Good Workers Hate the Slackers, Too
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Employers aren’t helping the labor situation by keeping lazy staff
Years ago, I was employed by an organization that had a more relaxed management style. The company was foreign-owned, the executives lived abroad yet most of the staff was located in the States.
From the start, there were two competing philosophies. Management enjoyed a more European approach toward their own employment while the rest of us were subject to the rugged individualism endemic to American capitalism.
For instance, the rank and file didn’t receive healthcare coverage because we were stupid Americans who didn’t vote to have a system like the NHS. For every executive, going to the doctor was a given. Workers were allowed five personal days a year while management took the traditional three weeks and every holiday. We were treated to cheerful email blasts of Liam and his partner biking through Switzerland while Ted in accounting debated whether he really needed another colonoscopy to monitor his cancer.
Fun times.
We were short handed because several workers did almost nothing. No matter how many people the company hired, the work piled up every few months. Complaints to management were met with annoyance. The bellyaching was viewed as the problem, not the workload.
The worst of the staff had been promoted to supervisory positions and they fostered a toxic environment through favoritism. Their friends were often singled out for promotion. I noted that the men were often treated better than the women.
Recruiters would hire real go-getters who would do a great job for a month or two, then get fed up, complain, and finally start slacking like everyone else.
Conscientious workers usually left within a year. Those who stayed were willing to contribute to the dysfunction. The problem became cemented in the company culture.
