Edition 511 – Coal Dust

I’m driving through the Hunter Valley, on my return from Tamworth. As you head into Muswellbrook from the north, on the New England Highway, there’s two things that stand out. First of all, to the west, the giant spoil mounds, from the open cut coal mines that dot the landscape. Ugly mountains of rock and dirt, piled high, creating their own landscape.

The second thing is the haze. Once, years ago, I asked myself on a similar journey the other way, is the weather changing? The answer was no. It was the atmosphere, full of dust swirling up from the pits that had been gouged out of the earth’s surface, and from the dust that rose from the inordinately long coal trains that make their way to the Port of Newcastle, of which I’ve counted more than 100 wagons in the past.

Beyond Singleton, to the south of Muswellbrook, the haze finally clears. The weather outside is mid 30’s. It’s been a long trip. I’m keen to get home. I’m pushing the Ford Falcon XR8 Sprint just that little bit harder, to try and beat the traffic in Sydney. You time your departure home from this part of the world, based on when the peak hour traffic will be at it’s heaviest in Sydney. I’m cutting it fine.

I pull into a roadside rest area just before the Hunter Expressway merges with the M1. I duck in to use the facilities which, in spite of being new, are still atrocious. Filthy. Disgusting. Really, what is wrong with people?

I return to my car. Bugs are splattered on the front bar. On the turret, a light film of dirt. Or, is it dust? Odd, but it stands out on the black paintwork.

I open up the back passenger door to reach in and grab a wipe. Rid myself of those horrid germs I’ve just confronted. When I open the door, I notice on the inside of the wheel well, where you’d slide yourself into the back seat, is a film of dust. I run my finger along it. It’s coal dust. Insidious. Black.

I fire up the 5.0 litre V8 and give it the boot as I re-enter the freeway. Thoughts turn to a conversation I had with a business owner the previous day. There are staff in this business, that aren’t happy. They haven’t been happy for a long time. The business owner has done everything to improve conditions and endeavour to create a warm and inclusive culture in this business. However, I’ve long argued that 80% of why someone is unhappy in their job, is nothing to do with their job. It’s to do with what happens in the other 128 hours of their week.

This unhappiness permeates the business, right from when you open the door. It’s like that haze of coal dust as you’re driving through the Hunter Valley. It changes the atmosphere, and it reaches into every crevice of the business. It stains. If it is allowed to continue, it leaves permanent damage.

There’s only one way to deal with this, and that’s lance the boil. Have the hardest of conversations with the individual involved and suggest to them that it’s time to move on. That you can’t do anything more for them. That they’d be happier elsewhere.

I hear what some of you might say about the Unfair Dismissal Laws. My response to that is simple – “f..k them”!!

Isn’t the mental health and wellbeing of every other person in the business, the owners of the business, and the family of that owner, far more important at the end of the day, than that of a single individual whose discontent in life is cancerous throughout the remainder of the business?

This Week’s Tip

“Ask them one question – “are you happy?”
If they’re honest, and say they’re not, the next question is framed around how you can help make them happy, elsewhere, and will support them on that next step.”