(That’s employees kidnapping the boss, not the boss napping in a meeting)
In case you missed it, we wanted to highlight a piece in the FT on Thursday on the rise of bossnapping, which begins with this anecdote:
There are worse ways to spend time as a hostage than being locked in the headquarters of one of France’s best-known champagne houses.
Back in the summer of 1993, the boss of Moët & Chandon was trapped in his Epernay offices overnight with only a fridge full of bubbly for company. Meanwhile, workers barricaded themselves in the cellars and cracked open a few of the 95m bottles laid down in the dusty warren of tunnels to protest against the group’s plan to commemorate its 250th anniversary with 250 job cuts
While bossnapping, the FT says, is nothing new in France – “almost as much a part of the culture as baguettes and brie” – the recent economic strain in the country has prompted an “unusually high rate of corporate hold-ups”:
At least 10 companies over the past two months have had managers held hostage, while many more have had factories occupied.
Still, there’s always the possibility that other disgruntled workers might heed the example of their French peers and consider sequestering le patron. Moreover, last month a former chairman of the Social Democrats in Germany suggested just that.
So what’s an anxious manager to do? Fear not, for the FT offers the following “tips for surviving if the worst happens” (your mileage may vary, FT Alphaville accepts no liability, etc.):
● Think carefully about where to hold your meetings with employees. Meeting at a factory earmarked for closure may ignite an already tense situation● Prepare the venue by discreetly storing a change of clothes, toothbrush and baby-wipes close to where you will be sitting. If possible have a water cooler handy and a few snacks.● Put your family on speed dial on the mobile phone.● Go to the toilet before the meeting. One recent hostage described his humiliation at having to ask his employees to go to the toilet. Jean-Paul Sartre, the leftwing philosopher who cheered on bossnappings in the 1970s, once remarked that “when a boss has to ask his employees’ permission to piss, a great step forward has been taken”.
● Don’t panic. Most bossnappings pass peacefully, with employees often providing food and drink. The main aim is often to get media coverage for union claims and hostages are generally released within a day.
● If your captors get unpleasant, sign whatever they ask. Agreements extracted under duress are not valid under French law.
● Bring objective observers, such as mediators, to negotiations. They can help to avert aggressive action.
● Remember that hostage taking remains rare. Ten in two months is hardly significant when hundreds of French companies are cutting jobs and closing factories
Hope you paid attention. Because as the article also warns, “if you have been bossnapped, it may well be that you have failed to spot the warning signs.”
Related links:
Kidnapping the boss – Human Resource Executives Online
Enraged about corporate greed? Kidnap your boss – Alternet