We very often speak of the company’s responsibility towards the worker: remuneration, benefits, respect for private life, recognition of results, welfare, training, logistic help, attention to stress and the need for new stimuli. The managerial literature of recent years is in a sense a compendium of good deeds that the employer must carry out for the well-being of the worker. The employer as a good family man: protective, generous, empathetic. And how does the “child” behave? Which are the responsibilities of the worker towards the company and why are we never talked about?
Probably because we come from a century in which labor relations have been ideologized. Recalling the responsibility of the worker today would mean recalling duties and recalling duties would in some way evoke the subjection that the social battles of the twentieth century laboriously succeeded in eliminating.
However, it is good to remember from time to time that the worker’s responsibilities towards the employer exist.
It’s not just those coldly gutted in contracts. They are above all ethical responsibilities. Keeping it in mind helps us give a higher reading “than that” we do every day. And it helps us to find an intrinsic deeper motivation “in what” we do. It is not simply a question of fine words or theoretical principles. To be aware of the responsibilities that we carry towards those who pay us the salary we need to manage the continuous stomach ache of our daily working life. Professionalism is an analgesic, it is an antidote to “work sickness.
These responsibilities of the employee towards the company are reflected in the small heroisms of our working life. These are even banal gestures we have seen our grandparents and parents do and tell a wonderful work ethic, which is not dead, but which must simply find new forms, consistent with the evolution of society, of the new culture of work, mutual expectations, in short, times that change.
Any relationship must be a mutually beneficial one to last. That is true with employer/employee relationships too. I agree with you, Aldo, that too often the emphasis is on employer responsibilities and those of the employee are ignored or glossed over.
Thanks Ken, you are kind to be interested in my comments.
In the past, with regard to the responsibility of workers, I also stressed (having lived through both roles) that very often we tend to attribute “only” to the managers the responsibility for a work environment “heavy.” Instead, an important variable for the good and productive climate in the office and a team is the quality of relationships between people working together. Not necessarily the colleague must be a friend, but everyone should establish and maintain positive relationships, show the ability to resolve conflicts in a constructive way, determine mutual trust, understanding, cooperation and productivity.
Employee must start thinking about the way in which they propose themselves to others. The inconveniences caused by competitive relationships, complicated by the emotional point of view, are many, both in terms of well-being that of performance.
Aldo, I happen to agree with you completely. Aside from carrying out the tasks of their jobs workers need to know they have certain responsibilities that go with working for their employer. If you shirk your responsibilities you are more likely than not to find yourself on the unemployment line.
Thank You Joel
My pleasure, Aldo
Aldo – Important topic of discussion and your insights are on the money. Thanks for starting this discussion.