Why do people use "people are only doing their jobs for a paycheck" as some kind of an indicator that things are getting bad or worse? People doing their jobs just for a paycheck is how things are supposed to work. What else would you be doing it for? Some people have weird expectations when it comes to their jobs...
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I hadn't seen the word Goldbrick in years! Thanks.
i fear the culture is no more at bofa. It has eroded a decade ago with the mass influx of offshoring and bringing in visa workers.
by and large people here are doing it for a paycheck with the decisions the mgt team has stream rolled through the past few years as well.
An important rule of thumb to always keep in mind: only show an employer the same loyalty they show to their employees (not yourself personally).
Does an employer utilize a lot of contract labor? That indicates a low commitment of loyalty to their workforce. Being willing to hire as FTEs the vast majority of their workforce would indicate a high commitment of loyalty to their workforce.
Does an employer dismiss a certain number or percentage of workers on a regular basis? This indicates an attitude of dismissiveness towards their workforce: they believe most everyone is easily replaceable, some right now, everyone else in the future. If an employer seeks to work with low performers or unmotivated people, that would indicate a high level of regard for their workforce as people.
Observe, learn, and respond with equity.
Perhaps some of us get satisfaction and enjoyment from doing something well. Doing a job that suits personality and skills.
Working for a paycheck is a sad way to move through life. Most folks are going to work into their sixties. Doing that just to obtain a paycheck doesn't won't be very fulfilling. As you will work more than anything else during the prime of life, it would be wise to seek out something better than just collecting a check.
Companies that develop that kind of culture are doomed. No one cares enough of about the quality of work or their customers. Cultural death spirals ki-l companies.
Everyone has a dream. They all see themselves doing something better. It’s a defense mechanism so they can justify their meager existence.
The statement and discussions around it really don't highlight the sliding scale around an individuals motivation to work. It's not all or nothing between doing the bare minimum for a paycheck and extreme altruistic volunteer work. People can be there for the paycheck, enjoy their coworkers, find some sense of purpose and not fully buy into the culture (sometimes cult culture, we're a family, work hard play hard, we're on a mission). This isn't the 1950's where people worked one job their whole life to retire after 50 years of service. There's a lot of nuance to why people work and inherently there's nothing wrong with working just for a paycheck because trading resources for other resources is as old as time itself.
"People are only doing their jobs for a paycheck" - people like me. I'm not making long term plans to be here. I'm not imputing more into my job than required to get a paycheck. I'm doing as little as possible to only receive a paycheck. This is different than when I started 10+ years ago. Back than, I wanted to participate, innovate, and make on overall difference. Those days have long passed, now I'm only here for the paycheck....
This is because they can usually get more performance out of people who are there because they've got drive to be their. People just there for the paycheck will only do basic tasks and probably gold brick a lot (I do that). No innovation, no drive to perform better, just keep things running well enough to keep their manager off their back.
You can have an industry run like this for about five years before it collapses. This is ultimately why they're freaking out. If nobody in an organization actually wants to do the job EVEN if you are paying them well the place will fall apart.