Below is my response to a recent post on BNET (One of the most useful Internet sites I have found.)
You can find the original here: Employee Loyalty is Dead. Good Riddance.
I was once told the my "altruism was going to get me fired." The speaker was an academic dean in a career position that I absolutely loved - teaching at a university that really needed what I had to offer. Unfortunately, I had purpose and ethics and felt that the knowledge delivered to my students was the most important value I could deliver to the enterprise. (In this case, I spoke out against grade inflation; a new football program that sacrificed academics in favor of attracting athletic numbers; and an apathetic tenured faculty.)
Shortly there-after, I discovered that my entire portfolio of highly specialized intellectual property (I had developed four unique courses and programs, three of which were part of the required curriculum.) had been absorbed by, was now "owned" by the enterprise and I found myself out of a job/career. As a contract employee I was completely disposable once the enterprise sucked me dry - or anytime I disagreed with anything that conflicted with the latest politically correct concept or propagandized belief.
Not only was I "removed" but I was completely and carefully ostracized from the entire campus community (people I thought of as friends). I never heard from any of my fellow faculty members again. Interestingly enough, since I was also pretty popular with students, I was quietly disposed of after they had all left for summer break. (Several of them hunted me down and we still connect now and then.)
I'm 57 years old and have been searching for an enterprise that valued my knowledge, skills, and capabilities, and one that was willing to allow me to fully apply them to a purpose larger than myself. Essentially, all I've wanted was a place where I could thrive and contribute to a community of value - to be considered something more than a piece of employment meat. What I have found is a long succession of the same old same old - enterprises operated by executive management according to what's minimally legal and who have carefully crafted the personnel and operational infrastructure to ensure they are never put at risk by individuals more capable than themselves.
I have been watching this mentality literally destroy my country and it is one of THE most significant disappointments in my life. Nearly a decade ago, I founded an organization that I thought would move beyond the petty scrabbling of personal greed into a valuable service arena - only to discover that management had once again ensured its own plush lifestyle and, once sucked dry, I was no longer welcome. Once again - I became ostracized and cut off from my community of friends. (Out of over two hundred, only eight continue to communicate with me.)
To be truly human is to reach out beyond our own needs and greeds. Anything less is the function of chaos. If the enterprise wants innovation it must be compelled to nurture and reward those who innovate, not drain them and return the empties for new models. When employee loyalty is rewarded with disloyal actions on the part of the employer, nobody wins. There IS no possibility of win-win when one party is abused by the other.
I have never spoken these thoughts or attitudes out loud but I honestly believe that if we expect to turn this country of ours away from the self-centered - self-righteous - corporate mind-set we need to take our country back from that corporate mind set. As long as what is legal trumps what is right, we are doomed to continue to slide down a very slippery slope into a very nasty place. As long as the needs of the shareholders and the image of executive management trump the lives of the employees who shed the blood, sweat, and tears to put the company into its current successful position, we are NOT going to succeed.
This isn't to suggest that ALL corporations are wrong - plenty of them still value the employees that made them great. Unfortunately, there are way too many enterprises that exist solely (or is that soul-lessly?) for the good of the company instead of the good of the community.
I'm an American - not Italian American; not Irish American; not Latin American; not any other "dash" American. My concern is that, in this disposable employee mentality, we just may be seeing a seriously deadly change in the value of American lives - one that could put us - the BIG US - quite literally out of business. I don't expect, nor am I asking for, anyone to follow me into any mythical promised land. What I do expect is for people to start voting with their feet and start speaking out when others begin destroying the foundational beliefs and culture that define our families, our companies, our countries and our world. If we don't get out of our apathetic little clouds, we're all going to discover that what has been done to destroy the trust of the individual employee has also been done to destroy all our hopes for a decent future for our children.
And, yes. I've decided to remain altruistic - look for it on my business card. The alternatives - the ones we're seeing now: economically, politically, and all-too-frequently right here in our homes - simply suck.
Shortly there-after, I discovered that my entire portfolio of highly specialized intellectual property (I had developed four unique courses and programs, three of which were part of the required curriculum.) had been absorbed by, was now "owned" by the enterprise and I found myself out of a job/career. As a contract employee I was completely disposable once the enterprise sucked me dry - or anytime I disagreed with anything that conflicted with the latest politically correct concept or propagandized belief.
Not only was I "removed" but I was completely and carefully ostracized from the entire campus community (people I thought of as friends). I never heard from any of my fellow faculty members again. Interestingly enough, since I was also pretty popular with students, I was quietly disposed of after they had all left for summer break. (Several of them hunted me down and we still connect now and then.)
I'm 57 years old and have been searching for an enterprise that valued my knowledge, skills, and capabilities, and one that was willing to allow me to fully apply them to a purpose larger than myself. Essentially, all I've wanted was a place where I could thrive and contribute to a community of value - to be considered something more than a piece of employment meat. What I have found is a long succession of the same old same old - enterprises operated by executive management according to what's minimally legal and who have carefully crafted the personnel and operational infrastructure to ensure they are never put at risk by individuals more capable than themselves.
I have been watching this mentality literally destroy my country and it is one of THE most significant disappointments in my life. Nearly a decade ago, I founded an organization that I thought would move beyond the petty scrabbling of personal greed into a valuable service arena - only to discover that management had once again ensured its own plush lifestyle and, once sucked dry, I was no longer welcome. Once again - I became ostracized and cut off from my community of friends. (Out of over two hundred, only eight continue to communicate with me.)
To be truly human is to reach out beyond our own needs and greeds. Anything less is the function of chaos. If the enterprise wants innovation it must be compelled to nurture and reward those who innovate, not drain them and return the empties for new models. When employee loyalty is rewarded with disloyal actions on the part of the employer, nobody wins. There IS no possibility of win-win when one party is abused by the other.
I have never spoken these thoughts or attitudes out loud but I honestly believe that if we expect to turn this country of ours away from the self-centered - self-righteous - corporate mind-set we need to take our country back from that corporate mind set. As long as what is legal trumps what is right, we are doomed to continue to slide down a very slippery slope into a very nasty place. As long as the needs of the shareholders and the image of executive management trump the lives of the employees who shed the blood, sweat, and tears to put the company into its current successful position, we are NOT going to succeed.
This isn't to suggest that ALL corporations are wrong - plenty of them still value the employees that made them great. Unfortunately, there are way too many enterprises that exist solely (or is that soul-lessly?) for the good of the company instead of the good of the community.
I'm an American - not Italian American; not Irish American; not Latin American; not any other "dash" American. My concern is that, in this disposable employee mentality, we just may be seeing a seriously deadly change in the value of American lives - one that could put us - the BIG US - quite literally out of business. I don't expect, nor am I asking for, anyone to follow me into any mythical promised land. What I do expect is for people to start voting with their feet and start speaking out when others begin destroying the foundational beliefs and culture that define our families, our companies, our countries and our world. If we don't get out of our apathetic little clouds, we're all going to discover that what has been done to destroy the trust of the individual employee has also been done to destroy all our hopes for a decent future for our children.
And, yes. I've decided to remain altruistic - look for it on my business card. The alternatives - the ones we're seeing now: economically, politically, and all-too-frequently right here in our homes - simply suck.
