Friday, November 14, 2014
As we talked in class today about reciprocity, we talked about it where the employee does positive things for the company and the company does positive things for the employee. While this does make sense I was wondering if anyone thought that the employee could do positive things for the company even when the company does not do positive things for them. The only example I could come up with would be if the employee is demoted and for risk of losing his or her job they go above and beyond to positively help the company. I am not sure if this counts as reciprocity or just working out of fear.
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I agree with your example and feel as though there aren't many other examples of employees acting in a positive way towards their company without their company reciprocating. The only reason I can think of as to why someone would feel obligated to help their company while their company isn't helping them is because of fear. They would only be working to save their job so they still have an income, not because they really have a deep care for the success of the company. Maybe they do care about the success of the company, but only because that means they will still be employed.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's interesting that there's a discussion as to why people would do positive things for their company, implying that it cannot exist without incentive. I wonder if this is a result of our society; does anyone think that this idea of reciprocity occurred in the past too? I think that employees now feel a need to be "important" and "wanted" because our culture has become such a me-culture, and in this need to be constantly empowered and encouraged, work ethic is a direct result of incentive. I think that its more of a critique upon this current society that employees can't do positive acts continuously without being rewarded by the company, and I think it's a sad fact that work ethic is no longer as ingrained in us as it was in the past.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Amanda E. It is sad that we work only for reward and recognition. Work ethic is definitely something that has declined overtime. While we might blame this on technology and advancements that lead us to not need to work as hard as one would of had to in the past, it is still a problem. A lot of people work jobs that they absolutely hate but they continue to work them because they need the money and they have no better option. This reciprocation that they get from their company is the only thing that keeps them from quitting. I agree that it is almost impossible to find examples of times when employees work and help their company with no reciprocation back.
ReplyDeleteIn my ROTC Naval Science class, we often discuss examples that involve a leader and followers. Everything that the follow does, in the case that Amanda gives, the employee, has a motive behind it. Now the employee that Amanda tells of is being motivated out of fear. There are other forms of motivation such as using reward. It's knowing which form of motivation that would be most effective for each follower that is the tough part. This shows that reciprocity is not needed for every situation, the main objective is just to complete the goal. In the military, it is important for the leader to inform his or her followers of what they are doing and how it relates to the mission on hand. If a leader can communicate this to his or her enlisted people, most of the time the followers will automatically complete the goals without anything in return.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great question, Amanda. I think that is definitely something that happens, though it may happen much less often than the type of reciprocity we talked about in class. It is just like how sometimes when someone is rejected, it motivates them to do even better because they never want to feel that sense of rejection again. I think for it to be considered reciprocity it has to be mutually beneficial, and in this case the employee wouldn't be benefiting. Nevertheless it is still very interesting to think about.
ReplyDeleteI agree with April, that it would not be considered reciprocity if there are not two good or positive actions involved. And although at first, it may seem like a drawback of our society to always be working for something in your favor, do we do anything in life that we don’t expect to reciprocated? I remember we talked earlier in the semester about how as a class, we didn’t like when we hold doors for people and they don’t say thank you. Even though you don’t purposefully hold the door for someone to hear a thank you, you are being kind and expect the same kindness to be given back to you. Even when you are doing actions that seem selfless, you do because it makes you feel good to help people. That feeling that you gain is incentive for doing good. I don’t think having incentives is necessarily a bad thing for society and that it is impossible to say that people would and should perform equally as well if they did not have these incentives.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that even if someone's company wasn't necessarily doing positive things for them, that person could still do positive for the company; however, it probably would not be out of selflessness because I do not think that people work like that. Personally, if my boss was treating me poorly, I would not stand for that at all- in fact, I would probably be less inclined to do good work for his company unless there was something in it for me. For example, in that situation, the only reason I would do positive things for the company would be if I needed to absolutely keep my job due to tight financial situations or if I needed to support my family. I definitely agree that there is always an incentive when it comes to doing good things for a corporate business.
ReplyDeleteI personally do not believe that most people are willing to work hard at something that does not give them something back in return, whether it be money, a sense of pride, or just something to do. It is even rare to find people who work solely for the pleasure of making others happy, which still gives them a sense of happiness in return. All work opportunities need to offer their employees something in return or no one would take the job. Working hard does not seem beneficial if you are gaining nothing, so I believe that all work needs some form of reciprocity.
ReplyDeleteI think it depends on what you mean Amanda by reciprocity. What if the employee was going above and beyond what was asked of them and they deserved a raise, but the company didn’t give them one? I could see how an employee would go above and beyond in some cases even if they knew they weren’t going to get a raise or bonus. As people have mentioned, above, I can see how someone would stay with a company out of fear or because they need the income for themselves or their family even when they hate their work environment. Sadly, you often can find people like the example easily around you. However, I have also seen an example of someone who has stayed with a company that did not want her there and that did not give her a job really- she had to make up her own job position. I think it is easy to say someone would not stay with a company that did not reciprocate when you first think about it, but then you realize there is more to a job than just an employee and a company. All companies have customers, in some shape or form. Often employees are hired to help provide services or products or some sort of value to the customer through the company. When you add that the mix it can change up things a little. For example, the company might not be treating the employee fairly or not giving them raises, but what if the employee feels they are providing some real value to their customers. What if they feel like they are making a difference in their lives. In that case I could see someone staying at a company. Or what if the person does not like the management or the executives, but likes the impact the company is having on the world. They might stay. Finally, maybe the employee is motivated and wants to stay with company purely for the fact that they want to prove the company wrong or show them what they can do. I think there is more that is considered for an employee just than what the company gives the employee.
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