Most organisations that we work for do value us. Well, maybe not in the way that we would prefer to be valued or to the extent that would be more beneficial or comfortable for us, but they value us. Our decision to remain in the employ of an organisation, whether or not the relationship is ideal, is an indication that we find some benefit in it; willing employer, willing employee, each with self-serving reasons for remaining in the relationship. When we find other opportunities that would better serve our interest, we do not hesitate to move to the said “greener pastures”. We hand in our notices, hand over our portfolios within the stipulated time-periods and go on our merry ways. This may be inconvenient for an employer, but most employers enter into employment contracts knowing that these last only as long as both parties’ interests, however different, align in some way. When people grow, and change, their interests shift and with them shift the dynamics and necessity of the relationship. Employers have got to respect employees’ rights to take their services where they feel most rewarded. The same shift in goals occurs in organisations. It manifests as promotions, transfers, realignments, reassignments and restructuring, right sizing, and downsizing. Downsizing is the most unsettling scenario because people lose their jobs, families lose breadwinners, personal goals are interrupted, and in many cases, monumental advancements are lost in the process. Stressful as this may be for laid-off employees, it is important to put it all into perspective. Employers too have goals that can shift quite unpredictably in today’s dynamic economy. When these shifts render our positions redundant, it simply is a case of businesses aligning themselves with what makes the most sense and cents in their markets. While many an employee might feel this way, it rarely is a case of lack of appreciation of service rendered over the years of a contract. The fact of any employer-employee contract remains one of convenient meeting of selfish goals for both parties. A truth we want to embrace is that unless you work for an organisation that you own, the goals of the organisation have little to do with you as a professional, however great you might be in your field. Every organisation has its goal to serve its market and profitably reward its shareholders and fulfil their vision. To be employed by any organisation is to be hired to build someone else’s vision. Hard as this may be to take, it is naive to enter into an employment contract or stay in one for decades expecting that that alone buys one a permanent seat on the organisation’s family table. Each one of us has got to have our individual visions of the lives that we want to lead and exactly how it is we want to lead them. Employment is a vessel through which we receive part of the fulfilment of our vision. It is not the vision. Once again; employment is only one of the ways in which we get to fulfil our dreams. It doesn’t matter how comfortable an employer makes you; nice huge corner office, 6-week vacations, club memberships, free catered buffet meals at work, the best medical, life, and other insurances that money can buy, fancy titles and plenty of zeros at the end of your pay figure. If it was your vision too, they wouldn’t need to bind you in a contract. They wouldn’t require you to be at a certain place for specified periods of time and they certainly wouldn’t determine what your title is based on their organisational structure. While not all of us can be entrepreneurs, all of us owe it to ourselves to endeavour to have our lives planned based on our own thoughts, aspirations and desires. It is called dream-building … and it needs to be done long before the possibility of the dreaded downsizing by the organisations that we work for. The writer is an expert on attitude and human potential.
