A Gentle Correction

I am experienced enough to understand that no job truly ‘loves’ you. Employers have certainly fooled me in the past. I have certainly fallen in love with my job, but these kinds of relationships are always destined to end badly.

You find out that the love you were receiving from the job had a price tag attached after all. You find out that all the love in the world doesn’t keep the relationship afloat if the company isn’t selling enough widgets. Sometimes the company just turns out to be a bitch and you really can’t love them any more. All of these endings turn out to be at least minimally brain damaging. My current company is different.

We get periodic (twice a month, roughly) little head-slaps to remind us to not fall in love with the organization. Some examples:

• 2 weeks vacation for all employees until you have over 5 years with the company. No exceptions! (slap!)
  
  
• Unpaid leave is no longer allowed. (pop!)
  
  
• You must take a 1 hour lunch break and work 8 hours a day, every day. No comp time. (bip!)
  
  
• You must keep your desk clean and professional looking. No personal items save 1 photo of family or pet. (crack!)
  

You get my drift. Just as soon as you might start to feel the love that might prompt you to want to work a little extra time, to really go out of your way to improve the process, or to go over the top and sweat a little blood for the organization. You get another gentle reminder (“if you don’t file your timecard on time, you don’t get paid” -- pow!) that this is just a job and your family needs to be your top priority.

I like it. I won’t be brain damaged. I won’t be tempted to sacrifice for artificial goals. I can easily look at the contribution I am considering and make a fairly easy judgment call. I know where I stand. (whap!)