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Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

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Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#61

Post by happytoexplain »

fullshark wrote: post #40
asdff wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where does it stop? Slavery would be fine if only it were legal? I mean that is the logical conclusion of a lot of business efficiency thinking. Business efficiency in a lot of ways is inhuman and against the spirit of "the collective tribe," which was originally about mutual wellbeing, not the ever more efficient extraction of resources to the benefit of the chosen few, although it was perverted that way at some poi…

The CEO has a fiduciary duty to act in the best financial interests of the company and its investors. So if slavery were legal and the company weren’t using slaves the CEO would be in violation of that responsibility and would be thrown out by the board. It’s best just to view these organizations and the people who run them as immoral and sociopathic money printing machines. Expecting morality is just going to disapp…

>It’s best just to view these organizations and the people who run them as immoral and sociopathic money printing machines.

People say this a lot, but that is exactly what we are doing.

We criticize their behavior and words. We are disgusted by them. We want things to change. We write about and speak about it. We vote (hopelessly). That is exactly how normal humans behave in regard to those they view as "immoral and sociopathic", as you say. "That's how the system works" is a fine thing to point out, but it's not some kind of evidence that people shouldn't react they way they do - that they should just accept it forever.

We are already doing what you are suggesting.

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#62

Post by rglover »

Henchman21 wrote: post #57
rambojohnson wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you realize the level of sociopathy it takes to become CEO at certain companies?

Why do we continue to allow sociopaths and psychopaths to run everything ?

Because there's a severe lack of education (in the school sense) on personality disorders. I was in a relative hell for nearly a decade until I learned about the Cluster B spectrum of disorders. Once I had an answer to "what the hell was that all about," everything changed.

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#63

Post by kyboren »

Henchman21 wrote: post #56
mbesto wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no. The company is a bank - it's job is to take money and make money with that. I'm not surprised executive management is publicly saying they want to make investments in assets that will help their clients and they themselves make more money.

Why is it that the C-suites, etc., have so much fucking zeal for hurting normal people? Why is it that these folks are champing at the bit for layoffs? Why do they refer to people as "human resources" or almost unimaginably worse "lower-value human capital"? And why, why sir, do you enjoy the taste of boot so much?

I believe "dark triad" personality traits are significantly over-represented among CEOs vs. the general population. IMO it's likely that these traits are positively selected by shareholder capitalism and traditional corporate structures.

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#64

Post by fullshark »

happytoexplain wrote: post #61
fullshark wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The CEO has a fiduciary duty to act in the best financial interests of the company and its investors. So if slavery were legal and the company weren’t using slaves the CEO would be in violation of that responsibility and would be thrown out by the board. It’s best just to view these organizations and the people who run them as immoral and sociopathic money printing machines. Expecting morality is just going to disapp…

>It’s best just to view these organizations and the people who run them as immoral and sociopathic money printing machines. People say this a lot, but that is exactly what we are doing . We criticize their behavior and words. We are disgusted by them. We want things to change. We write about and speak about it. We vote (hopelessly). That is exactly how normal humans behave in regard to those they view as "immoral and…

The logical next step is then regulation is it not? I don't hear a lot of clamor for regulation on these boards.

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#65

Post by JohnFen »

delichon wrote: post #23
stalfosknight wrote: post #4

That phrase "lower-value human capital" fills me with rage.

If I replace a crew of ten ditch diggers with one guy and an excavator, I have replaced lower-value human capital with higher-value mechanical capital for that task. Does the replacement enrage you in that case, or just the phrasing? Should we be using spoons instead of excavators, and abacuses instead of computers, in order to maintain a high value on human capital?

> Does the replacement enrage you in that case, or just the phrasing?

Neither. It's the inhuman attitude that people have little inherent value that enrages me.

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#66

Post by red-iron-pine »

ryandvm wrote: post #14
etgpao wrote: post #2

Calling employees 'lower-value human capital' reveals a lot about a company's internal culture, regardless of the PR walkback. Even if AI can automate certain tasks, language like this completely destroys team morale and trust. Good leaders should view automation as a tool to empower their team, not just a weapon to cut costs.

Especially when it comes to CEOs. I have worked at companies where the CEOs literally offered nothing but the skill of being friends with other CEOs.

"its a big club and you're not in it"

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#67

Post by phs318u »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #51
delichon wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ditch digging is a crap paying job that most people hate, they just need it for food and stuff. After the mechanical resource arrived, I didn't need the other nine guys and just let them go, since I didn't suddenly get 10x the business. How does that change the calculation? Should I have kept paying them until I could find them work?

You don't have to keep paying them, but you probably shouldn't sneer down at them and call them "low value human capital" or whatever

Exactly. What most humans value highly (though not always highest) is being treated with dignity.

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#68

Post by mbesto »

rambojohnson wrote: post #24
mbesto wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Even if AI can automate certain tasks, language like this completely destroys team morale and trust. " That's what the parent commented on and that was my response.

Saying ‘banks exist to make money’ in response to criticism of dehumanizing language is like responding to criticism of factory pollution with ‘factories make products.’ Yes. That’s the premise...

Once again, I was not responding to the "dehumanizing language" aspect of it, yet here you are focusing on that...odd.

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#69

Post by mbesto »

Henchman21 wrote: post #56
mbesto wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no. The company is a bank - it's job is to take money and make money with that. I'm not surprised executive management is publicly saying they want to make investments in assets that will help their clients and they themselves make more money.

Why is it that the C-suites, etc., have so much fucking zeal for hurting normal people? Why is it that these folks are champing at the bit for layoffs? Why do they refer to people as "human resources" or almost unimaginably worse "lower-value human capital"? And why, why sir, do you enjoy the taste of boot so much?

I think what he said is deplorable (hence "yes and no"). However I'm speaking specifically to the premise of what the parent said around "it destroys team morale". What I'm saying is that your team's morale may not necessarily be hurt if you are a team member at a bank full of investment bankers, capital financiers, etc. if the promise to them is that many of them can make more money with AI.

Re: Standard Chartered CEO walks back comment about 'lower-value human capital'

#70

Post by kennywinker »

delichon wrote: post #29
kennywinker wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends, was ditch-digging a well paid job that people enjoyed? Did your business grow 10x and you offered excavator training for those 10 ditch-diggers to become machine operators?

Ditch digging is a crap paying job that most people hate, they just need it for food and stuff. After the mechanical resource arrived, I didn't need the other nine guys and just let them go, since I didn't suddenly get 10x the business. How does that change the calculation? Should I have kept paying them until I could find them work?

> Should I have kept paying them until I could find them work?

Yes.

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