Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 12, 1 December 1995 — Intermeddling: a morale problem [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Intermeddling: a morale problem

by Abraham Aiona Vice-chairman and Trustee, Maui I would like to address a major eoneem regarding an agenda! It is surfaeing with some of our trustees, regarding the idea that

the board shou!d have the power to hire and fire all personnel. Several years ago, an audit of OHA indicated that some of our trustees were naive and lacking in knowledge about the role of the trustee. This audit pointed out that, like all boards, profit or nonprofit, the role of the mistee or board member should be policy making. With extremely rare exception (as a matter of fact, I know of no

organization that is an exception) board members are to deal with policy ONLY. Never are they to be involved in personnel issues, except to assist the administrator in making relevant policy that affects the organization. All other personneI matters are to be handled by administration only. It was the opinion of the auditor at that time that there was far too mueh meddling in administrative affairs. Our personnel has had to deal with "bullying harassment and verbal abuse" from some trustees on an all too frequent basis. This is enough to make their jobs painful and unpleasant and contributes to an extremely unreasonable verbal abuse and harassment at the whims of angry trustees who misuse their power on helpless employees who have no ehoiee but to take such abuse. You carry a lot of power as a trustee. Please show enough aloha to our employees to treat them with respect and to communicate with them appropriate!y. Even if you fee! your request was not followed ;ls you wish, please attempt to solve the prob!em with some aloha - not wielding your power with anger <md threats. To add to the plight of the employees, by allowing trustees to have hiring and firing power over all of them, hopelessly enmeshes the employees in a poliīieal quagmire of trying to please nine highly diverse trustees. Some trustees have gamered the reputation of

trying to make others look bad in order to make themselves look better. That's called "power politics" at its worse. lt's one thing to expose your fellow trustees to such behavior. It's quite another to expect helpless employees to be subject to the whims of such

behavior. There is no way our employees could ever be expected to fulfill their jobs in a reasonable manner if they have to be subject to the whims and explosions of some of the more eccentric personalities on this board. Neither are employees trained to handle the politics of nine separate trustees nor should they have to. How would you like to figure out how to serve nine different and often unreasonably demanding

bosses to try to hold onto your job? We can't even agree with eaeh other most of the time - how could we possibly expect the employees to figure it out? Please, if you have unresolved power and control issues, at least have enough aloha not to take it out on helpless victims such as our employees. And preferably, I would suggest dealing with your unresolved need for power outside of this board room as well. It is not useful to spend time gathering information that makes others look bad - or to engage in behavior that is designed to humiliate others - particularly employees - although I think we shou!d work harder at not humiliating eaeh other as well. It would certainly make a difference in our public perception as an ill - functioning board - and would create a mueh healthier atmosphere for all of us, especially the employees. Please, let's leave personneI management to the administration and let's deal with policy making - "that is what we were elected for." 'A'ole make wa'a i ka 'ale o waho, aia no i ka 'ale o loko. (A eanoe is not swamped by the billows of the oeean, but by the billows near land. Trouble often eome from one's own people rather than from others.) 'Ōlelo No'eau Mary Kawena Pukui