MModal Mismanagement - CPA/MBA

I offer free office space to a long-time friend and MT/Editor. I've watched and listened to the ups and mostly downs of MModal. I've also spent time over the months reading this board and seeing similar complaints and events that are comparable to my friends experience.

Bankruptcy can happen to companies and corrective action taken. However, when you have consistent CEO and top management turnover something is up.

The latest and greatest fearless leader, one week into their job, initiated Pods. Quite a bold move one week on the premises with a 'heatlhcare" backround but not in medical transcription and editing.

Goals are fine things to when established with reasonable expections that are consistently achieveable. However, when goals are set for employees they should have input and a say as to what those goals are and how one is expected to meet them. At MModal the employee is given the goal without input and then graded by people who may or may not have any hands on, actionable experience in the field they are assigned to audit and grade. These people are under pressure to issue warnings so they blatantly hand out tactless email with beligerant warnings, mild threats when a transcriptionist/editor comes in over 99-percent because the bar is set at a ridiculous 99.6-percent.

Who in life consistently achieves 99.6-percent as a passing grade? I would never have passed the CPA exam, nor would anyone else, if 99.6 percent was the standard to passing. Graduate school? Forget it, I would never have been admitted.

My professional opinion concerning MModal and those in the trenches is this is no more or less a "legal" sweat shop which smells of Upton Sinclairs book on the Chicago stockyards entitled "The Jungle." Now, I'm not for unions, I'm a Capitalist, not a socialist and I've owned a few companies, managed in a Fortune 50 company and have never, ever treated employees like slaves, chained to their desks and beat on with invisible bamboo canes, with threats which causes anxiety which contributes to descreased work performance.

And in the case of MModal and their Pods, how can anyone be expected to succeed when you are assigned different accounts in perpetuity? Wouldn't working for the same accounts lower the learning curve, create consistency and foster improved work, even if the bar set by corporate know nothings is unattainable over the long-term? Sometimes mere common sense is all that is needed.

For someone with the education and credentials who has seen this movie many times, MModal is on a path beyond bankruptcy. They are on life support and it's only a matter of time when they are out of business. My professional advice to my friend, RETIRE as soon as reasonalbly possible. This is a no win situation for any employee to withstand.

One parting thought on management style. Theory X and Y:

Theory X: (MModal) According to this theory, type X individuals are considered to be inherently lazy and not fond of their jobs. As a result, an authoritative management style is required to ensure that individuals fulfill their objectives. Workers managed this way need to be closely supervised under comprehensive systems of control. A hierarchical structure is needed with narrow span of control at each and every level. According to this theory, employees will show little ambition without an enticing incentive program and will avoid responsibility when they can. If the organizational goals are to be met, Theory X managers must rely heavily on the threat of punishment to gain compliance of employees. When practiced, this theory can lead to mistrust, highly restrictive supervision and a punitive atmosphere. The Theory X manager tends to believe that all actions can be traced back and the individual responsible for them needs to be directly rewarded depending on the action's results. This managerial style is more effective when used to motivate a workforce that is not inherently motivated to perform. It is usually exercised in professions where promotion is infrequent, unlikely or even impossible and where workers tend to perform repetitive tasks in their jobs. One major flaw of this management style is that it limits employee potential and discourages out of the box thinking.

Theory Y: (New & Improved MModal) In this theory, management assumes employees can be ambitious, self-motivated and exercise self-control. It is believed that employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties. According to them, work is as natural as play. They possess the ability for creative problem solving, but their talents are underused in most organizations. Theory Y managers believe that given the proper conditions, employees will learn to seek out and accept responsibility, exercise self-control and self-direction in accomplishing objectives to which they are committed. A Theory Y manager believes that, given the right conditions, most people will want to do well at work. They believe that the satisfaction of doing a good job is a strong motivation. Many people interpret Theory Y as a positive set of beliefs about workers. A close reading of The Human Side of Enterprise reveals that author McGregor simply argues for managers to be open to a more positive view of workers and the possibilities that this creates. He thinks that Theory Y managers are more likely than Theory X managers to develop a climate of trust with employees required for employee development. This would include managers communicating openly with subordinates, minimizing the difference between superior-subordinate relationships, creating a comfortable environment in which subordinates can develop and use their abilities. This environment would include sharing of decision-making so that subordinates have a say in decisions that influence them.

What would you prefer - honey or more salt in the wound?