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Bosses and
employees
Teammates or
opponents
As 2018 gains traction and we feel the shackles of 2017 dropping off, an indication that the difficult
year that was 2017 is finally behind us is the fact that more people are feeling confident enough to
consider leaving their comfort zones and venturing out to find new employment opportunities.
T
his brought to mind the subject of the relationship between employer
and employee. What is it that causes people to change jobs? Before
looking at that, let’s consider why people stay in a job. It could be that
they are happy. For many this may seem to be unlikely, but there are
people who are so happy doing what they do that to call it work would be a
misnomer. They could be nervous about whether the pastures actually are
greener. Many feel they would rather stay where they are than risk being as
unhappy or even worse somewhere new. While these are reasons to stay in a
job, they are primarily a state of inactivity rather than actually taking action.
For those who do make the move there are also a number of reasons
why. Some are merely looking for the next step up the ladder, obtaining a
promotion which is not available where they are. The vast majority, however,
would be leaving due to unhappiness. They could be moving for more money.
This brings with it a number of reasons. What is it that is making them
unhappy? Figures which are being bandied about indicate that in 75 per cent
of cases employees don’t resign from a job, they resign from a boss.
The next statement may seem a bit obvious but, there is a contract which
exists between employer and employee. I know there is the actual, written
contract which lays out the legal responsibilities of one to the other, but there
is another contract. This social contract is the type that you cannot argue in a
court of law, but it should in fact be more binding than the written contract. It
is a social contract because what governs this contract are the social graces.
As an employer you undertake to provide a place of work which is amenable
and which promotes the desire to work, is not hostile and which is conducive
to the employee being ‘comfortable’. In return the employee undertakes to
do the job for which he or she was employed, more where possible, with
loyalty and willingness. Does any of this sound familiar? Not likely. There are
arguments on both sides which tell the story of dissatisfaction.
The problem is that for far too many employees, work is a grudge activity
which they simply tolerate with a view to achieving the pay cheque at the
end of the month. They do only what is required. The question which arises at
this point is the proverbial chicken and egg, which came first: The employee’s
‘negativity’ or the employer’s attitude of mistrust? Unlike the chicken and egg
scenario however, this question is a bit more difficult to answer.
The solution, nevertheless, is fairly easy to find and unfortunately the
answer lies in the hands of employers. While employees as a whole are not
faultless, you cannot tar every single employee with the group brush. For
each and every person in the workforce, the desire to be happy at work is a
given. We spend so many hours at work that the need to be happy is almost
intrinsic. At the end of the day, the relationship is not between employee and
company but between the employee and the boss – personal, one-on-one
relationships.
Towards the end of 2017, widely regarded as a very bad year for the global
economy, a number of articles appeared on LinkedIn regarding the relationship
between bosses and staff. One of the many authors was Oleg Vishnepolsky,
Chief Technical Officer at the Daily Mail Online. Although he uses anecdotes
to embellish his stories, and his content was mainly aimed at how employers
hold the key to solving the problem, his overall message was powerful.
He focuses on the mutual relationship between loyal employees and
their bosses. This is not to say that all employees are loyal, but generally
employees start out as loyal – they appreciate the opportunity given to them
– until it is proven to them that their loyalty is not appreciated or mutual.
The onus falls on the boss to create and maintain the atmosphere of mutual
loyalty. Thereafter it is up to the employee to remain loyal.
Nex Media • BOSSES AND EMPLOYEES TEAMMATES OR OPPONENTS
