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Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

gallup.com

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Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#3
The problem is this is a hard problem. Developing staff takes effort, time and resources, while a ping-pong table just requires money.

Personally I am of the belief that work is work. Pay for what you expect and expect what you pay for.

Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#4
I think employees want control of their own life, more share in decision-making. Essentially, they want democracy, even if they can't articulate it. But in capitalist society, where the ownership of capital decides, this cannot happen.

There are attempts to tiptoe around this problem with holacracies and Agile methodologies and similar concepts, but the main problem still remains.

Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#5
On the other hand, I don't want to be condescended to by managers that invite me to meetings about improving me, assessing my personality, helping me "grow."

I want to help improve the product, and the most fundamental way to engage me with that is to ask me for input and take my ideas & concerns seriously.

Just coffee and a chat every now and then is a great setting for that. No need for made-up agendas and bullet point lists and awkward quizzes.

Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#6
post #4

I think employees want control of their own life, more share in decision-making. Essentially, they want democracy, even if they can't articulate it. But in capitalist society, where the ownership of capital decides, this cannot happen. There are attempts to tiptoe around this problem with holacracies and Agile methodologies and similar concepts, but the main problem still remains.

> where the ownership of capital decides

Well, "the ownership of capital", in a lot of public companies, is basically an absentee landlord. So it's not entirely about ownership, but rather about management. You can have cooperatives that are de-facto feudal/tyrannical structures, and private companies that are de-facto democracies.

Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#9
post #5

On the other hand, I don't want to be condescended to by managers that invite me to meetings about improving me , assessing my personality, helping me "grow." I want to help improve the product , and the most fundamental way to engage me with that is to ask me for input and take my ideas & concerns seriously. Just coffee and a chat every now and then is a great setting for that. No need for made-up agendas and bullet…

You basically want to be treated as an adult and your expertise respected and used - everything after this is just window dressing.

Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#10
post #4

I think employees want control of their own life, more share in decision-making. Essentially, they want democracy, even if they can't articulate it. But in capitalist society, where the ownership of capital decides, this cannot happen. There are attempts to tiptoe around this problem with holacracies and Agile methodologies and similar concepts, but the main problem still remains.

In theory workers co-operatives are this, but they have a habit of not doing so well in the real world. It is a really interesting question why this is the case. Why should a business owned by a capitalist for their own benefit be able to outcompete a workers co-operative?
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