Mismatch

Tweet

To Raffone the current breach of trust symbolizes something much deeper: a sense of the loss of what Harty Press used to be. Raffone says George was a "visionary" during the heady years of growth in the 1980s. He is not alone in thinking George has abdicated that role, leaving a power vacuum into which his ambitious, headstrong younger brother has stepped. "It's not the same company it was. There's not the same camaraderie, the same family feeling. And I feel sorry for the people who will never get to share that feeling."

George Platt replies ambiguously to Raffone's assertions. He concedes that Michael has an overbearing nature. "Michael is so hands-on he leaves Ricky no flexibility. Michael attempts to have Ricky handle things, but then he gets anxious and steps in." But George adds that two years ago he would have backed Raffone in this dispute; now he is not sure. He wonders about Raffone's performance. "I don't feel good that we are not getting the work out up there in an efficient way."

But George also concedes that Raffone's job at Branford is difficult -- "the hottest seat in the house" -- and that maybe the management hasn't given him enough equipment to juggle the job flow. Then he falls back on what he sees as Raffone's excessive complaining, what he dubs "the leaking-garbage issue," as being a needlessly corrosive force at Pre-Press. He says that Raffone needs to stop complaining and start focusing on his job, instead of thinking he can take on every job in the company. "This has been a big frustration for him because he's had his hand in a lot of different things. Doing all that is what gives him juice."

As if to symbolize the gaping wound that can't be closed, Harty's two operations remain miles apart, and the company can't afford to combine them. The Platts figure it could cost as much as $1 million to do so. They're in a business that lays out as much as $1 million just for a new press, so they have to take a long, hard look at every overhead expense. The Platts are also trapped by their New Haven location. They own a building in a neighborhood that's going nowhere; even if they wanted to sell, they'd find few takers.

In an effort to bridge that gulf, Michael Platt now drops by the Branford location on his way to work each morning, spending an hour or two there before heading into New Haven. "In the course of a week I try to see everybody in the building."

But Lukaszek says, "He tries to say hi to people, but he doesn't really. He's always got his game face on." Lukaszek adds that Michael creates the impression of being a listener, but "everyone thinks he's going to do whatever he feels like doing. They're scared of him."

Michael shakes his head in dismay over the response he gets at Pre-Press. "People's fear of the unknown is tremendous." He recalls recently bringing an architect in to look at the space with the idea of knocking down a wall to enhance communication. Before long, rumors were circulating that the Platts might move the facility out of state.

Yet when asked if greater communication between the management and the work force is necessary, Michael replies that he and his brothers "have enough faith in what we're doing" that they don't need to stay in touch constantly with employees about their decisions. "Our attitude is, if we don't have a problem with something, how the hell can these guys have a problem?"

Jon Northway contends the answer to that question lies in the fact that Michael Platt changes his mind so often. "Uncertainty is the worst enemy of any business. People want to know where they stand. This is their livelihood. It's how they put food on the table." Instead, what Harty's workers have to contend with is "the project of the month," which gets abandoned for something else almost as soon as it's up and running. "Mike doesn't know what he wants to do, and we don't know what he's decided until we find out about it two weeks later. I understand it's the Platts' company, but they've got to understand what it does to the morale of the people here."

In buying his company a future, George Platt unwittingly sold its past. Business is never easy, and Harty Press embodies that notion. The Pre-Press acquisition was necessary, and yet for now it has simply guaranteed Harty's survival -- and little more.

George Platt says that his employees underestimate the effort required to keep this fast-changing, capital-intensive business growing in a world full of shocks and surprises. "Traditionally, we saw the business grow by $1.5 million a year," he says. "We could will that to happen." Those days are gone. George Platt finds no need to apologize for spending more time looking outward to the market than inward to the company. He has no choice. Further, the company has to be run more tightly now; labor must be more cleanly divided.

While some employees long for the ideal of Harty as "family," what they overlook is that the idea of family carries bittersweet connotations for George Platt. "I was always picking up the pieces as far as the business was concerned." That leaves him with little stomach for conflict with his younger brother, despite the quiet pleadings of employees that he be more engaged.

George says that he and Michael are "at a loss" about how to put the merger behind them, even though the company, by dint of the acquisition, is better positioned than ever. Now George Platt needs to restore the magic. "People want to be involved in something bigger than themselves. For a while, Harty Press was that something."

 PREV  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5