Tyranny

I can remember my Dad advising me that, “If you are loyal to the company you work for, put in the hard work needed, then advancement, growth and success will come.”

It worked for him. It worked for him because back then, companies realized that keeping good people meant you had to give loyalty back to those who showed it to you. It was a two way street and those companies that practiced this held onto their best people. Business, if it were smart and saw beyond the next quarter's profit statements, took a longer and wider perspective.

Not for some companies though.

A friend, who works for a private energy interest, was asked to put in over two days worth of work during the recent blizzard. If getting into work was going to be a problem, and it was for many, then sleeping over and living there, would solve that. The company would have, at the minimum, people there to run the operations. The generators would run, data closely watched and any problems could be solved.

Now that the blizzard had peeled away to Nova Scotia, the work needed was done, things got back to normal. That until the director saw his labor costs for having people stay on twenty four hours a day. He then sought ways to cut the pay of those who agreed to stay on.

He wasn't going to pay them for the entire time they stayed.

This was against the implied agreement he made with the employees.

After a raucous argument and the promise that administration was going to dig their feet in the ground on this issue, the union was called. It was assumed that the union would yank the balls off administration if they attempted to do this. The people who stayed over would be paid.

Too late, the damage was done.

I was told that many were happy that the pay issue was solved, but they were focused on the very first reaction of management, which was to cut pay. The first, true and heartfelt action by the company was to screw their own people. This naked exposure of their disloyalty could not have been more openly displayed. They shown their authentic selves in the brightest of light.

“Fuck.Them.And.What.They.Want.” was the response heard from more than a few employees.

Team building does not include treating your own as adversaries.

As far as perception management? Any future attempts to say they want to nurture the “team” will be met with disbelief.

Had my Dad been alive and working at the plant, he would've been shocked. He'd leave and besmirch their name to any and whoever.

You can say that, “Well, times are different now.” I'd say 'yes and no' to that. Here's what's not different though, human nature. People are still going to react like they've always done.