Hi Paul,
I'm John’s dad Simon and have been asked by John to forward the information
you requested from him. I have also attached a copy of the emails he sent
to you for completeness (I'm sure you have kept copies but this saves you
having to dig them out).
Well what can I say? I think John been treated appallingly by his manager,
who is, in my opinion, simply a bully in a position of power.
When John first got the job as a 'patrol' with the AA he was like the cat
that got the cream. He loved the work and really enjoyed helping people in
trouble (he really is like the advert on TV that depicts caring AA
patrols).
He pops in to see me and his mum most days, enthusiastically relating the
latest rescue to us in fine detail (we do try to remain attentive :o)).
But we have witnessed him becoming increasingly disheartened since the
problem with his manager started, although he remained as enthusiastic as
ever about helping his AA members in trouble.
As you can understand it has been very hard for us to watch John going
through this and on more than one occasion he has called in to see us
before attending a meeting with his Area Manager.
He was always very stressed at these times and it was very hard for his mum
and me hearing John being physically sick in the toilet before setting off
for these meetings.
I've advised him to stand up to the man but it's really not in John’s
nature to argue or lose his temper, he's very placid and avoids
confrontations, preferring to discuss issues rather than argue.
Unfortunately people like His Area Manager may see this as a weakness and
take advantage.
I was not therefore disappointed when John informed us that he'd had enough
and was resigning.
John and his partner Sandra are going to take a break when he leaves the AA
and do some travelling, which will hopefully enable them to put this behind
them. The AA have lost an enthusiastic and hard working employee.
Apologies in advance Paul, I feel a rant coming on.
I think that the AA has been damaged by 'private equity' and is
increasingly losing the good will of its workforce and its members.
Its managers are probably being placed under immense pressure to achieve
unrealistic targets.
They in turn pass this pressure on to the real wealth generators, the
workers on the front line who then have t either cut corners o fall foul o
the missed targets.
When a manager does not possess the skills required to manage his team
humanely it is much worse, he becomes like a dictator and workers like John
suffer.
As a private investor myself buying shares in companies I do not have a
problem with takeovers and acquisitions, as long as it is good for the
company (because then it's good for me as a shareholder too), but we see
all to often, good companies stripped of their assets, property and land
sold off and the workforce reduced, often needlessly, under the guise of
making the company more efficient.
The company is then sold on or re floated, a shadow of its former self by
these wealthy private equity groups.
I think the word 'scam' fits well and the sooner it is stopped the better,
I would go further and make private equity groups pay tax on previous gains
as well.
Borrowing money to buy into a company, then stripping it of its assets and
filling the pockets of these fat cats with tax free cash is not in the best
interests of a company or its workers, no matter how they dress it up.
That's better! Rant mode off.
I'd like to thank you very much for supporting John through this difficult
time Paul.
When John eventually goes off on his travels, if you need to get in touch
please feel free to email me and I'll pass your messages on.
He will of course come back home if needed.
Kind regards
Simon
