IS A CORPORATE CULTURAL EVOLUTION POSSIBLE?
Marc Gilenson
Speaker, Consultant, Coach - Focus on harnessing the power of change and innovation to help implement a Mutual Benefit culture in business.
Is it possible for a country that is built on rugged individualism, and a desire for an opportunity to have unlimited success and to embrace a Mutual Benefit culture in business? Or to put it another way, Is a cultural evolution in business possible?
Let’s look at two critical employee impulses
Why do employees give away their freedom to managers and executives that many time will destroy an employees family time, health (both mental and physical), and free will? These same employees willingly defend these executives and corporations as either necessary or as a necessary evil.
This phenomenon can be explained in two ways; first, as a survival impulse. The majority of employees have said that they need the job to survive; the sacrifices they make in freedom, time and mental distress is done to “put food on the table and a roof over their families heads.” While in many cases this is true, in today's environment of labor shortages the employee has more power than they have ever had. Secondly, ego! Yes, ego. How many times have you heard that if you are working you are valuable? This is why men or women that chose to stay home and raise their children are not as valued by society as the executive. Don’t believe me, how many homemakers do you see on T.V. being interviewed about societal issues or even business issues. Of course the most obvious one is when you tell someone you are a stay at home dad/mom and they give you that Ohhh! And then find a way to talk to someone else.
Either impulse feeds off of language, guilt, economics, religious, societal norms or upbringing! Corporation have used language and the promotion of consumerism as a way to keep you accepting the terms and conditions that are best for their bottom line. Corporations and their executive teams know and understand these two impulses better than most. They also know that unless they can get the employee to make these impulses their own and fully embrace them, the corporations ability to control and direct employees to do things that may even be harmful to them is at risk.
Once employees use language like; things will never change; you just have to get along; it’s worse if you had no job; I live for the weekends; don’t make waves and you will do fine; I have all the things I want...so I sacrifice my health and time with family; etc. There are so many examples that I could not list them all in this article, but you get the idea.
Corporations want compliance and our education system is complicit
Are our children learning how to be subservient to AI or how to use it for the betterment of society? PODCAST: The transition of corporate decision making to technology:?
These are just a few of the observations made, my real concern is that these students are the next business leaders. Are our kids being trained to give their decision making to technology and those perceive themselves to be in power.
Company's depend on your competitive obsession
Corporations know that once you internalize these two beliefs, you will turn on anyone that disagrees with the company or managements decisions. They will call these employees that disagree or have a different point of view, lazy, unappreciative, spoiled, or undeserving. This is one of the reasons when an employee gets fired that has complained about a wrong doing, many of their “work friends” will turn against them or stay silent (it’s the same thing). It goes back to the two impulses.
A recent study showed that workers are experiencing more burnout than in the past 40 years. Companies are trying to blame employee wages on lower profits, when their incomes have gone up exponentially. They are trying to make the worker that wants a livable wage the enemy, not the fact that their incomes have gone up exponentially, in part through stock increases due in part to massive layoffs of workers.
Even if you agreed with your coworker, you can’t admit it or take a public stand because it would mean that everything you believe in is wrong and that the coworker that spoke up was more confident and a stronger person than you are.
An Example
In a technology company two coworkers agreed that in order to service their customers better and deliver what the company says they would need to be more consultative in their approach. Senior management in their egocentric and small brained thinking is working only to maximize their compensation plan (sub-optimized thinking). One of the coworkers was passed over for a promotion and then blamed the other for convincing them to present the more consultative approach. That coworker later followed the misguided leaders direction and was promoted. Some will say it was a good move to make more money and get promoted. Corporate entrepreneurs know that you have to stand up for what you believe, or it will change not just your business life, but how you live life in general.
The United States of America was founded on a principle of all people are created equal, yet in our business environment it has been the total opposite. It is based on the belief that some people are better than others and have a right to privilege and a right to rule (which is very different than leadership). I am not saying that their should not be a hierarchical structure in the corporate org chart, but their needs to be an understanding that the higher up the chart does not mean those lower on the chart are any less important or should be treated as lesser humans.
We have come a long way, but not as far as the executives
Credit card debt is at all time highs, inflation and housing costs are forcing many to live paycheck to paycheck, and depression among workers is skyrocketing. While this is happening to most workers, executive pay has skyrocketed:
Lets look at the compensation of the big three automakers. PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE CEO Worker pay ratio. Have CEO’s become that much more valuable or have they just gotten better at keeping us distracted so we don’t pay attention...You decide!
It’s not just the auto industry, the propaganda machine is trying to blame the employees and unions:
TRICKLE DOWN is the propaganda of the wealthy, both in corporate and small business that wants you to believe that if the rich get richer, then everyone will do better. Covid PROVED THIS THEORY WRONG.
Conclusion… Or just the beginning!
We do have the desire to evolve
Since records were kept, whenever it looked like the workers were making ground on a better life, higher pay, etc. the powerful felt threatened. This is what just happened with Covid and the work from home experience. Management felt threatened that their worth would be brought into question if employees were as productive without having management stand over them.
There have been many advances in labor relations with corporations since the New York City Shirtwaist factory fire that killed 146 (mostly women) because management locked all the exits so employees would not take brakes. The 5 day work week, sick time, paternity leave, O.S.H.A, and many other advances.
“IF ANY MAN TELLS YOU HE LOVES AMERICA, YET HATES LABOR, HE IS A LIAR. IF ANY MAN TELLS YOU HE TRUSTS AMERICA, YET FEARS LABOR, HE IS A FOOL.” Abraham Lincoln
We have a history of making it happen
In the New York City in connection with a General Assembly of the Knights of Labor in 1882. This is also just after the recession of 1870’s. This was at a time unions were fighting for growing in power and fighting for changes to the business culture such as the 8 hour work day. Workers of all ages, particularly the very poor and recent immigrants, often faced extremely unsafe working conditions, with insufficient access to fresh air, sanitary facilities and breaks.
While these brave workers protested and created change (many times through violent protests) for the poor working conditions of the past, workers today are protesting through techniques like quiet quitting, peaceful strikes, and leaving the workforce for entrepreneurial endeavors.
Do we have the intestinal fortitude to evolve further...Just my thoughts.
Workers are looking now towards a 4 day work week, the ability to work from home when possible, fair wages that allow people to make a livable wage. Over the past few years the work from home issue has drawn lots of attention from mainstream media. I have written about this issue in other months and on my podcasts, however you are not hearing as much about this now and with the 2024 elections cycle, these discussions will lessen. I believe that this year will be a good year for the economy, so will continue to attempt to bring the worker back to the office. When the economy hits a downturn in 2026, however companies will embrace the work from home idea to save money and increase profits.
I did not address the elephant in the room, Artificial Intelligence. While this is all the buzz around the stock market and the potential for increased profits and less dependence on workers, management will suffer the most due to the ability of AI to do their job better as well. There is much more on this on my podcasts and in other issues of this newsletter, and of course much more to come on the AI issue and corporate culture.