[CAUT] Reasonable job descriptions

[Fred Sturm]

On Sep 10, 2008, at 7:05 PM, Jeff Tanner wrote:

> But what I learned from the process is that there are really two  
> ways to improving salary, and neither one of them involves someone  
> else noticing how great your work is and generously offering to  
> increase your salary.  That approach didn't work at all.

Hi Jeff,
	Fascinating account. I agree with you that doing high quality work  
did not get you the salary you wanted. I will argue, though, that what  
you did was to set a standard, and to create a demand for that  
standard. When you left they wanted to maintain and even improve on  
that standard, or so it seems, and they were willing to spend what it  
took to do so.
	I think that many institutions simply accept a very low standard of  
piano care, partly because that's what they have become used to  
(partly because that may be all that is available considering the  
location and the skills possessed by the techs in the area). If they  
want something better, what they think is that they need to spend  
millions on new, better instruments, and they don't have that kind of  
money. If they come up with that kind of money, they buy the new  
instruments and watch them deteriorate very quickly, because all they  
do is have them tuned. They need to learn that comprehensive care is  
the key to quality pianos. They will learn that best if they see  
models of it in real life. And if we communicate well with them.
	About the Steinway workload calculation, anybody can do that, you  
don't have to have a Steinway rep come through. I believe the  
worksheets are up on the Steinway site. If that gives you better  
credibility than the Guidelines, by all means use it. Personally, I  
think that far too much emphasis is placed on the workload aspect of  
the Guidelines. It's a help, maybe, but really a minor part of the  
document. I think the workload formula is more useful as a way of  
organizing your time and work: it asks the questions you need to ask,  
and gives you clues as to how to decide on priorities and set up a  
schedule. And it points out the variables that make it easier or  
harder to maintain a high standard of service.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu


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