Trend Authority Blog

Have you ever had a job interview only to discover that the employer spent the allocated 10 minutes only to focus on your negatives? The name of their game was 'last person standing' and in order to thin down a shortlist of 10 applicants they were quite willing to waste the time of nine people and humiliate them to pick that so-called perfect candidate who may only stay in the job for a short while...

People question "Can you do this?" or "Can you do that?" really treating you like a gizmo trying to see if you would fit with their style of furniture. I'd prefer if people ask me "Would you like to do this?" or "Would you like to do that?" implying "Would you be challenged and motivated by our corporate goals and would you like to walk some of the journey with us?"

Today's corporate goals pale into insignificance in the light of the values we had some time ago. Today's business ethos is like "Maximizing corporate profits (at the expense of customers, suppliers and employees if we can get away with it)"

20 years ago corporate goals were just like "To release our workforce full potential and be a beacon of strength and reliability in the marketplace as a result". In this by-gone era people had the concept of a social balance sheet. Employers took full responsibility for the welfare and professional development of all those who gave them their working life.

Large companies provided not just employment but also education, housing and health services. The human resources department was planning people's careers from teller to director. Promotion was awarded to acknowledge the good and reliable service of long standing employees. Newcomers had to prove themselves and did not bypass the ranks.

Then greed moved in and strikes took place. The unions demands pushed many manufacturing jobs offshore. Consumers bought foreign goods never questioning why they were cheaper than locally made ones. Nobody dared to say out loud that is was so because labour rates in third world countries were so low it was equivalent to slavery. (Child labour in India is still an issue).

To finish full circle now we are facing significant illegal immigration in the US, Europe and Australia supposing we could offload our labour market issues offshore. Only it's coming back with a vengeance.

Add Comment