In our company an internal client of mine, a lady whose work ethic I respected, was promoted to a VP. Ours being a Fortune 500 company, this was a pretty big deal. Since she always worked late, that evening just before leaving work, I walked over to her office to congratulate her. I asked her if she would be moving to the corner office, the one previously held by the person who had the job.
“No, I am not allowed to occupy that office, Ram” she said. “It has two windows. Only Senior VPs can have an office with two windows. I am only being made a VP, not a senior VP. That office is being converted into a conference room. And they will be building me a new office adjacent to it for me, with one window.”
I was surprised that she didn’t see what all corporations are trying to do. They are forever dangling new carrots (a pay raise, a better title, a better office), anything to get their employees to put in more time.
It was like one of Pavlov’s lab dogs figuring out that it was being programmed to salivate. I think I lost quite a bit of my appetite for corporate carrots after that evening.
Ram
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A lesson in exchange for memorable photos
13 years ago
2 comments:
The corporate seems to function on such perks being doled out for rising up the ladder.
What would be one's legacy after lifetime of work is a question worth pondering?
@UK,
I see your point, UK. Here are a couple of arguments for the other side...
One reason to persist in a corporate job for a good number of years is that for many of us, it is the only way to really save up.
And then there a lucky few for whom their corporate job also matches very well with their life passion. For them, their work is their legacy.
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