Tamara Stinson 6/12/12 COMM 635- Organizational and Employee Identity Reflection Paper

The social contract between employers and employees has changed dramatically. Until recently, loyalty was the cornerstone of the employer-employee relationship. Employers promised job security and a steady progress up the hierarchy in return for employees fitting in, performing in prescribed ways and sticking around. Longevity was a sign of good employeremployee relations; turnover was a sign of dysfunction. None of these assumptions apply today. Long gone are the days of employees holding on to the old assumptions about one of the most critical relationship of all: the implied, unwritten contract between employer and employee. Organizations can no longer guarantee employment and lifetime careers, even if they want to. What kind of a new contract can employers and employees make with each other? The central idea can be both simple and powerful: the job or position is a shared situation. Employers and employees face market and financial conditions together and the longevity of the partnership depends on how well the organization continues to meet the needs of its stakeholders. Neither employer nor employee has a future obligation to the other. Employers train employees without financially investing in them. Employees develop the kind of security they really need skills, knowledge and capabilities that enhance future employability. The partnership can be dissolved without either party considering the other a traitor with the option of returning after the employees skills are honed elsewhere. One of the main struggles for organizations today is the ability to maintain a coherent identity with the influx of short-term employees. Even in a down economy organizations struggle

with high employee turnover, diminished performance, lost training dollars and low morale. So how can employers maintain a coherent identity and increase employee retention? Employee engagement! Of course, money speaks volumes but compensation alone is not enough to keep the highly skilled, motivated and experienced employees organizations needs to excel. Google is a great example of employee engagement. Along with the perks of stock options, to the opportunity to spend 20 percent of your time working on special projects, the free on-site gym, laundry services, car wash, day care, concierge and free delectable food and gourmet snacks just to name a few, the companys corporate philosophy and culture permeates the organization and engages and inspires all who come into contact with the company. Its a lifestyle, and one that seems to be particularly appealing to the millennial generation. The primary behaviors of engaged employees are speaking positively about the organization to coworkers, potential employees and customers, having a strong desire to be a member of the organization and exerting extra effort to contribute to the organization's success. Engaged employees will stay with the company, be an advocate of the company and its products and services and contribute to bottom line business success. Engaged employees also normally perform better and are more motivated. Employee engagement is a critical component to any organization that seeks not only to retain valued employees, but also increase its level of performance. Maintaining a coherent identity can also be a struggle for employees. With the increase of technology and social media, theres little difference between the hours of 9am-to-5pm and 5pmto-9am. The separation between work-life and personal-life is becoming non-existent. Companies like Google thrive at keeping employees engaged at (sometimes) all costs but there is a downside: burnout.

In Elsewhere, USA Conley says Americans has entered a new state of mind where in which we are constantly moving; We are slinging nothing but ideas and giving up leisure time to do it; We are working from home but are always available to the company via Blackberry and other mobile devices. He says that our personal identity is being pulled apart by millions of messages, constant state of motion and distraction that takes you anywhere and everywhere but here. As a result of this Conley argues our personal identities have become watered down and fragmented with less engagement to the outside world. We get so used to this state of always looking for the next thing we must do/have/say/be, we never look inward. We get splintered into many different roles, shattering our one individual into what he calls an intravidual. We are almost never present. How can employees maintain a coherent identity in an ever-changing world when companies are more demanding than ever? First we have to define our identities for ourselves. Identities are lost and striped away from us by change, a constant in life that cannot always be controlled. The social construction of reality in todays marketplace is that work trumps leisure. Google has mastered employee engagement with fun perks but at what cost to the personal identities of its employees? We have allowed the roles we play to define who we are as a person when it should be the other way around. The art of balance has been lost. When we feel balanced in our own lives, our sense of identity is not threatened just because circumstances have changed. In order for employees to successfully juggle professional and personal identities without experiencing early burnout is to redefine the lines of work and leisure. There has to be a healthy balance of the two to ensure that the health and personal lives of todays workers would do not continue on the pathway of a downward spiral.

In the Harvard Business Review, Peter Cappelli argues bringing the Organizational Man model back help employers and employees alike maintain a coherent identity? Can the Organizational Man model survive in todays workforce? With the current state of todays economy teaming an organization that provides long tenures, guaranteed upward mobility and loyalty with a fully engaged employee seems like the recipe for a championship winning team but in todays reality it is more reminiscent of a fantasy. Yes, organizations want to maintain a coherent identity with highly skilled and dedicated employees but without the investment. While maintaining an innovative and convenient work culture can help with employee engagement and retention, its not the only piece of the pie. A lot of organizations are not willing to invest in the professional development of its employees. They want to be able to switch out talent at a moments notice to fill skill gaps instead of growing talent internally. Organizations worry about not having the specialized skills they need, yet stall on offering real professional development due to budget concerns or a fear that employees will take those skills elsewhere. More organizations are using less employees in the traditional sense and more temporary talent or specialized professionals, someone with a specific skill that they invest little in, in return for a particular service without the long-term commitments. Jobs have become more of a stop on the trail for the modern day, specialized-professional nomad rather than a long-term, stable place of employment. Todays workforce goes against the core value of the Organizational Man model. It asks professionals and organizations to commit to something that both parties are not willing to commit back: loyalty. Todays workforce has shifted from Organizational Man to the Gig Economy. The new social contract has redefined the term career from long and steady employment with one company to a potpourri of experiences and titles with multiple companies. At the core of every

organization and individual should be a firm set of values and beliefs; an identity that cannot be shifted even in a world of constant change. The flexibility to adjust to unforeseen circumstances and the ability to balance will help to keep organizational and professional identities coherent. As a professional I feel we need to be our own men and women and identify as such. Loyalty, hard work and quality of product are not determined by how committed you are to an organization, but how committed you are to being a valuable contributor in this world. Wrapping your professional and/or personal identity up with one organization is a recipe for a vocational identity crisis. I will admit, being a Googler seems like it would be a cool experience but Im not interested in eating, sleeping and breathing Google. In todays marketplace its important that I take control of my professional brand. Instead of being an employee in the traditional sense, I see it beneficial that I view myself as more of a consultant, freelancer or entrepreneur; even if I continue to work in a traditional, full-time position. With companies operating under a new social contract, professionals really need to create the stability that the current marketplace doesnt provide anymore. By taking control of my own professional brand I will be more adaptable to change and able to keep my career buoyant, today, tomorrow and whatever the rapidly changing economy throws at us next. Being in control of my own career identity gives me the sense that I am in the drivers seat of my work life and it has nothing to do with where Im are working, who Im working for or what Im doing. It comes from something less tangible: accepting and embracing that my professional power and stability comes from me, not a company. My goal is to develop myself as an individual professional, take responsibility for my career paths, do great work and be prepared and perhaps even excited for change.

References Cappelli, P. (2012). Bring back the organizational man. Harvard Business Review. http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/03/bring_back_the_organization_ma.html. Conley, D. (2010). Everywhere U.S.A: How we got from the company man, family dinners, and the affluent society to the home office, blackberry moms, and economic anxiety. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Conley, L. (2008). Obsessive branding disorder: The business of illusion and the illusion of business. New York: Public Affairs. Edwards, D. (2011). Im feeling lucky: The confessions of Google employee number 59. Boston: Mariner Books.