I was astounded to hear that the Social Security Administration held a management meeting at the posh resort, the Arizona Biltmore. The resort is also called the “Jewel of the Desert”, with 39 acres encompassing multiple swimming pools and a championship golf course. This is not the place you would think an agency that is expected to run out of money within the next 30 years, without substantial tax increases, would hold a meeting for 675 of their employees.
The reported cost of the meeting was about $1000 per person, or $675,000. I wonder whether or not this included cost of transportation for the employees, who supposedly came from all over the country.
And how many paid speakers were contracted for that is not included in the stated amount?
In addition, there was a motivational dance troupe who invited the managers to participate in the dancing. It would be interesting to know how much this “motivation” cost the government.
What was the real cost of the meeting, after all expenses were paid?
The purpose of the meeting was to teach managers how to deal with stress due to the increased number of death threats against individual employees or the office. I guess that was the purpose of the motivational dance troupe—to teach the managers how to dance away their stress. Somehow, I cannot imagine too many management personnel breaking into a dance in the middle of their office when he or she feels stressed, especially about a death threat.
As a retired 33 ½ year veteran of the Social Security Administration I was, both shocked and appalled when I read about this. The last 25 years of my career were spent as a manger in a Social Security Office. I was involved in hundreds of meetings over those 25 years.
NEVER did I experience anything like this.
You have to wonder about the leadership within the agency that would allow something like this to occur with our tax dollars. Instead of cutting back spending in everyway possible, they are throwing it away trying to teach experienced managers how to deal with stress.
Let’s be honest, if a manger has not learned how to deal with stress by the time he or she becomes a manager, it is highly unlikely that he or she will ever learn. Dance lessons certainly aren’t going to help.
Pete Black
33 ½ Year Veteran Employee of Social Security
Co-Founder of www.socialsecurityinsidersecrets.com
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