God help me, I've done it.

[Doc]

Even worse then treating them like scum, I make all new hires work for 90 full days with no pay what so ever as volunteers. Because of the nature of the job, this weeds out most of the incompetents. They work full time, no pay, for 90 days. If means juggling another job to pay the bills, so be it. People take these jobs because they want these jobs. Sadly, even with those who really want it, most do not survive the 90 day trial by fire. Those that do are the best of the best, most of the time. They have drive and motivation.

And with the no mistakes policy, these people police each other. They correct each other's work. They cheer each other up and keep each other motivated. They pick up each other's slack. They have to. If one blunders, there is a good chance that all of them will pay for it, one way or another.

When productivity is running high, I pay for the very best in coffee and drinks and such. If productivity becomes "average" all these drinks are yanked. They get generic instant coffee. Decaff, if I am really feeling like an asshole. (Or one of my loyal minions that is in charge and knows how this game is played.) If one person is the cause in the drop, the others will deal with him or her more effectively than I, or one of my blood sucking minions can. And God help them if productivity ever drops below average. That happened once, several years ago. They were already getting punished and were not getting the message. I was sick. I was recovering from some major surgery. (Some of you will know what that is.) When the cat is away, the mice will play. I gave the order from my bed to turn off the air conditioning. For a WEEK. And with all those computers, copy machines, and searing Southern temperatures, people were melting into little grease puddles left and right.

You don't need to be cruel to run your own empire, but it helps.