Well, the reason we do it is because we get garbage from "economies of scale" and teaching in a school condemns us to teaching the same four years over and over until our brains are dead. It is easier to be on the edge and work for a living. Life is not about benefits. To make that the point of your life is to never own your destiny.
REH ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2002 3:23 PM Subject: Friendship, Cohesion and the workplace > > Wall Street Journal article. For me, the article raises questions about the > rise of the freelance worker. If people value friendship and social > connecitvity of "the job", why would they become freelancers, unless they > are forced to through downsizing, etc. It also raises questions about the > uncounted costs of downsizing (in addition to all the other more obvious > uncounted costs of downsizing) > > arthur cordell > ========================== > > Along With Benefits And Pay, Employees Seek Friends on the > Job > > 02/20/2002 > The Wall Street Journal > > > LIKE HUNDREDS of thousands of U.S. workers, a friend, an > administrative manager for a New York > brokerage firm, has just gone through a corporate > reorganization. Now, she's trying to figure out how to > regain something she lost. > > She kept her job, paycheck, benefits and title when her > company moved her function to a different > department. That's not the problem. > > What's missing, she says, is her old network of friends. > Over several years, the office mates and field > reps she worked with shared a wealth of memories and > experiences, from the fun of rafting trips to the > fear of being stranded together on Sept. 11 at an off-site > meeting halfway across the continent. "It > works like families," she says of the closeness. > > Now, she is feeling sadness. "You lose people who know who > you are when you let your hair down, > when you're not putting on a business face," my friend > says. She expects her output to drop -- not > because she's not trying, but because she doesn't know her > new co-workers well enough to push them > for extra help. It takes at least a year to develop such > bonds, she says. > > > AS REORGANIZATIONS and layoffs accelerate amid the > recession, > employees are striving to hang onto hard-won networks of > workplace > friends. > > The value of human connections at work was underscored by > the > harrowing workplace stories of Sept. 11. Just weeks later, > a random > national survey of 1,000 workers by Aon Consulting's > Loyalty Institute, > Ann Arbor, Mich., found employees' commitment, or desire to > stay with > the same employer, had rocketed to a five-year high from a > five-year low > in March 2001. The third most powerful factor driving that > commitment is > workers' sense of affiliation, or connectedness on the job, > Aon says, > behind safety and security, and pay and perks. > > "The change reflects an increase in employees' desire to > be > connected," says Aon's David Stum. "This desire to feel a > part of a > supportive work group . . . has really expanded since > 9-11." > > While friendships don't appear on balance sheets, they're > showing up > in research on the underpinnings of productivity. In 28 > studies of a > total of more than 105,000 employees, the Gallup > Organization found > that, surprisingly, "having a best friend at work" was one > of the 13 > employee circumstances most likely to signal a highly > productive > workplace -- right up there with "knowing what's expected > of me" and > "having the materials and equipment I need." The research > is documented > in "First, Break All the Rules," the best-selling book by > Marcus > Buckingham and Curt Coffman. > > More important, these workplace ties have human value. > People by > nature crave deep bonds with others near them, a yen rooted > in the > tribal communities of our ancestors, says Kent Bailey, a > professor > emeritus of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, > Richmond, > Va. > > Today, by necessity, more people forge those bonds with > nonrelatives, > says Dr. Bailey, co-author with Susan Ahern of a book on > the topic, > "Family-by-Choice." As people spend more time at work, more > find these > "psychological kin" there. > > MANY WORKERS are striving to maintain those ties. David > Liggett, owner > of a Littleton, Colo., marketing firm, never lets more than > two months > pass without see two friends he met 15 years ago on a > previous job. At > work, the trio provided encouragement, critiques of each > other's work > and help on deadline. Though they've been scattered by > layoffs and > mergers, the friendship still yields rich rewards. > > His friends helped Mr. Liggett through a sticky time with > a big > client, advising him on how to talk to the chief executive. > When he was > injured, one of the friends helped him get quick treatment > from a > sought-after specialist. When the same friend hesitated to > take a > vacation, Mr. Liggett reassured him that he needed, and > could afford, > the time. > > If you're trying to keep a co-worker network alive, don't > assume you > can do it by e-mail, Ms. Ahern cautions. To find time to > meet, she > recommends keeping a time log for a week, to see whether > there are some > activities you could toss, such as TV-watching, in favor of > friends. > It's worth it, she adds. Such bonds are as important to > mental health as > exercise is to physical health. They're one way of infusing > life with > meaning. > > Keith Anderson, a Kansas City, Mo., marketing manager, is > part of a > close-knit group of friends who set monthly lunches > together. The group > never parts without assigning one member the job of setting > up the next > get-together. > > In my friend's case, she's already reaching out to her > old co-workers. > Even her new boss sees the value; she urged my friend to > keep up ties > with one of them, a field rep whose advice on new-product > rollouts is > always on target. Based on the research, other employers > might benefit > by doing the same. > > For workers, the bonds grow richer over time. As Mr. > Liggett's son > prepares to leave college for the world of work, he offers > this advice: > "The most important thing you get from anyplace you work is > the > relationships with people you work with" -- bonds, he adds, > that endure > longer than most jobs. > > --- > > > > > > > >
