Work As Friend

Society can remain viable only if honest work and pay are exchanged.
 
It is a false reality when an effect, money, comes without its proper antecedent cause, productive work.
 
Politicians primarily interested in their position and power, make the alluring promise to voters of something for nothing, aka, socialism/communism.
 
Increasingly, the mindset of the public is that business is the enemy, government is the savior.
 
Certainly, some businesses that have partnered with government have amassed great wealth, can be corrupt, and get away with it.
 
But small businesses have no such security. They have no benefits, entitlements, business unemployment, paid vacation, and no retirement. A business cannot quit today and find another job tomorrow. Business must face the reality of producing something real and of value day in and day out, and do so with the resources available, or they die. Business must face the cold, hard, economic reality that something does not come from nothing.
 
Employees are businesses selling their product, labor. As such, workers should have to face the reality of either producing a worthy product (labor), or risk survival. When work is seen in the hard light of this reality, we become more productive, creative, and take responsibility. That attitude, in turn, can result in not only job security, but a sense of worth that can only come from seeing work as a friend.
 
Unions enable a false economy. What if all grocery stores got together and decided how to price our food? What if they all decided to only be open from 9:00 until noon, or shorten their open days to only three a week? By colluding, they remove competition and free enterprise.
 
 
Workers should be able to market services to the highest bidder (called a job search) just like a company should be able to sell its product for the highest price it can, and buy its supplies (including human services) at the lowest cost. A company should not be forced to purchase an employee's time if they feel the wage is too high or the employee's work product is not satisfactory.
 
An employee, union, or government does not have a right to force an employer to pay certain wages or benefits any more than an employer can force customers to purchase products they don't want at a price they don't want. By interfering with the free enterprise labor process, unions can force employers out of competition. When that happens, employees kick the legs out from under their own chairs.

​Some may argue that if unions weren't around, there would be worker abuse. That fear is a carryover from the early days of the Industrial Revolution when there were few industrial jobs compared to the spate of immigrants. Companies cannot now underpay or abuse workers, not only because there are laws preventing such, but also because that is not how companies can keep good employees.
 
Employees are free to leave and go to another employer if they feel their services are worth more.
 
No economy can survive if ambition, creativity, initiative, drive, and competition are suppressed. Guaranteed rewards for mediocre work deny a basic human need for creativity, ambition, and pride. The thing sought in order to have a happy and full life--a guarantee--is the very thing that will eventually deny a happy and full life.
 
Socialism and unions create a lot of fuss, great anticipation of benefit, but net a zero--if not negative--balance. For example, if all companies across the country were forced to increase pay, there would be no net gain to employees. Companies must create the additional revenue for the higher wages by increasing the price of products the employees and their families must in turn buy. In effect, this then offsets the buying power of the increased wage. Net result? No gain for employees.

​The socialistic attempt to level the playing field denies the hills and valleys in the field. There will always be inequities. That's okay as long as there remains opportunity. Life is not about guarantees; it's about challenges. If a person is not making enough money, then they have the freedom to change that. Employers are not the problem. In a free society, individuals are their own problem. For greater rewards, all that is necessary is harder and smarter work. If that does not do it, then find a job where it does.
 
Another option is to start a business, hire employees, and prove they can be treated, benefited, and rewarded better.
 
To remain valuable, workers will need to shift their attitude from one of entitlement, to that of seller. Like any business, they must make their service valuable. Otherwise, who will want to buy them?

​If out of work, make finding a job the job. Don't study about how to create an inflated resume or deceive in an interview. Be honest, be yourself, and give a clear picture of your ambition, abilities, and shortcomings. Employment is like marriage. Unless a divorce is desired, be straight up front.

​Develop a skill. If you don't have one, make ambition, honesty, and energy your skill. If that doesn't work, try this: Tell a prospective employer you are willing to work for free for a time to prove yourself.
 
Why not? What's the difference between that and going to school? School is work without pay; in fact it's work that the employee (student) must pay for. Any new job is like school for a time anyway. So why should an employer, someone who can create income for you (a school doesn't), pay employees to learn if a school doesn't? We should be thankful if a new employer does not charge for the training.
 
If such an offer is made to a new employer, you will certainly have their attention and a good shot at an opportunity. If that doesn't work, pester them. Pestering tells them you are not ordinary and are determined. That's what employers need and can't find.
 
When you land the job, give it your all; don't stop looking for work just because you found a job. Don't settle in or ponder workers' rights. Politics may be waxing socialistic, unions may preach rights, but there are no such things as guarantees in the business world. Work hard, don't measure work or hold back. Think about what can be done to help the company compete and survive, not about how little can be done for the most wages and benefits.
 
There is a remarkable paradox between school and work. Students diligently go to class during the day and then come home and continue to work at study and assignments evenings and weekends. They work with urgency, meet deadlines, and stay up into the night. To do all this work they pay thousands of dollars for tuition and books. All they receive in return is a report card. In contrast, many graduates will land a job and expect that job to pay for their entire life and yet would never think of doing homework, sacrificing a break, exceeding deadlines, not having to be reminded, or going above and beyond the minimums of a job description. School is seen as a rite of passage, a ticket to high wages and benefits. In fact, it is only the beginning, just a key to open the door to where real work begins. Considering that only 40 out of the 168 hours in a week are spent on the job, and that 40 hours must support the whole 168, with the prevailing attitude of entitlement it's a wonder how any employer survives.
 
The key to job success is to think supererogation--give more than expected. Ask for increased responsibilities. Bring jobs to completion quickly even if unpaid time is necessary. If there is free time on the job, clean, organize, repair, help others, and learn skills that will increase your usefulness to the employer. Do these things because of pride, and to be indispensable. Take pride in the workday by doing the best that can be done even if you think it may be of more value than what the wage might be.
 
If you deserve a raise, don't read a book on how to ask for one, make it crystal clear by performance that it's deserved. Time does not create a reason for a raise; increased performance that brings increased value to the company does. Make yourself invaluable by creating more than you earn and most employers will reward accordingly if they are capable.
 
Keeping a job is about respect. Respect for self and for the employer. The way to show that respect is to be diligent, honest, work hard, and make supererogation a word taken to heart and applied every day. Such qualities are so rare that those who possess them have the best job security there can be.
 
Why? Because these qualities are almost impossible to find. Instead, employers have to struggle to keep workers on task and prevent the ruination of their businesses. As an employer in a small business I have experienced many fine and good hearted fellow workers, but also things I could have never imagined. In one case we had developed a device that would require assembly when the customer received it. So we decided to make an instruction video. The person put to this task decided to do it after hours and add a little flair to the film. So he set the camera up to film himself as he threw in a bunch of crazy antics including shedding all his clothes. He then sent the video to a female customer. Another employee was tasked to take a load of recycling to the recycling center and instead took it home, burned it in his yard, and used the time to plow his driveway with the company truck. A salesman who assured us of his good Christian character developed his own brand of a competing product, copying verbatim our literature and labels, while still on our payroll. A trusted employee was allowed to use a company residence with his father. They then proceeded to get into a bloody drunken brawl and trash the home. A burly large male employee tried for a legal heyday by claiming that horseplay among the guys was sexual harassment because one of them touched him. Two employees had a regular affair in the bathroom. Several have spent time on the Internet with dating services, their own Internet businesses, and on porn sites. Occasionally there are those who, once hired, feel they have a right to all company property. They simply help themselves to money, products, tools and equipment. Most of these folks have moved on, but how they will ever make a living is a mystery.

​There is no lack of jobs. But there is a lack of people who dig in with all they have once they find a job. Not just for a 30-day spurt during a probationary period, but for the duration.
 
Work is one of life's best friends. Treat it well and it will return the favor. But the usual thinking is that work is just a necessary burden. Let's rethink that a bit. Isn't it through work that money is created that permits all the comforts, security, and many of the circumstances for joy and leisure in life? Why think negatively of something that brings so much, even survival itself?
 
 Work can obligate us and give the feeling that we are not in control and that we are victims of the selfish interests of others. Whether real or imagined, that view of work can make life very unpleasant and even take a toll on mental and physical well-being.
 
Giving is better than receiving. This is a life rule that does not switch off when a person punches in at work.
 
Work occupies a majority of the active life of everyone. It would be a shame to waste so much of life in an activity that brings dread rather than hope, optimism, fulfillment, and fun. When you love what you do, you're alive. Work should be more like a hobby than a sentence. It should be a cycle of perpetual challenge and fulfillment, like being on a treadmill where as soon as you get to the end of it you begin again. Ambition at work should be like love, intolerant of delays, distractions, and rivals.
 
The solution to work doldrums primarily lies with the employee. The enjoyment we derive from an activity has everything to do with our attitude toward the activity, not the activity itself. Work must be approached as if we mean it, as a challenge to do our very best so that we can walk away feeling a sense of pride. Challenge and accomplishment is never the path of least resistance. We should not work like a horse just when the boss is riding us. We can't hold back and be like the person who, upon hearing that work never killed anyone, said he was not going to take the risk.
 
We are creative beings and if we do not exercise that creativity we are miserable regardless of the wages and benefits we may receive. Work is the perfect place for creative release. One should never go to work without an objective for the day. There is always opportunity to improve, increase efficiency, save costs, and enhance quality. The self-respect that comes from achieving a goal is the best pay of all.
 
Working hard and doing well at something is the only way to make good things happen in life. A good result at work brings a feeling of honesty and worth. These are essential psychological nutrients we all need every day. Nobody can feel good knowing that they are, in effect, stealing wages.
 
People, money, and dreams will fail us in life. Work, on the other hand, can be a lifelong companion, one that will never let us down if we put ourselves in control by working hard and like we mean it. It can, for as long as we permit, bring a sense of worth, purpose, and meaning if we treat it like the good and loyal friend it can be.

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