If You Think Your Company Doesn’t Care About You, You’re Likely Right
By: Uf Innovate
Tags: Incubator, Self, Employees, Management, Startup

It’s fairly obvious to everyone the working world was changed, permanently, by the global pandemic. In an instant, many of us were forced to work from home. And certainly, for me, that was an intriguing and alluring concept. Having commuted a minimum of an hour to work (each way) every day for more than 39 years, I was overjoyed at the opportunity to travel about 28 steps to my office!

No, I’m not going to get into the argument about “we should be allowed to work at home forever” and “it’s ridiculous to go into an office and sit at a computer all day” versus “I miss the office camaraderie” and “you need personal interaction to promote innovation,” etc., etc.

This isn’t about choosing to stay home and then quitting your job when management insists you have to come back to the office. I’m not going to contrast the advantages/disadvantages of working from home (indeed, it’s not for everyone) or argue the merits of being back in the “office atmosphere” (well, not directly, but sort of). But what I am going to do is discuss the potential for your future — at home or in the office.

Who cares less? You? Or your company?

I recently heard from a friend who works for a large corporation, involved in information technology. (That should be suitably vague so you can’t identify the company). Recently the CEO of that company said, “OK, everybody back to the office!” Several resigned in protest, many employees complained online about the irony of an IT company making people come back to the “office,” and, according to her, a pervasive feeling of “the company doesn’t really care about us” reigned supreme. Yikes.

But guess what? She’s correct about that last one. Many companies do NOT care about you, individually. I totally believe that. They care about stock price — profit — sales (not necessarily in that order).

Now, I know most of us would like to “feel good about the social responsibility of the company we work for,” and we want to know our work is appreciated. But, let’s face it, we have progressed to the point where:

A, we don’t care about the company, we just want to advance, make more money, and perhaps be promoted/appreciated, to live and work where WE want to, etc.; and

B, many companies have reached the size where the company truly does NOT care (or even know) about the individual employee; they just want a solid work product.

Sorry if that sounds crass, but I tend to speak plainly and cut to the chase. It is what it is. And it’s a very, very different situation.

Maybe you’re the push to outsource your job

First, a lot of “work” is being eliminated — and I mean “eliminated from needing people to work in that industry.” Robotics has already eliminated several “repetitive/manual labor” types of jobs. Robots are becoming more and more sophisticated, and as Artificial Intelligence capacities increase, robots will be able to take on more and more complex work.

Second, work can be outsourced. Many years ago (some say in the 1980s) companies began to outsource manufacturing and other non-core functions. This process gained traction in the 1990s with the placement of call centers, support centers, service hotlines and other tele-functions in overseas environments.

This was more of “offshoring” or “near shoring” (outsourcing to a faraway country or close country). This was certainly controversial as many jobs in the U.S. were eliminated; however, stock prices went up and profits increased as products were manufactured/assembled in foreign countries where wages were lower (and often materials costs were also lower), environmental standards were less common and a huge labor source was available.

But let’s go back to point A, the decrease in apparent “employee loyalty.” Before you start being defensive, know that studies have been done that show the difference of average job churn among generations. Baby Boomers (1946–1964) averaged 8 years of job tenure, whereas Millennials had a 2.4 year average on a job.

One could suggest several alternative viewpoints for this change, including “faster career maturation” (moving up faster); “career path growth” (where people tend to stay longer at jobs as they get older, thus Millennials have not even reached that age bracket yet); and “increased opportunity exposure” because of jobs posted on the Internet, personal networking software (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) and the ability to “remotely interview,” all bringing more opportunity than searching through the ads in the local paper!

BUT, one could suggest the “easy abandonment of an existing opportunity” for something that might pay slightly more, be more interesting, have more apparent upward mobility, be more flexible in schedule, and so on. Regardless of the reasons, it’s safe to say, people do not stay in one place for 40 years anymore, expecting to get a gold watch and a pat on the back (and yes, I agree, why should they?).

Your risk vs. the company’s risk

So back to point B. Does the company care about you, as an individual? Certainly there are plenty of “perks” available today, particularly in urban locations, of “free lunch/snacks, games and recreation, personal services, employee assistance programs, company-sponsored counseling, company apparel (no, not uniforms), company events” — lots of amenities/extras being provided. There are Human Resource departments with benefit specialists, counselors and career assistance managers (and a lot more titles in that department, but we won’t go there right now).

Some companies do a great job of promoting from within and actually listen to their employees, taking suggestions seriously and depending on their employees to tell them “how we’re doing” as a company. Yet other companies are focused, focused, focused on profit, profit, profit. In fact, this entire discussion has led to this concern by my friend:

Offshoring, again. When several people threatened to quit, and complained online that they “shouldn’t have to drive an hour to work just to sit at a desk and work on a computer,” senior management retaliated by stating, “Well, if that’s all you do, we can ship all of that work off to <insert foreign country here> and get it done a lot cheaper, and probably better. So if you refuse to come back in the office, please let us know so we can make appropriate plans to re-assign your work assignment soon. Thank you!”

(Well, they didn’t actually say “thank you”, but it was something close to that — equally snarky). Anyway, you get the idea, which is basically, “Hey, we can easily farm out your job to someone else who’s not in the office if you won’t come back to the office.” Yep. That’s what they said.

So, is it true? Well, the way I look at it — overall — is that it’s your risk. It is truly your risk of “I won’t” versus their “we don’t” (as in, “we don’t care”). I hope you’re not faced with that, but if you are, think carefully. Where is this all going? Well, it’s going somewhere — but where we, and the company, are not exactly sure.

How to become ‘irreplaceable’

So back to our topic du jour. Are there individuals who are “irreplaceable”? The true answer is no, everyone can indeed be replaced. However, certainly SOME you may not want to replace! Am I saying one employee may be more “replaceable” than another? Sure I am! You know that’s true, and you know it happens at every workplace.

Some employees may be “problem workers.” They do an important service for your company. Perhaps they are the “key-keepers,” the ones who are really responsible for the product/service provided by the company. But maybe they have an attitude problem; maybe they can’t get along with coworkers; maybe they think they are irreplaceable, and they act like it.

So how do you make someone understand they actually are important to the company, but they are not irreplaceable? Is that possible? Sometimes, it is. Sometimes you can reason with people, talk to people, show people what the company is — a sum of its parts, an amalgam of the people who work there, a combined vision of the founders, the investors, the supporters. Sometimes, you can’t do that, and you do have to let people go — people who do significant functions, who are important contributors, but in the end, they remain people who can’t see the future.

So none of us are truly irreplaceable. We make contributions, we make progress, but most of all, we need to make “community.” We need to get along with our coworkers, build them up, help them out and truly be a part of a team. Working as a team and working as an individual who gets the job done well? Well, that’s more likely to make you a keeper, if not irreplaceable.

There’s a big difference between “irreplaceable” and “missed when you’re gone.” Take note of that!