According to this article people are more likely to be loyal to their preferred brand of soda or underwear than their employer. "Companies did not fare well when it comes to allegiance. Most Americans said they are more committed to their favorite soft drink than the company they work for. Keiningham said the findings may reflect the impact the U.S. recession and Wall Street banking crisis has had on broader U.S. sentiment. The poll by market research company Ipsos showed that the majority of Americans do not believe that companies are doing a good job rewarding loyal employees or customers. Only 55 percent of employees said they would stay at their job and turn down higher pay elsewhere, which suggests that 45 percent of workers would leave their job if offered a 10 percent hike in pay. "Employers have real issues," Keiningham said. "This should be a wake-up call. The only way to grow your way out of a bad economy is to hold on to your customers and encourage both employee and customer loyalty." I can see why this is true. I was written up at work for going to my grandmother's funeral. They almost fired me for job abandonment even though they knew I was going to be gone as I gave them notice. I also can not be promoted for a year because of this. The company decided to give bonuses out for the first time in years. However you had to not have gotten written up at any time in the year leading up to the day the bonus was given out. Curiously write ups in all departments ticked up drastically the 2 weeks before the bonus announcement. One guy who has worked here 18 years, great record, sunny disposition was written up for having a "bad attitude." Why? His bonus would have been well over 5k. But Diet Coke? Always ready, always refreshing, and always makes me feel good. My employer? They make me want to hurl feces. Focus: Are you loyal to your employer? What have they done to make you loyal or to make you want to burn the place down?
I worked at Home Depot a long time ago, and I refused to be loyal to them in the least. Though bigger than Rona or Lowe's, Home Depot does not pay commission to sales associates or give employee shopping discounts. At the same time, they will write up an employee if they forget to say "Hi" to a customer within earshot. No, SERIOUSLY. Cheapest fucking billion dollar company out there. Their products are overpriced shit, and they hate the people who work for them while paying them a completely dihonest wage. If you work for them, quit and sell yourself on a street corner to lonely businessmen. Fuck them.
Fuck loyalty. Why do you think they fire you at 4:45 on a Friday afternoon? You knew on Monday morning at 6:30 am before I left my fucking house you were gonna fire me. Hows about you call me and just tell me that I don't need to come in. Ever. It's a job, not a charity function. If somebody else will pay you more, that take off your shoes, walk into your boss' office and throw you loafers at him whilst shouting "GO AHEAD AND FILL THESE, MUTHAFUCKER. IM OUT. AND YOUD BETTER CALL SECURITY TO ESCORT ME OUT, CUZ IM FEELIN FROGGY!"
I work for my family business, so yeah, I put up with a lot more shit than most people. The biggest incentive for me to stick around is the fact that I can bust my ass for the company and actually benefit from it. If that weren't the case I would've told the old man to go fuck himself years ago. Well, I guess I have told him to go fuck himself numerous times, but I didn't leave. Telling the boss to fuck off without getting fired is another nice bonus of working for the family.
The only reason I do ANYTHING for my employer is because they pay me. There have been slow periods where the company asked all salaried employees to take a 10-20% reduction in pay to "help the company". They expected everyone to still work 5 days too, and also tried eliminate all paid holidays for that period as well. I was the only one that declined to take the pay cut because I was still selling and thus carrying everyone who wasn't. This place doesn't care about me and wouldn't be loyal to me. Our relationship exists purely for profit. As soon as that crucial element exits the equation we'd be like a married couple in the midst of a bitter divorce, scratching, clawing, and trying to fuck each other over. In business loyalty is a weakness. You'll miss out on opportunities to better yourself and improve your life.
My last full-time employer was a piece of work. I was hungry and he knew it and the screw overs started immediately. Health insurance was promised, never happened. Full weekends? I had maybe three in two years after being told I'd have to 'just come in a few minutes to check on the interns Sunday.' I worked 36 hours straight to meet the most retarded deadline ever handed to an art director, and I never saw an extra cent, an extra day off or a pat on the back. I worked 24 hours straight to complete the deadline on a 'bonus' side project I was promised extra for. Working as an independent contractor as I do now, easily would have netted 2gs. This guy paid me $100 and still wanted me to come in on that Friday. Everyone in the office knew how fucked this was, and the accountant came back and told me 'I may not believe it but my hard work was appreciated.' I bet. This job was a means to an end, however, and I built up about ten years of experience in less than two. That last fuck you pushed me over the limit though, and had me working freelance for a direct competitor within the week that had been hounding me. I was using my office computer during and after hours as well on those projects. The way I saw it, they thought I should be living in my office after all... Managed to double my salary that way. Still working on grabbing a couple of their contracts when they're up, we'll see where that goes in the future. It was unbelievable the amount of work related rants the old Rant and Rave thread had.
I have multiple friends who had their entire college tuition covered by Home Depots college program. Though that was a few years ago and I think they had to change the policy to save on cost.
The company I work for gives its employees and big fuck you every week. It's always something new and exciting to see what will happen and if it'll improve the overall earnings for the company. There have been two or three instances where I've almost walked off, called the union and shit in my bosses bosses coffee. One instance was where they were going to send our manager to ride along with the technician. The manager was not allowed to talk or interact with the tech, nor were they to interact with any customer or person for the entire eight hours. For those eight hours, the manager was to log and catalog ever action or thing the tech did in fifteen minute increments until the shift was over. Yep, you read that correctly. Big Brother wanted an accurate spreadsheet of every single thing I did, in fifteen minute increments, for my entire shift. Thankfully, it never flew, only a few techs got this special treatment before they realized that they couldn't pull our managers out of their job for entire days at a time - each manager has roughly ten to seventeen technicians under them, so over half the month would be spent on just these reports with them unable to do their actual job. Apparently, it was absolute hell and one of the most uncomfortable experiences ever for everyone included. The company has our trucks outfitted with GPS. They track where our trucks go, what time they're turned on and off and they also track our timing on when we make it to a customers house. It's not so bad if you learn how to trick the GPS system, or as some techs have managed to do, just unplug the damn thing. They want us to fulfill stats that are based on the average mean over the last five years. If you don't make those stats, which nobody rarely does, then you get a nice talking too. The stats are based off of productivity, quality and if you've managed to not piss someone off. Unfortunately, those stats are also related to how much work the company has for you, so if it's a slow day and you don't have much to do (IE: You're unproductive), then your stats get hurt. Basically, the company has no faith or loyalty in it's employees. We techs were once referred to as the "Dark side" of the company by upper management. I cannot be loyal to a company that's not loyal to it's employees.
My company could and will fire me at any time for any one of a variety of capricious reasons unrelated to my job performance. I owe them nothing except my best effort for my pay. Home Depot: About 20 years ago this was the premier retailer to work for. They hired people experienced in the trades for full time pay, and they were paid very well. Those who managed stores or departments cashed in on stock options of skyrocketing value, and they did indeed have employee nights, when you could get items on substantial discount. Working at Home Depot was a financially rewarding career. Starting about 12 years ago, when they had successfully destroyed all competition except for Loews, this company - which brings in 65 billion (with a B) in revenue a year and saw 62% stock growth in the past year- started treating its employees like shit. The pressure ratcheted up, perks went away, and they stopped hiring full time employees. In fact, they busted many folks from full down to part time to save on benefits. They've basically nickel and dimed anyone there with significant trades experience right out the door, and for the most part, their goods and services suck.
I worked a bookstore for a year and it definitely had its ups and downs. Ups: -30% discount -Random gift cards valued up to $200 for not leaving the company during busy times (Joke's on them... I went to Cuba during pre-Christmas rush/Boxing Day and then I quit right before back to school. Suckers!) -Our staff meetings consisted of eating pizza and watching a co-worker do magic tricks -We made everyone's name tag say either Paul or Brian. We only had one boy working there. His name was neither Paul nor Brian. I was Brian. Downs: -Stupid target chart. We had to sell loyalty cards and a certain dollar amount. If you made both targets you got a gold star, one target meant a black dot, and neither target resulted in a red dot. Consistent red dots got you a talking to from the manager. -Nun-like dress code, plus a heinous vest. -My boss made us read Twilight, so we could relate to about 90% of our customers. The current job is ridiculously full of perks. I don't pay rent, food, or gas, plus my bosses paid for my flights home at Christmas and took me to California with them on vacation. Also extravagant birthday/Christmas gifts.
Ah yes, bonuses. The franchise auto repair shop I used to work at was run by a guy who was always dangling that carrot infront of us. We technicians were supposed to get a bonus of 10% of however many parts we sold. Guess how many times I got the bonus! If you guess correctly, you will win a prize equal to all of my bonuses combined! In the beginning, I wasn't getting it because I was a new employee, and I was under probation. Then he kept changing the rules. If you were one minute late punching in, no bonus for the week. If you took too long on a job, regardless of the reason for the delay, no bonus for you. If there was a customer complaint about ANYTHING, no bonuses for the whole shop. According to one guy who had been working there for years, the boss USED to give bonuses, but once business started going down, he quit. He was always complaining about how down and out broke he was, but during the time I worked there, he bought a new truck and a new car for his wife. Since the bonus was based on how much we sold, we were always trying to get people to buy our overpriced parts. Seriously, we were forced to add a 100% markup on parts. Where did all the money go you asshole?! And if ever a customer complained that we were trying to sell them something they didn't need, he would give us a lecture about over-selling infront of the customer! Fuck you Jaime A. Burn in hell you cheap bastard. I laughed when you finally went bankrupt. When I worked at a convenience store, this was one of the many things promised to the employees that was never delivered. Something else that was promised to us was a mandatory raise every 6 months. Curiously, most people never made it that long there; usually once the 6 month mark came around and you were reviewed, it would be found that your performance was unsatisfactory, and you had to be let go. Like Primer mentioned, we had a quota of sales we had to make that was based on a corporate average, and if your store was in some rural area or had a lot of competition, you were fucked. Jokes on them though: when I was let go, I got unemployment and milked that for almost a year. Edit: Lastly, I don't know if this is on focus or not, but it's just something that has always pissed me off: When you get hired at a place, they can fire you for any reason, right? But if you decide to quit and don't give them two weeks notice, it is viewed negatively. You're fucked both ways. How is that fair?
Focus: I've held several jobs in my life. 1. Nanny 2. Secretary 3. Receptionist 4. Retail associate for a douchey clothing store 5. Waitress 6. Filing clerk 7. Freelance editor 8. AP/AR gal for a small, family-owned business 9. Most recently, a hospitality associate for a world-wide and notoriously conservative hotel chain With the possible exception of #6, all of my jobs have fucked me over in more ways than I care to remember at this point in my life. I learned a long time ago that my biggest asset in climbing the coporate ladder was my ability to eat shit and smile--and I've overused that ability every day since that realization. But smiling at 30+ hours of unpaid overtime while my philandering boss cuts my benefits so that he can afford to continue paying for his hook up pad? Really, REALLY fucking awful. Contrast with this: My one true love in the soda industry, Dr. Pepper hasn't failed me yet. It tastes the same every single time I drink it. We've never had to discuss why sensual shoulder rubbing isn't appropriate for a supervisor-employee relationship (hint for every dude who thinks his secretary is dying to bang him: she's not). I've never had to pour out an ice-cold fizzy drink and then under its scrutinizing gaze document every occasion that I leave my desk/reasons why such an absence was necessary (receptionists have to pee, and only pissing once on a half-hour lunch break isn't going to cut it for me and my tiny bladder). Dr. Pepper never makes my day worse by insinuating that if I don't simultaneously cover three sections of a busy restaurant--not including my own, mind you--while my coworkers take yet another extended smoke break, I'll soon be the victim of subtle sabotage. You bet your sweet ass I'm loyal to Dr. Pepper.
As my first boss put it to me, him being a 30 year veteran in the industry, "as a salaried position, we pay you for 40 hours a week, not more. If you come in on weekends or stay late to work, take it off on the next friday. If you need to go do something, tell me and Ill let you do it. Dont worry about making up time, as long as its not every day you are doing this." Best Boss ever! I left the job because we got a new manager in and we hated each other. Second job, they were complete douche bags and I was part of the first single person layoff the company did. Might have because I refused to be blamed for a $50,000 fuck up on my managers part. Third boss was a home business guy who I hold no grudges against except for his extreme cheapness (and I cant really blame him for this as its required for his business). Conveniently he has me working for him right now for 1.5 months before I go to school. Layed off due to lack of work late last year. Same deal with my last job, they fired me cause they didnt want to pay me as much as they offered me for the work they were making me do....which is not what they hired me to do. Fuck them! Give me my Dr. Pepper any day
I think the idea of loyalty toward an employer went out the window about 20 years ago. It's pretty safe to say I've never stayed too comfortable with a job. I've always maintained/continued to build a network of people within my industry so that if need be I could go somewhere else. This is borderline pathetic, but the most loyalty I've felt was working for lululemon. That's one of the only places I've worked where I left a bigger fan than when I started. They have such a fun culture and give a lot of great benefits/bonuses. And, I love how involved they are in the yoga/fitness community. We hosted all kinds of cool, free events in-store. When I worked there we could take an unlimited number of fitness classes per week on lulu's dime. Also, I remember a specific instance where I sold $1100 in clothes to one customer. I ran around a ton for this woman, but I didn't mind because she was really nice and I had fun picking out clothes for her. After she paid and left the manager pulled me aside, told me I did an awesome job, and gave me a pretty nice ($60 value) necklace. That kind of thing happened frequently when people went above and beyond. I didn't expect little things like that, but it made me feel appreciated and like someone actually gave a shit. I think if my boss made our clinic feel appreciated and sprung for something like lunch/breakfast once a month our morale would go up. We wouldn't be so crotchety and bitter.
If you had asked me this question 6 months ago, I would have been fiercely loyal to my employer. My boss has been amazing at recognizing the amount of effort I put into my work, and fighting to get me the promotions/compensation/recognition that I deserve for my hard work. Right now though, I hate my job. It has nothing to do with my boss either, he's still been great at fighting for me, but I've been commandeered by another department to help on a huge military project. The guy in charge of this department is a weasely fucking dickhead. To get me to help, he told me that he'd re-instituted an overtime pay policy for salaried employees so I'd be getting an extra 25% every month. He also said it would only last 3 months, and I'd only have to be gone 2 weeks a month. So far I'm 6 months in, still working out here, and spend about 3 weeks a month here while my pregnant wife sits at home alone. I can't get out of the job because the guy in charge is using the quality of my work to argue that nobody else can do the job as well as me. At the same time, he's taking credit for all the money the project is going to bring the company. Oh, and I still haven't gotten my overtime pay from February or March. Guess who stopped giving a shit about the project? If it wasn't for the fact that I love my regular job and will be back to that soon, and the fact that companies aren't hiring too many engineers right now, I'd have walked long ago. I guess I'm loyal to my boss, but not necessarily the rest of the company. But don't you dare serve me a glass of Mr. Pibb when I ask for Dr. Pepper. They're not the same, and I WILL notice.
Most lawyers who have worked in a large law firm can tell you the sort of conditions they have to go through. The second firm I worked for was a large national firm with all professional staff on time costing, regardless of area or type of file. I was working under a partner in property development and securities, doing financing and contract work. We were contractually required to submit a certain number of billable, and non-billable, units per day which was software recorded and monitored against the file. All photocopying and faxing had to be linked to the file with your producer number. So, basically, you couldn't touch a file without it being recorded somewhere. Normally, that's fine. However, for about six months our office was without a conveyancing clerk. Property transfers here must be done, or under the direct supervision, of a lawyer by law. So, because I was working "in the area", the head partner decided I would look after the conveyancing until they got around to finding a replacement. This was on top of everything else I was currently doing. Working until 11.30 or midnight every night wasn't the issue (except maybe to my girlfriend). Having to deal with idiots on repetitive, procedural files wasn't the issue either (most lawyers become immune to this pretty quickly). The issue was that I had to time record all of my time on the files at my producer rate. All of the files were fixed fee as conveyancing is very competitive in my area, with fees based on conveyancing clerks rates. My rate was roughly five times that. Every file ran over budget in the order of $1,000 because of this, and I had to front up to a partner committee to have the write off authorised on every single file. Did they care that I was putting in double the billable hours I was budgeted for? Did they care that I was able to complete the file in less overall time than the clerk, but was savaged because my mandated rate was higher? Did they even care that I was doing these files as a fill in while they found a replacement? Nope. Every month I have the write offs put against my budget (so that I was under target), and raked over the coals for being "unproductive" and "wasting time that we pay you for". The thing is, most lawyers will tell you that that was them treating me nicely. Now I'm an employer and have to deal with assorted, ridiculous crap from employees. In the last few weeks I've had employees that have: - Complained to me that we don't provide enough training and direction. I asked her if she'd received and read our training manual. She said she'd got it, but not read it, as "we don't pay her enough to do that". - Been cleaning out her garage at home, and saw a rat. Now she can't come to work as she "has the plague". - Applied for, and received, annual leave. On the day there due to come back into the office, they called a workmate (not one of the directors) and said "I don't feel like coming in, I'll be another week". And then complained to the industrial relations commissioner that she was fired. And then failed to turn up to the mandatory conciliation meeting.
Is this really surprising to anyone? People, for whatever reason, are turned off by monetary interactions. We are perfectly friendly with trading items of services, but money "cheapens" things (think of the whole dating vs prostitution comparisons). It seems to enter a "business, not friend" category in our minds. We don't extend much moral consideration to business partners. I don't really buy that we are loyal to soda either. We are loyal to the taste, not the company. Remember new coke? Boy people turned on coke in a heartbeat. As far as my experience goes, I'll sacrifice for my employer if they have sacrificed for me in the past, if the sacrifice is offset by some other accompanying benefit, or if the sacrifice will benefit me later on down the road. If one of those isn't the case then it just doesn't make any sense.
I used to give out free samples of products, mostly beer and wine, but occasionally chips and other shit like that. I would work in a different supermarket each day. Because of this, none of the managers of the supermarkets knew who I was or what time I had to start/finish work. I fully exploited this and would turn up at least 30 minutes and leave 30 minutes early each day. This for a shift that lasted 3 hours. Most of the time I was giving out free samples of wine. They would give me 2 bottles of every wine that I was giving out. I would only ever use about half of each type of wine and would keep the rest. I haven't worked there in 2 years and still have wine left over. Now though, I work as a furniture mover/random manual labour guy. I like my boss and don't have anything to gain by slacking off so I work hard and try to do whatever job quickly and not fuck it up.
I just really hate companies that over stress brand loyalty or company dedication in their fucking corporate culture. I really know, going on a year after graduating, that I should be a lot more open to any job that'll have me. But I have turned down a sure thing because the few people I met from the company, a couple of recruiters and a friend of a friend who worked there, all were so overtly gung ho about this logistics company being the end all of sweet jobs that'll "get you on a rocket ship to upper management in no time!" I can forgive the recruiters for this but at a party at my old roommates place I ran into a guy that worked for them and he had the same over confidence in a fucking shipping company's ability to fulfill all of your career dreams. This coupled with the fact that I'd go on a murder rampage working logistics lead me to turn down an offer an HR manager he knew ended up giving me. The worst I ever experience myself was working at a Gap Clearance Center. Brand loyalty at places like this is a requirement if you want to be anything other than a floor sweep. Each day we had "minute meetings" before we all were allowed to clock in. First the managers looked us over head to toe to see if we had any visible labels from other brands (we'd have to remove it or cover it lest we want to go home and change). This was followed by the usual random updates on sales numbers that didn't mean shit to anyone except the general manager and Gap Credit Card sign up numbers only the cashiers got anything out of. Though I managed to nab some dirt cheap Banana Republic clothes and two of the half dozen or so girls Ive had sex with came from this job, and a few I just fooled around with, the corporate culture and brand loyalty was all retarded.