car.

So the ownwr told them to lease a brand new car to this particular employee.

Accounting said wait-a-bit, we are considering each and every expense twice and you want to lease a car for this guy to use off work.

Owner said yes.

Doing that gave him two things:

- his specialist stopped worrying about the car at work

- he stayed there for a long time

No, this time it is not a management-feel-good-story, I know the company and my friend was in the room arguing against the decision.

Of course this might backfire (jealousy from other employees, people who stop caring anyway etc) which is why it should be used with caution.




The employees who would be jealous are operating with a different definition of "fair." The common definition is that everyone gets the same thing, but a more humane definition is that everyone gets what they need. And if you switch from the former to the latter then the owner's decision becomes very fair. Everyone benefits from having the specialist focused on work. And the specialist gets what he needs too.




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