>This is what I hate about the internet rage machine.
I think the issue (also related to how we interface with the internet) is that most of these replies completely dodged the question. The OP was asking about personal accountability, not about "how are your going to make this as palatable as possible?"
Consider two scenarios:
(1) A manager fires half their workforce, but gives them a generous severance. In response, the manager gets a massive bonus.
(2) A manager fires half their workforce, but gives them a generous severance. In response, the manager forgoes their salary for a year for being the one making that decision.
The second has personal accountability because they are making a personal sacrifice beyond what they expect from their subordinates, even though the employees are affected equally. I'd be willing to bet one organization has more institutional trust than the other.
My ex worked in a tiny office, the company got into trouble and her boss was asked to cut $###K from payroll. He had to cut at least one person that they really needed. It was bad.
In theory he had to cut her too, because he was something like $30K short of the goal and her salary as an office admin would have more than covered that. But then he’d have to do her job. His solution was to cut his own salary enough to hit the target to the decimal point.
They landed a new contract a handful of months later and were eventually able to hire back one of the people they lost.
I think he may have even backdated some raises they missed out on. He was her best boss.
Does it not matter when you're deciding on employment though?
If the through-line wasn't obvious, it's that leadership quality matters. Trust matters. When you decide to stay with a company or invest in a company, you don't have the privleged access to know that their actions "won't have any effect" on your ability to pay your bills in the future. In the context of uncertainty, leadership quality matters.
No, any job is just a method to exchange labor for money. I expect nothing from them but to keep their end of the bargain. I keep myself in a position where I just need a job, not the specific job.
A job is not a marriage. I’ve been through many “uncertain times” in over 25 years.
I depend on my savings, network, skillset, updated resume and updated career document, not “trusting” a for profit company.
Do you not expect anything out of your teammates? Do you have no expectations from customers? From politicians?
At a certain point, how you manage interpersonal relationships can limit your path. Sure, you can just devolve everything down to a transaction (even a marriage) and maybe that works for you. And you can create a life free from any obligations or commitments, outside what you want for the aesthetic life of your choosing.* But it doesn't seem like it would be the type of existence many people envy.
* David Brooks book "The Second Mountain" does a good job explaining the downsides of this approach.
> Do you not expect anything out of your teammates?
I expect the same from my coworkers as I expect from myself - that they do their best work for 40 hours a week.
> Do you have no expectations from customers?
I work in the cloud consulting department of BigTech. The expectations of my customers are spelled out in detail by high priced lawyers.
> From politicians
Hell no.
> At a certain point, how you manage interpersonal relationships can limit your path. Sure, you can just devolve everything down to a transaction
A for profit business and your relationship with your company is transactional. Especially in any large company. The CEO of my company wouldn’t know me from the other 1.6 million people that work at the company.
I think the issue (also related to how we interface with the internet) is that most of these replies completely dodged the question. The OP was asking about personal accountability, not about "how are your going to make this as palatable as possible?"
Consider two scenarios:
(1) A manager fires half their workforce, but gives them a generous severance. In response, the manager gets a massive bonus.
(2) A manager fires half their workforce, but gives them a generous severance. In response, the manager forgoes their salary for a year for being the one making that decision.
The second has personal accountability because they are making a personal sacrifice beyond what they expect from their subordinates, even though the employees are affected equally. I'd be willing to bet one organization has more institutional trust than the other.