Why I think corporate employment is one big scam

When I think about society in many African countries I see a small number of elites and a massive number of poor people. The elites are typically politically connected families and individuals who have amassed wealth over the years. Some are self made and have managed to work themselves to a life of comfort from the ground up.

The main objective for the elites is to maintain their status in society. For the politically connected the game is about consolidating power and maintaining the status quo. Ladies and gentlemen I have news for you…corporate employment is just the same!

We are very familiar with the level of inequality in South Africa when it comes to corporate remuneration and the following link is a case in point. Basically those earning the most in a company have a vested interest to remain in their positions and continue earning what they earn for as long as is possible. They will tell employees whatever they think will motivate them or coerce them into delivering results.

The irony never escaped me when I saw employees being denied R500 budgets for farewell functions on leaving the business, while the same executives spent that in 10 minutes of bar tab on their various retreats. Or when cost cutting necessitated the reduction of sales staff, while introducing new layers of leadership at the top.

One of the worst examples I witnessed was when a company I worked for stopped the staff bus service for employees forcing them to rely on public transport. In South Africa lower income employees can spend up to 50% of their income on transport to and from work. The same executive who ordered this change spends a lot more than the cost of a bus servicing 50 people on travel, flights and accommodation. But hey, “we are still a business at the end of the day”.

There are some wonderful exceptions out there too. I recall on the day of the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa we were all leaving the office early so we could watch the big opening game at home. As we were driving out, the CEO stopped his car. He noticed that the security guards on the premises did not have a TV to watch the game on. He went home, got a TV, set it up and then left to go watch the game. He didn’t have to convince anyone that he cared about us after that!

The challenge for any business, however, is that when your leaders have become obsessed with maintaining their status and not with the wellbeing of the ordinary man, the business is destined to struggle. Just like when the South African President was pre-occupied with staying out of jail rather than with the well-being of the general populace. The results are the same.

So where does this leave us. In my view there are two paths open to everyone living within the 300 paycheck world. You either become one of the elites and maintain your status financially and in the organisation, or you decide to maximise your well-being as an ordinary member of some corporate company. Neither path is wrong or right.

I recall the words of Lucky Dube when he said “Be good to the people on your way up the ladder because you find them on your way down”. I hope that as we enter the prime of our careers we will lessen the void between the elites in the organisation and ordinary employees. That we will show genuine compassion and remember the real consequences of the decisions we make quickly and flippantly before making our way back to our comfortable elitist lives. After a “hard” day filled with Powerpoint, Excel and few meetings.

I always say that we must be very suspicious when it is only a company’s leaders that have good things to say about the company. If you get lower level workers raving about your organisation, then in my opinion you are not being scammed. So next time you read a LinkedIn article by an inspirational leader, telling you how proud they are of their own organisation and how it is the best place to work. Be a little bit suspicious. They aren’t trying to do anything that will disrupt their wonderful gravy train.