(08-23-2019 03:33 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  JR, you know a different type of person than I do

I've worked about 15-20 different jobs (I started young & a lot were part time). Every place I've ever worked has valued employees who speak up. Pointing out a problem & working toward a solution were the ways to get promoted. The only exceptions were Amazon (where I worked as an elf one Christmas, packing people's Christmas presents) and a telephone book delivery service where no one cared about the job.


I think we disagree because everyone (including me) lives in the bubble they like the most. For example, I don't know people who want stupid subordinates because when I meet people like that, I instantly dislike them without even knowing why. So I stop hanging out with them.

Case in point: I once had a job interview with a big real estate developer. The top guy was well-known around town. He had an electric personality, the office was nice, & it was exactly the type of job I was looking for. But something about him put me off. I couldn't figure out what, but I didn't want to work there so I didn't follow up after the interview. 18 months later, he got busted for fraud. Basically he was running a Ponzi scheme on the bankers who lent to him. He'd use the loan on his next project to pay off the construction companies on the last project.

I know both groups and have watched them change over the years. Private businesses and small corporations did have the kinds of people to which you refer and were great places to work. The give and take was productive and the environment was one of trust. The HR files, probably handled by the owner or manager were filled with positives as well as negatives. And those with negatives didn't hang around long.

That's been dying out steadily with the growth of multinational corporations where your local manager is managed online by the corporate office and your input is not valued, but your busy time with CBE's are. The HR files only contain the negative, and the information is parsed and training is practically non existent. The trust level is nil and most of the low level employees are temps many of whom have records since a significant portion of their minimum wage is subsidized. Mid level management only gets noticed when their numbers are suitable to the goals laid down by the home office and most of them were also mistrusting, felt unfulfilled, and harbored some resentments.

But understand this about my experiences, I was for roughly 40 years of my working life essentially self employed. As a fully commissioned sales rep for 20 of those years I worked hand in hand with private business and corporations. In 20 years of non profit work I covered different aspects but dealt with local businesses, corporations, and of course non profits. So unlike you I haven't been locked into a particular subset but it was fascinating to watch the pathology of the demise of private business, the decline of regional corporations, and the rise of the uber top down controlled multinationals. And I can tell you emphatically, I'm glad I lived the majority of my life in the former. The people I have encountered, the work situations I have observed, and the structural abuses I have witnessed in the latter are nowhere near as relational, fulfilling, and rewarding as what went before them. In fact they are downright depressing and rife with malcontents, miserable people, and those only wanting to punch the clock. Motivation for excellence is woefully lacking and the biggest issue I see for this is a broken communication loop to the decision makers half a continent away, and the woeful lack of training which if it exists amounts to 30 minute Computer Based Sessions with multiple choice to show comprehension for job skills best learned in a tactile in the field manner. And as a bonus of the craptastic the interpersonal skills and communication skills of the workers and lower level management is virtually non existent.