From Mitch’s Blog via Tom McMahon...
Companies ask employees for loyalty while looking for
ways to cut benefits. They reward long term employees by looking for
ways to reduce retirement packages. Some reward a loyal workforce, one
that often has generational family relationships, by shipping jobs out
of the country. Frankly, business has done a lousy job of encouraging
workers to remain loyal, and it’s hard to believe that, in so many
magazines, they’re lamenting a very transient workforce that won’t stay
put long enough to learn their jobs well. Sorry guys, but the employees
didn’t start this; you did.
If you’re a manager, or business leader with employees, you need to
step up to the plate and decide what it is you’re really hoping to
accomplish in business. Do you want loyal employees who’d do anything
for you, or do you want mindless drones whom you can replace at a
moment’s notice because you don’t want to take the time to invest in
something more long term? Because, when all is said and done, loyalty,
trustworthiness, and honesty are long term investments; what are you
willing to commit to?
Wow. I couldn't have said it any better than that. For at least the last fifteen years American companies have been primarily focused on cutting costs and saving money because of the difficulty in competing globally. And while we all tend to think of companies as large, faceless entities there are in fact real people making the decisions to cut benefits, export jobs, etc. Generally speaking those people are also the ones drawing the biggest salaries, some of which are outrageously out of line with their employees. Until some of those "leaders" recognize the cost savings they get with experienced, loyal and trustworthy employees they are going to continue having difficulty in competing. It's the classic catch-22.
August 8, 2008 in
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Your Comments
Very well said, Lewis.
My take is that the people who run our businesses today are tools, and that's the single biggest thing wrong with the U.S. economy.
Once upon a time, corporate CEOs used to feel a strong loyalty toward the United States of America--the country that had put them in a place where they could grow and prosper. Not anymore. Now American capitalism has morphed into a "whatever makes ME more money" mutant that overlooks the good of the corporation (and the country) in favor of limitless perks for upper management. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that, eventually, the whole house of cards is going to fall, because--as we've long posited on our blog--the primary purpose of any business (to produce a product or provide a service) gets kicked to the curb.
Modern managers not only have no loyalty to their country, they have no loyalty to their corporation either. It's especially tragic that the rank-and-file employees are taking the rap for this. Until such time as American managers figure out that their primary duty is (to paraphrase my own bad self) "make the $#!@+# widget!," American business is doomed.
Posted by: Pete (Alois) at Aug 9, 2008 9:17:13 PM
Yes, I remember when the contract was broken. From that point on my approach to work changed. I now think of myself as somewhat of an artisan. I work for the personal satisfaction of a job well done, and feel absolutely no allegiance to whomever I am working for. I will leave them in whatever desperate circumstances there are, should a better opportunity come along for me.
Posted by: Ridge Walker at Aug 10, 2008 8:43:30 AM
Thanks for the shout out; I'm glad we agree on these principles. I've always said that I wouldn't mind all the outsourcing of jobs if other countries were actually doing it much better than us. But they're not, and all it means is these companies sell stuff to us at cheaper prices but there's no one who has the money to buy any of it because they can't get the jobs.
Posted by: Mitch at Aug 10, 2008 2:02:46 PM
Lewis - In 1996, I started a job with Amoco Corp in Tulsa, OK. Then, BP bought Amoco, and, by 2000 had outsourced all the accounting services to PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which, 2 years later, outsourced us to IBM. Almost immediately, BP/IBM wanted the majority of their work to go to India, where they could pay a degreed accountant $22,000 annually. That eventually cost me my position with IBM. Earlier this year, BP/IBM has announced they will be moving all services to Argentina. They weren't happy with India, and everything in Tulsa will be sent to Argentina - of course, once the Tulsa employees train them. That is 1,000 American employees losing their jobs with an American Company. I sold my IBM stock the day I heard what they were doing.
Posted by: Katherine at Aug 11, 2008 1:18:34 PM
Kat, I think you're the poster girl for companies lack of loyalty. That's really amazing.
Posted by: Lewis at Aug 12, 2008 9:44:25 AM
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