The Company Will Take Care of Me

This is a comment that makes me grind my teeth- especially since I only hear it when someone is feeling disgruntled, under appreciated or undervalued. (I am taking this scenario from the perspective of a friend who is an HR professional.) I want to say, “oh, yeah, how’s that?”. Instead, I usually ask “what do you mean?”. And the answer I get is something like this, “Well, I know that if I put in hard work, work overtime with no pay and don’t complain, I will benefit when the company is successful.”

And I think…

“Oh really?” Is the company taking care of you now? Have they taken care of you in the past? Have the promises that have been made to you come through? Have you set your expectations and goals with your manager?

Because if the answer to most of those questions is “no”, then the employee will go on feeling under appreciated and disgruntled. The most important one of the questions above is “Have you set your expectations and goals…?”. And the answer is usually “no”. Those who work in limbo, in the grey area where there is nothing to work towards, except some ambiguous “reach profit” goal are often the ones who feel this the most. They don’t know how they contribute to the overall goals of the company and often whatever motivation they had fades and dies out. These are the people who just go to work “for the paycheck”.

So- note to employees:  Talk to your manager.  Discuss your role and your goals.  Let your manager know how you want to grow.  Maybe your growth path isn’t possible now, but it may be down the road. Or maybe there is a role that you would enjoy and don’t know about- and you manager doesn’t know of your interest.  Not all openings are posted or talked about.

Note to managers:  Be aware of your employees.  Talk to them, reward hard work, help them grow.  But most of all – talk to them not at them.