Whats wrong with this picture: why Corporate America will be the demise of the American Workplace!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/smemon/4423185450

Before I get started today I will ask that you try to be open to what I am about to say and if you take issue with anything, I will be more than happy to discuss it with you.  There are only a few things that really get my goat, but what I have seen recently was enough to almost send me over the edge.  If I am experiencing these things, then I can only imagine that others are experiencing them as well.  If that is the case then my heart goes out to you, but I will tell you that I am about to start a revolution and if you would like to join me on my quest then you are more than welcome to become a part of it.

I wrote a book a few years ago, and God willing and the creek don't rise, it will be in print soon. The title to my book is The Rebirth of the American Workplace.  In it I talk about some of the issues that are rampant in corporate America.  Now before I go any further please know what I am about to write, and what I wrote in the book, is not based on sour grapes.  We have all been through things in our workplace that we would soon enough like to forget, but if we do not bring these issues to the forefront then we are doomed to continue to have to go through them, and that would just suck.

I was at a job interview not long ago and I was absolutely amazed at the total lack of energy or excitement coming from the interviewer. I mean I could just as well have been a bump on a log as an individual eager to work for this company.  The outward lack of emotion on this person's part was astounding.  At one point in the interview I wanted to stop it and simply ask what her major malfunction was.  I was the one who took time out of my day to present myself to the company, she on the other hand was being paid to be there and do a job.  It was as if she was doing me a favor by sitting down with me.  This job was not some "High-tech, better have a MIT graduate degree" kind of job.  The job posting said that this job required a High School Diploma or GED.  OK, thinking to myself, I have a Bachelors Degree, so I guess I fill that box up.  This individual proceeds to ask me questions, and it really did not hit me until I left the building just how incredibly ridiculous the questions were.  Now if I were a recent High School graduate or just completed my GED, how in the world am I going to be able to tell her a time in my past when I was faced with making a decision at work, what did I think about while making the decision and more importantly what was the outcome?  Every question was like this, and not once did she seem to want to know what made me tick.  My background, which is spelled out quite nicely on my resume, should have provided her with ample opportunity to ask questions about me, at least for clarification, but she never showed any desire to know more about me personally as an individual.

I have interviewed tons of people during my career and the one thing that I always wanted to know was what this person was like.  What goals did they have and would this company be a good fit in helping them achieve those goals?  Face it, we work to get paid, but we also work because there is something that we are looking to get out of the company we are working for, and that something should be in line with what some of your personal goals are.  If all you want in your company is a robot who can do this or that, well hell, you can train a monkey to do just about anything. On the other hand, if you are looking for someone who will truly do something special at your company, don't you think you should be asking questions that will get to the bottom of who this person is and what makes them special?  Oh I forgot, you have to ask certain questions because you need to keep it simple.  God forbid you should think outside the box.

Now just in case you think I am jaded because I did not get the job let me say this.  I would not work for a company that is like this because if they handle the interview process this way you can bet your bottom dollar that they handle everything else in the company this way and there is no way that I would want to put myself in that type of environment.  The problem with most companies today is that they have forgotten that their most important asset is not what they make, sale, or do, but rather the people that work with them.  If you want to recession proof your company then make the time and show a little effort in getting to know what some of your employees have for dreams and goals and help them achieve them.

Companies today need to go back to the way it was years ago and realize that maybe just maybe profit does not have to be the driver for everything and maybe taking chances every now and again is not a bad thing.  If you base your decisions on some matrix that some brainiac concocted and have taken the human element out of everything I will tell you that in just a short period of time you are going to have a huge mess on your hands.  People are people and not a portion of some equation that supposedly will ensure your share holders a very nice return on their investment.  When will we get back to taking risk, not because it's the smart thing to do, but because it is the right thing to do.  I have hired my share of people that when you looked at the balance sheet made no sense in the world to hire them.  I was fortunate enough to have given people a chance and in return had some of the most outstanding workers standing right there beside me.  I did not look at what everyone else was doing, I looked at what the individual wanted to do and I found a way to make it work.  Did I always succeed?  Nope, but I've done better then most, and I will tell you that the companies I was hiring for are still around and doing better than most.

Please don't think that I'm bitter, I'm not.  What I am, is determined to change the way businesses function and maybe in doing so give those who have not been given a chance to prove themselves just that opportunity.  I love helping the underdog and as I see things most companies could care less about the underdog, unless of course they are the ones who have been classified as such.  Lets forget about the way things have always been done and change things up a bit.  We talk about disenfranchising people in various ways, but how many people who have been shut out, sat on, and otherwise made to feel like they had nothing to offer, by companies who refuse to look at them as individuals and not just a number.

I can't wait to shake things up and shake things up I will.  If you are tired of those who could care less whether you were part of their company or not, join me.  If you are tired of being told that you can't do something because you don't have the right position in a company, join me.  If you are just sick and tired of having those in positions above you or those who are in charge of hiring the right people, who could care less about the humanity that surrounds you, then join me.  Together we will join our voices and change the workplace one company, one business, one organization at a time.  It is time to bring a rebirth to the American workplace, and don't you know it will be a good day when that happens.