by Joseph N. loll
PKotoi by Mickey PIU
Thi othzs bay I called on a half-dozen salaried
executive. They work for different com
panies yet the pattern of their conversation
was frighteningly similar.
All six disposed of the business on which I had
come as quickly as possible; then each man
launched into a lengthy complaint against his place
of business, his employer, and even the products
whose sales paid his salary.
I knew none of these men intimately, yet they
couldn't wait to fill me in on the alleged stupidities
of their superiors.
These were not stock-room boys or newly em
ployed clerks speaking, mind you; they were
managers with top-level responsibilities. Yet, so
vitriolic were their outbursts that a listener couldn't
help wondering: why do they stay in their jobs?
The comments of one bright executive a family
man in his middle thirties, personable, intelligent,
talented was fairly typical "Our product is going
to pot," he said, "because they've closed their minds
to ideas upstairs. Our competitors' are improving
and progressing. We're going backward. They won't
listen to me here, so I don't even bother to offer
suggestions any more."
Yet this man was out selling ' his company's
product in a highly competitive field!
The great American habit of griping threatens to
reach unmanageable proportions and there's a very
fine line between griping and disloyalty. Griping
sometimes can be a way to let off excess steam,
bat disloyalty it dishonesty!
Griping probably never was developed to such
an extent as during World War II, when American
servicemen made it their favorite pastime. But this
had no effect on their loyalty to the United States;
when they fought, they fought very well, indeed.
But the griping habit, carried over into business
life after the war, has too often created a sour
attitude toward employers. This, in turn, has
rendered many a good worker virtually useless.
I otaltt to an employer has earned some workers
the contemptuous label of "company man"
which is supposed to set an individual off as
a kind of management spy. Thus loyalty often is
mistakenly associated with such traits as spineless
ness and toadying. -, 'V
I have a good friend who is an accomplished
storyteller. Over the past few years, he feels his
ideas have not been given proper consideration at
Loafing-j--a common-type
oa."
W4
V'.
Criticizing
eao's company aid
its products
is aa occupatioaal disease
that's highly coatagious;
aro you a victim?
his company, and he has grown ever more bitter
about the situation. He vents his spleen by telling
wonderfully funny stories about his company and
his product at social gatherings, where he is
frequently a center of attention.
On the surface, these stories sound whimsical.
But basically, what they do is hold both the
company and the product up to ridicule so biting
that it makes a tremendous impression on the
listener. It's inevitable that these stories are repeated
by the people who hear them, and the company
and the product both suffer as a result
- of disloyalty.
Tearing down your boss
won't build up your a
bilify or useful neu, and
it can cause subtle dam
ago to your self-respect.
Perhaps the officials of this, company are short-
sighted and bigoted. Perhaps conditions are every
bit as bad as he portrays them. This really .has no
bearing on the situation. The man is wasting his j
talents and his employer's time; he should get out!
This is not to say that conformity is' desirable.
Far from it Honest differences in viewpoint are
healthy and should be aired; such is the stuff on J
which progressive companies aro built Nor is it j
to say that there won't be personality clashes within j
an organization. Aggressive, determined, resourceful,
principled people will not-always see eye-to-eye;
v. '
, - .
... ( : ;
: ' VI H
if 1
they'll have arguments that may lead to temporary
ill-feeling. But these things blow over in the bigger
and more pressing problem of getting the job done.
It's when these personal differences bitterness
toward the company or resentment at seeming in
justice monopolize thought and become more im
portant than doing the job that danger looms.
LI ow loyal arc you to your employer? Ask your
' " self these questions:
1. Do you ever knock the product or service
with which you are associated? (This doesn't mean
that you should claim properties for your product
that don't exist or stop trying to Improve it Nor
does it mean you should unjustly knock your
competitor's product)
1 Do you make a regular practice of criticizing
your company or associates at casual social
gatherings?
3. Do you resent the fellow at the office who keeps
his mouth shut and does his Job, who refuses to be
drawn into backbiting sessions?
4. Do you spend a lot of on-the-job time doing
personal things because you feel your efforts aren't
appreciated anyway?
5. Do you look forward to employee bull sessions
where you can denounce the boss or the system?.
If you must answer "yes" to any of these ques
tions, you're probably working far below your
potential and you're due for a good, hard piece of
self-examination.
In the midst of this spreading contempt for loyalty
to employers is an interesting and significant figure:
people are not changing jobs nearly as frequently
as they used to. The "quit rate" in business today is
only 1.6 percent an incredibly low figure for a
period of prosperity when job-changing normally
increases. (During the depression, the rate was 1
percent; during the war, it was 6 percent which
fell off to 3 percent in the early 50s).
The principal reasons, according to Ewan Clague,
U.S. Commissioner of Labor Statistics, are loss of
seniority rights; nontransferable pension and welfare
benefits; the growing proportion of older workers;
and the increasing, often pathetic, security-minded-ness
of Americans of all ages. Also, employers have
somehow lost the fine art of firing people thus
compounding the problem themselves!
All these things tend to keep a man on his present
job, even though he may hate it Thus, in one of our
greatest eras of prosperity, we are breeding
thousands of malcontents too fearful or too con
If you want to bore tomeono, especially a busi
ness caDor, teR Mm what lousy job you have.
Stories about the boss seem funny in the tot
ing, but they can cause ridicule of your firm.
servative or too security-minded to make a move.
To the chronic malcontent, of course, changing
jobs won't solve anything. Hell be as unhappy and
ill-adjusted in his new job as in the old. His only
salvation is a complete change of attitude. But the
man who is honestly seeking a place where he can
make maximum use of his talents and abilities
should move on.
One of the happiest men I know is a 64-year-old
who two years ago walked out on an executive
job in a company where he had been employed for
35 years. He had been ordered to do something that
violated his principles. When he refused to do it, the
pressure put on him became intolerable, so he
simply quit
He could have stayed on another three years and
collected his pension all the while nursing a wound
he knew would never heal as long as he was with
this company. But he had no taste for wasting
three years of his life or his employer's money. He
quickly found another job where his abilities are
being used to maximum advantage, and he's
wonderfully happy.
Chronic dissatisfaction eventually and inevitably
turns into disloyalty. It helps no one least of all
the person who expresses it
Family WMfcly. February t. IKS
11