Reading this BBC article, it appears that we saw some of the holiday layoffs earlier in December because leaders feel like the vibes are there for a recession next year, even though the underlying economic data don’t point in that direction. This year, at least, rocky economic headwinds may play a role, says Nicholas Bloom, an…
It’s not about creating a great product for customers, and it’s not about creating a sustainable, profitable company. It’s about jacking the stock price and getting out with your profits.
Is it any wonder employees don’t give AF?
It’s December, and the number of organizations conducting layoffs keeps growing. It’s been a never-ending cycle of layoffs. Let’s not kid ourselves and assume that everyone is feeling OK about that. Let’s not ignore the mental health elephant in the room, let alone the damage to workplace culture. And let’s also acknowledge that leaders who have conducted any layoffs do not get the benefit of the doubt regarding trust. There’s simply no reason to trust you.
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As the article mentions, this is a big reason why return-to-office mandates have destroyed the trust between management and employees. When I’m happily working remotely, finishing all of my tasks and projects on time, connecting with the people I need to collaborate with just fine, and reporting on the status of my work using the tools available, and you turn around and tell me that I need to be in the office to be more productive, I quickly see that for what it is. Despite the results, you don’t trust people to do their jobs.
When I hear people talking about how much more effective employees are when they make friends at work, it makes my hair stand on end a bit. Because the benefits of having good friendships don’t exist solely to make us better workers. We’re more than our work. Our work is a transaction that we take part in every day. We do work, our employer pays us. We shouldn’t let any kind of friendship or supposed loyalty blind us to that fact either. When our employers don’t consider the money they pay to be worth the work that we are doing, for whatever reason they have to think that, they have shown an uncanny willingness to let us go. There is no loyalty from that end of things and so no loyalty is deserved from the other end of the transaction either.