Running Head: CONVENIENCE WITHOUT COMMITMENT

Convenience without Commitment Jakita L. Jones Queens University of Charlotte

CONVENIENCE WITHOUT COMMITMENT Within todays workplace, the organizational marriage between employer and employee has become a strained relationship filled with disloyalty, egocentricity, and ambiguity. According to a 2011 CareerBuilder report, 76 percent of full-time workers indicated they would leave their current employer if the right opportunity was presented. Other studies show that the average company loses 20 to 50 percent of its employee base each year, which signifies that some

employees are clearly feeling detached from their profession (Cobb, 2012). The current economic downturn has led companies to lay off employees with little regard for loyalty or length of service, and no training or promotion for those who remain. Regardless of the explanation, one of the casualties is a declining sense of dedication and mutual trust between the employee and employer. This paper will explore the relational shift between organizations and its members and investigate what contract has replaced the days of job stability, upward mobility, and reciprocal loyalty. The challenges and benefits of working in the 21st century for both the employee and employer and how each partys identity is affected will also be examined. In addition, there will be a discussion about the challenges of creating and maintaining my own coherent identity while participating in the current workforce. The Employee-Employer Relational Shift For most of the last century, the model of the Organization Man drove the United States economy. Employers made longer term commitments to employees and workers responded with loyalty of their own in terms of performance. Employers invested in development to fill job positions internally. Skill shortages were unheard of and employees were engaged with the needs of their employer and vice versa; however, this former employeeemployer social contract has been replaced with individualism. Both parties have become more

CONVENIENCE WITHOUT COMMITMENT self-reliant and independent, without reciprocal commitment. Today, the employee-employer relationship is emblematic of what the Christian Pentecostal Church would call shacking. This term is used when referring to two individuals who are dating, living together, and enjoying the benefits of marriage without being legally

married or committed in holy matrimony. Figuratively speaking, shacking is the type agreement most employers and employees of today have entered into. The employee gets the benefit of receiving a paycheck, health benefits, and other perks from the employer, while the employer receives labor and performance provided by the employee. Both parties reap the benefits of marriage without dedication or obligation. Therefore, once the employee or employer finds a more beneficial union to better meet their needs, the old relationship is quickly discarded with ease because there was never a mutual allegiance, or loyalty cultivated between the two parties. This new social contract is simply convenience without covenant. While employers are making business decisions based on what is needed to survive, whether that is to cut costs, revamp product lines, or start fresh with new talent for their own sake, todays professionals have to be prepared to do the same. As a 21st century employee, one must be highly perceptive in order to discern the potentiality of future relational break up from the employer to prevent unpreparedness. In addition, one must be adaptable to change, flexible, cross-trainable, innovative and critical thinkers, and professional, personable, result-oriented, and emotional intelligent, coupled with a personality that compliments the organizational culture, not threaten it. 21st Century Employee-Employer Challenges and Benefits

CONVENIENCE WITHOUT COMMITMENT

Many organizations constantly wrestle with how to find quality employees, how to hang onto them, and how to develop them into better employees. Due to highly uncertain and volatile environments, businesses seek out precise workers needed just at the time they need them, but let them go when the needs of the business change, replacing them with new employees, called the plug n play approach (Cappelli, 2008). If companies fail to develop strategies to combat these issues in an emotionally intelligent manner, it could cause former employees to have resentment, causing potential reputational damage to a companys identity. Steve Jones (2012) notes there is no way to buy enough advertising to combat persistently negative word-of-mouth campaigns because social media allows word-of-mouth to reach more people faster than any advertising possibly can (p.144). Social media can enable a former employee to reach millions through blogging or tweeting about employment unfairness or disloyalty of an organization, thus tainting the companys identity. Moreover, it is almost impossible for organizations to maintain their coherent identity, when business decisions are constantly made to accommodate unstable economic changes in order to survive. The identity of an entity will always fluctuate when faced with a crisis and most companies rather live with an inconsistent identity, than to perish completely. Nevertheless, organizations benefit from this 21st century workforce, because it provides an opportunity to hire highly qualified candidates with more skill set than required for vacant positions. Perhaps, prospective employees might take more a modest compensation package than normal due to job desperation. Companies are able to get more bang for their buck in this economy. Organizations identities in the 21st century are parallel to the postmodern view of identity, which explores various possibilities of selfhood as an entity, without the burden of CONVENIENCE WITHOUT COMMITMENT 5

conformity to waking roles through fluidity, flexibility, questioning and problematizing. Nonetheless, if the modern view of identity was slightly applied to this talent management crisis, it would provide a sense of structure and rationality. The modern identity would not lay off or hire new talent for mere convenience without justification and explanation, but rather properly assess the reason behind decisions before action is taken, instead of making a decision for only organizational interest. Nucor is an excellent example of an organization that possesses a balance of postmodern and modern views to create a balance of commitment and accountability from both the employees and employer. Todays employees are challenged with acquiring the skill set and technological ability to remain relevant workers. Employees become petrified that they will not have the skills required to fit changing job positions, due to company restructuring. Employees feel trapped in their current jobs if no one wants to develop them or cultivate their growth into a job when the alternative is to find someone who can hit the ground running because they have done the job elsewhere. These challenges can affect an employees identity. For instance, if Joan has been an extremely confident, articulate, outspoken leader for more than 30 years at her company, the challenge of learning a new technology to stay current as an employee could cause Joan to feel inadequate, fearful, and even timid, allowing these obstacles to alter and impact her identity. The benefits of an employee working in the 21st century consist of various opportunities to sharpen and learn new skill set from employers to remain a marketable prospective candidate to outside employers. Due to layoffs, companies are giving heavier workloads to those who remain. An employee who embraces the opportunity to take on extra projects can add diversity to their resume by seizing each moment given to learn and utilize different skill sets to become CONVENIENCE WITHOUT COMMITMENT 6

more versatile. However, due to fear of job loss, it is difficult for employees to remain committed to their identity without compromising or sacrificing apart of themselves to stay employed. While this is a complicated manner, one must fully understand the intricacies of their own identity in order to master the sustainability of it in any environment. Personal Identity Discovery and Challenges In my current profession, I am committed to the work of counseling students about their educational options, but I am not fully committed to my organization. I participate in the market place as an individualist or free agent, not an employee and I only commit to a company to the degree in which they commit to me. Work is not employment, but a convenient stepping stone to get me closer to my most desirable destination within the workforce. In my career, I offer my diligence and passion to guide and help others maximize their potential, but I do not have high expectations of my organization, due to the potential disappointment that could occur. Therefore, I only expect fair compensation with benefits from my employer. In addition, I face the challenge of investing in personal discovery to define my authentic identity and being fully present professionally and personally without being distracted by my own agenda or social tools of connection. In order to create my identity, I must ask myself who I am and take the time to devote to self-discovery, which will allow me to have a better sense of myself and direction (Schawbel, 2010). Moreover, in order to maintain my identity, I must intentionally and consistently apply discipline, balance, boundaries, self-awareness, and self-assessment to eliminate distractions and develop holistic habits that will assist me to sustain my identity in any environment. A plan of action must be implemented to successfully maintain the value of my identity, but its imperative to first discover the core of my identity before maintaining it. Failure CONVENIENCE WITHOUT COMMITMENT 7

to determine the true essence of who I am might result in displaying an inauthentic, incoherent, wavering identity, thus diminishing the value and meaningful impact of who I am. This outlook is significant and beneficial for both individuals and organizations to adopt as changes continue to arise in our society.

CONVENIENCE WITHOUT COMMITMENT

References Cappelli, S. (2008). Talent on demand: Managing talent in the age of uncertainty. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Publishing. Cobb, A. (2012, May 9). Declining employee loyalty: A casualty of the new workplace. Retrieved from http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2995 Jones, S. (2012). Brand like a rock star: Lessons from rock n roll to make your business rich and famous. Austin, Texas: Greenleaf Book Group Press. Schawbel, D. (2010). Me 2.0: Four steps to building your brand. New York, New York: Kaplan