At one time or another, most of us have equated the phrase "Corporate America" with greed, corruption, profiteering, gouging the customer, and screwing the employee. We're finding ourselves working harder for smaller raises. It seems that almost daily we're hearing about some new corporate scandal where the customers and employees get the shaft, while the CEOs laugh all the way to the bank. There's no doubt that when it comes to Corporate America, the average customer, employee or shareholder views management with skepticism, wariness and frequently, disgust. Anecdotally speaking, there's little room for doubt that the term "corporate responsibility" is an oxymoron. But every now and then, CEOs, corporate presidents, or the board of directors do something right... something so good that there's a little hope that we could someday return to a time where it's not all about the the almighty dollar, but also about doing what's right. I experienced such an event the other day.
Every quarter, my company has an all-employee meeting. During these meetings, the senior management tells us how we're doing financially, talks about the progress in products or services we're developing, and has an open-floor question and answer period. For the most part, these meetings are okay, but there's always room for improvement. Generally speaking, the employees view these meetings as a dog-and-pony show, paying lip service to management's promise of open communication with staff; the managers that give presentations usually come across as too political and not willing to discuss the things that matter to the employees. This isn't necessarily my opinion, it's the general consensus I hear from the people I work with.
This quarter's meeting was different though. When the president opened the meeting, he put his five-odd minutes worth of prepared notes down, and spoke to us from the heart for about a half hour. During his talk, he acknowledged the stress that a lot of us are experiencing, reiterated his vision for the company, and actually apologized for his role in some of the stress we're going through.
The stress our company is experiencing isn't any different than the stress experienced at most other companies in America. It's not anything serious like an impending scandal, lawsuits, bankruptcy, or anything that's going to be the end of our livelihood. No, our internal issues are more cultural... employees feel like they're not being communicated to... like they're overwork, underpaid and underappreciated... like they don't have the power to ask questions... like management is either oblivious or indifferent to these issues... you get the idea. These cultural issues, in and of themselves, are neither new nor serious. They're kind of like blisters on your feet. They start out as uncomfortable and irritating; but if you don't stop and take care of them, they'll grow, fester, get infected, and eventually you'll be forced to stop and deal with them -- and by not tackling these blisters immediately, you're in for more pain over the long haul, and you'll be down for a lot longer.
When the president spoke to us at this meeting, it was a big deal. By speaking from the heart, he demonstrated that he understands the issues we're facing, expressed that he's not oblivious or indifferent to our concerns, and that he actually cares about the people that work for him. Will his talk single-handedly fix the cultural problems in our company? Certainly not. But by setting aside his prepared speech and speaking from the heart, he showed his humanity -- something that he doesn't frequently do. He opened the lines of communication, and conveyed that to some extent he's one of us. Though he certainly can't fix the cultural issues with a single event any more than a single bandaid would fix that infected blister, he has acknowledged the blister and did administer first aid. It was a great first step. It says that not all of Corporate America is about the money; and though faint, it gives me hope that one day Corporate America will step up like the president did at our meeting.
Every quarter, my company has an all-employee meeting. During these meetings, the senior management tells us how we're doing financially, talks about the progress in products or services we're developing, and has an open-floor question and answer period. For the most part, these meetings are okay, but there's always room for improvement. Generally speaking, the employees view these meetings as a dog-and-pony show, paying lip service to management's promise of open communication with staff; the managers that give presentations usually come across as too political and not willing to discuss the things that matter to the employees. This isn't necessarily my opinion, it's the general consensus I hear from the people I work with.
This quarter's meeting was different though. When the president opened the meeting, he put his five-odd minutes worth of prepared notes down, and spoke to us from the heart for about a half hour. During his talk, he acknowledged the stress that a lot of us are experiencing, reiterated his vision for the company, and actually apologized for his role in some of the stress we're going through.
The stress our company is experiencing isn't any different than the stress experienced at most other companies in America. It's not anything serious like an impending scandal, lawsuits, bankruptcy, or anything that's going to be the end of our livelihood. No, our internal issues are more cultural... employees feel like they're not being communicated to... like they're overwork, underpaid and underappreciated... like they don't have the power to ask questions... like management is either oblivious or indifferent to these issues... you get the idea. These cultural issues, in and of themselves, are neither new nor serious. They're kind of like blisters on your feet. They start out as uncomfortable and irritating; but if you don't stop and take care of them, they'll grow, fester, get infected, and eventually you'll be forced to stop and deal with them -- and by not tackling these blisters immediately, you're in for more pain over the long haul, and you'll be down for a lot longer.
When the president spoke to us at this meeting, it was a big deal. By speaking from the heart, he demonstrated that he understands the issues we're facing, expressed that he's not oblivious or indifferent to our concerns, and that he actually cares about the people that work for him. Will his talk single-handedly fix the cultural problems in our company? Certainly not. But by setting aside his prepared speech and speaking from the heart, he showed his humanity -- something that he doesn't frequently do. He opened the lines of communication, and conveyed that to some extent he's one of us. Though he certainly can't fix the cultural issues with a single event any more than a single bandaid would fix that infected blister, he has acknowledged the blister and did administer first aid. It was a great first step. It says that not all of Corporate America is about the money; and though faint, it gives me hope that one day Corporate America will step up like the president did at our meeting.
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