Alex Nguyen. (LinkedIn Photo) People tell me I don't have company loyalty. But then I ask which companies have employee loyalty. Those two lines are part
āIām proud of being a job hopperā: Seattle engineerās post about company loyalty goes viral::undefined
Companies get mad when the employees look at their jobs the way execs look at their employees. Cue outrage. The only reason they mad is because they own the newspapers, too.
The audacity of these removed. I have a mercenary outlook on work too. If you love me, keep paying me good.
Iām not loyal to anybody, Iām a demon / I have no loyalty for anyone, never did, never will
Iāve been practicing the mercenary method for about 5 years now. Since then Iāve significantly increased my salary and Iāve been a lot happier at work. That on top of learning to say ānoā has improved my career life exponentially. NO loyalty. No unpaid overtime. No going above and beyond for a company that isnāt going to return the favor.
What about when they do return the favour, though?
As someone who has spent a fair bit of time on the other side of this issue, Iāve found people tend to assume Iām being shitty even as I am actively going out of my way to accommodate and support them.
One time I moved someone from hourly to salary because he was very receptive to guidance and was learning very quickly - essentially I didnāt want him to be compared on hourly terms as his pay increased, since the cap for more independent salaried employees was much higher. I was kinda risking my own ass in doing this since he had neither experience nor education, but I saw incredible potential, and felt it made sense. As part of this, to ensure he wouldnāt be shortchanged by the conversion, I had payroll add 5K when they switched him. I expected this would be well received, but he had so many concerns that made absolutely no sense. We got through it, but in the end it seems he thought that all of the extra time I was spending personally to teach him a new role and help him get from ~40K to 100K within a year and a half was something to be wary of.
I have many stories like this. Sometimes when I feel hurt by people Iāve been so loyal to, I get urges to stop being compassionate and stop prioritizing their concerns so heavily. I donāt think Iāll ever change, but it is extra exhausting to go through this stuff over and over only to be lumped in with folks who do treat people like shit.
Perhaps the model is just fundamentally broken, and thereās no way to win as long as there is any sort of power differential in the relationship (implied or otherwise). More and more I feel that that is what Iām up against, and no amount of concern for an employeeās wellbeing will ever be able to overcome this.
So, my question is not rhetorical - I realize this isnāt my post, but Iām super curious about othersā perspective on this: are you open to the idea that at some point in your career someone might actually care about your wellbeing? Will it matter to you, or just ā¦ get whatever you can, and never stop trying to fuck the system?
Iām currently at a job that just leaves me alone to do my job and gives me opportunities to learn new skills as they present themselves, none of these extra roles have came with a pay raise, but I havent had an OK paying job in YEARS where I actually look forward to showing up to work the next day (which I do feel about this one). There are different things a job can provide once the bills have been paid, and Iām sure SOME of your fellow co-workers/employees notice you giving a shit about them
I think the answer to this is actually fairly simple. When the bossman tells me somethingās in my best interest, Iām just immediately suspicious. Like I know in your example it maybe is, youāve laid out your logic and all of that. But you have to realize that for every good boss, thereās probably 15 bad ones. Western economic, labour systems and power structures have been so lopsided for generations, that itās literally hard coded in us to be suspicious. Whenever someone comes at me from work with a big smile and excitement, my flags FLY to red alert. Because Iām statistically far more likely to be on the raw side of the deal.
If I truly felt a company, or someone at the company, cared for me and my career Iād have no problem putting in the extra effort. Unfortunately it is a rare occurrence and most of the time decisions are revenue/cash flow related and it doesnāt matter how much a company cares. At the end of the day, no matter how good things are where you work, itāll always come down to the bottom line and what value you provide vs what you are costing the company.
Weāre soldiers of fortune weāll fight for no country but weāll die for good pay. Under the flag of the greenback dollar or the peso down Mexico wayā¦
Iām fine with my reports taking better offers if theyāve got em. I donāt get how these people get hired though. When I see these resumes that flip jobs every year, I immediately just kinda figure itās a waste to invest time in this person.
I look at it differently. Itās my job to invest in, and create an environment that people donāt want to ever leave. Itās a two way street. If people are only hanging around for a year, something is up, and it probably aināt their fault.
Companies get mad when the employees look at their jobs the way execs look at their employees. Cue outrage. The only reason they mad is because they own the newspapers, too.
The audacity of these removed. I have a mercenary outlook on work too. If you love me, keep paying me good.
Iāve been practicing the mercenary method for about 5 years now. Since then Iāve significantly increased my salary and Iāve been a lot happier at work. That on top of learning to say ānoā has improved my career life exponentially. NO loyalty. No unpaid overtime. No going above and beyond for a company that isnāt going to return the favor.
What about when they do return the favour, though?
As someone who has spent a fair bit of time on the other side of this issue, Iāve found people tend to assume Iām being shitty even as I am actively going out of my way to accommodate and support them.
One time I moved someone from hourly to salary because he was very receptive to guidance and was learning very quickly - essentially I didnāt want him to be compared on hourly terms as his pay increased, since the cap for more independent salaried employees was much higher. I was kinda risking my own ass in doing this since he had neither experience nor education, but I saw incredible potential, and felt it made sense. As part of this, to ensure he wouldnāt be shortchanged by the conversion, I had payroll add 5K when they switched him. I expected this would be well received, but he had so many concerns that made absolutely no sense. We got through it, but in the end it seems he thought that all of the extra time I was spending personally to teach him a new role and help him get from ~40K to 100K within a year and a half was something to be wary of.
I have many stories like this. Sometimes when I feel hurt by people Iāve been so loyal to, I get urges to stop being compassionate and stop prioritizing their concerns so heavily. I donāt think Iāll ever change, but it is extra exhausting to go through this stuff over and over only to be lumped in with folks who do treat people like shit.
Perhaps the model is just fundamentally broken, and thereās no way to win as long as there is any sort of power differential in the relationship (implied or otherwise). More and more I feel that that is what Iām up against, and no amount of concern for an employeeās wellbeing will ever be able to overcome this.
So, my question is not rhetorical - I realize this isnāt my post, but Iām super curious about othersā perspective on this: are you open to the idea that at some point in your career someone might actually care about your wellbeing? Will it matter to you, or just ā¦ get whatever you can, and never stop trying to fuck the system?
Iām currently at a job that just leaves me alone to do my job and gives me opportunities to learn new skills as they present themselves, none of these extra roles have came with a pay raise, but I havent had an OK paying job in YEARS where I actually look forward to showing up to work the next day (which I do feel about this one). There are different things a job can provide once the bills have been paid, and Iām sure SOME of your fellow co-workers/employees notice you giving a shit about them
I think the answer to this is actually fairly simple. When the bossman tells me somethingās in my best interest, Iām just immediately suspicious. Like I know in your example it maybe is, youāve laid out your logic and all of that. But you have to realize that for every good boss, thereās probably 15 bad ones. Western economic, labour systems and power structures have been so lopsided for generations, that itās literally hard coded in us to be suspicious. Whenever someone comes at me from work with a big smile and excitement, my flags FLY to red alert. Because Iām statistically far more likely to be on the raw side of the deal.
If I truly felt a company, or someone at the company, cared for me and my career Iād have no problem putting in the extra effort. Unfortunately it is a rare occurrence and most of the time decisions are revenue/cash flow related and it doesnāt matter how much a company cares. At the end of the day, no matter how good things are where you work, itāll always come down to the bottom line and what value you provide vs what you are costing the company.
they dont even pay enough for our loyalty lmao
Weāre soldiers of fortune weāll fight for no country but weāll die for good pay. Under the flag of the greenback dollar or the peso down Mexico wayā¦
Iām fine with my reports taking better offers if theyāve got em. I donāt get how these people get hired though. When I see these resumes that flip jobs every year, I immediately just kinda figure itās a waste to invest time in this person.
I look at it differently. Itās my job to invest in, and create an environment that people donāt want to ever leave. Itās a two way street. If people are only hanging around for a year, something is up, and it probably aināt their fault.