Have you ever visited Pity City? You know, the place where you feel sorry for yourself and all your problems? I think we've all been there before.
At Financial Samurai, we accept our situation and take action to make things better. Complaining why life isn't fair is not the Financial Samurai way!
We are all given different strengths and weaknesses. Some of us have serious disabilities to overcome. How we make the most of our differences is what matters. We always fight on!
However, I've never actually been told to go visit Pity City before and then suck it up by someone earning millions of dollars. OK, maybe I have, but not in the way the CEO of MillerKnoll told her employees over a video call.
Don't Live In Pity City You Mendicant Employees!
Have a listen for yourself as she addresses an employee's question about how to stay motivated if they aren't getting any bonuses.
“Don't ask about what are we going to do if we don't get a bonus, go get the damn $26 million! Spend your time and your effort thinking about the $26 million and not thinking about what you are going to do if you don't get a bonus! Alright?! Can I get some commitment for that? I'd really appreciate that.” Andi Owen says.
She goes on to say, “I had an old boss who said to me one time, ‘You can visit Pity City, but you can't live there.' People, leave Pity City and let's get it done! Thank you. Have a great… day.”
Yikes! When your employees are feeling down, the last thing you want to do is piss on them.
Easy To Leave Pity City When You Make Millions Of Dollars A Year
I understand Owen's message about hustling and closing deals, especially in a difficult environment. Managing people, let alone an entire company is hard!
However, it's disturbing to see how easily agitated she gets about lower-paid employees asking about compensation. There must have been some nasty anonymous feedback left for her to speak in such a way.
If you've ever wondered why it's so hard to ask for a raise, responses like this are it! It's even harder to ask for a raise in a face-to-face meeting. But the best time to do so and set expectations is during your formal review.
Andi Owen received $1.29 million in bonuses in 2022 and $1.12 million in 2021. Her total compensation in 2022 was over $5 million. If she gets another seven-figure bonus in 2023, I'm assuming the majority of her employees will look for new jobs.
If Andi Owen received $0 bonus and cut her salary, her rally cry for employees to work harder and not care as much about their compensation would have been better taken. But the MillerKnolls CEO is a top 0.1% earner who makes millions a year.
Oh crap, and I just learned Andi Owen is a fellow William & Mary alumni. Sorry! Most graduates I've met from this fine public institution are quite humble.
Employers Don't Care As Much About You As You Think
The only way public-company CEOs can make million-dollar salaries and multi-million-dollar bonuses is if the company performs well. And the main way companies perform well is if their employees increase productivity.
Hence, your boss cares about employees to the extent that they perform at the highest level. Asking for raises hurts short-term profitability and therefore management compensation.
Yes, there will be team-building events and rally cries to get employees motivated. But the sooner you look beyond the main purpose of these events – to get you to work more for less – the better you'll be.
Most bosses keep their disdain for their employees private. Don't think they aren't talking about layoff plans, productivity schemes, and their disgust for quiet quitters behind closed doors.
Your Job Should Not Be Your Life
In this day and age of cutthroat competition, you must increasingly view your day job as a place for transaction, not for spiritual growth. Your day job is there to mainly make you money so you can have more options to do what you want, and that's mostly it.
Potentially making friends and feeling like you have a purpose at your day job are side benefits. If you receive them, great. But don't expect them.
Conversely, your boss is there to extract as much productivity out of you as possible to make as much money as possible from you.
Do you think the executives who drove Silicon Valley Bank into the ground are volunteering to give up their millions in bonuses earned in 2022? Hell no! They will fight to keep all their compensation despite causing financial hardship for their employees.
Employees must think more like management. If you work for a for-profit company, everybody's main goal is to make as much money as possible.
Employees Must Continuously Fight For Their Compensation
You would be naive to think you're simply going to get paid and promoted for doing good work. Meritocracy is declining, while office politics is increasing. You need to continuously sell yourself internally as much as you sell yourself externally to get paid what you deserve.
After every review, you must highlight your accomplishments and the value you have provided to your company. Then come up with an agreed-upon path to get paid a certain amount and promoted by a certain date, if various objectives are hit.
A written plan is a must to hold your managers accountable.
Employees are really only as good as the value they can bring to a company. If that value falls below their compensation level, the employee faces the risk of a layoff.
Negotiating A Severance Package Is A Must
Today, it is exceedingly rare for an employee to remain with one firm for their entire career and receive a pension upon retirement. The average person changes jobs every three-to-five years. And each time they change jobs presents an opportunity to negotiate a severance package.
Given the transactional nature of work, the nature of a severance negotiation implies that an exiting employee provides value in lieu of receiving a severance.
This value can be in the form of cost savings, training a replacement, not going to a competitor, and/or not airing any company secrets. The last thing a company wants is a disgruntled employee writing a tell-all article in a major publication about shady things that were going on inside the firm.
As recent mass layoffs over e-mail at large tech organizations have shown, there's not a lot of empathy that goes into laying employees off. Laying people off is difficult given the emotional element involved. The more an employee can help with the layoff process, the likely better the severance package.
Don't get too emotionally attached to your job.
The people who tell me, “Sam, but I could never do that to my employer and negotiate a severance,” are the same people who are too weak to fight for their pay and promotion. As a result, they get passed over for the people who do.
Soon after you leave your job, you will be replaced. Your old bosses and colleagues will forget all about you.
Cognitive Dissonance Is Real Among The Rich And Powerful
As I've written in the past, no matter how rich you get, you often never feel rich because other people have more. If other people have more, you convince yourself you're not rich because you've worked so hard for your money.
Endless comparison with other households creates this constant anxiety that's hard to quell. Even if you're earning multiple six-figures a year, you might not feel like you are earning enough.
Here's a fascinating survey that highlights the United States' real and perceived income gap. In 2022, a survey of respondents believed 19% of the U.S. population earned more than $500,000, a top 1% income.
Accept The Reality Of Work
I hope all employees fight to get the best pay possible. If you do, you will boost your chances of reaching financial freedom sooner. If you don't, you may end up bitter as you work way longer than you should.
The reality is, nobody will care more about your finances than you. Loyalty is an excellent trait. But loyalty also goes both ways. If your CEO is making mega-millions while paying you peanuts and talking to you in a condescending manner, you've got to leave!
Don't spend the best decades of your life working for an organization that takes you for granted. If you do, you will look back with regret.
Reader Questions and Suggestions
How often do you visit Pity City? When you get there, what do you do and how long does it take for you to leave? Have you ever been hypnotized by management to stay for lower pay while they get paid huge sums of money? Is company loyalty dead?
Learn how to get paid to quit your job by reading the latest edition of How To Engineer Your Layoff. It will teach you how to negotiate a severance so you have a financial buffer to do what you really want. Use the promo code ‘saveten‘ to save $10.
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The most productive thing I ever did was accepting total responsibility for every outcome in my life and never blaming others. It clarifies, strips away excuses, and forces you to take action in a positive way.
When you get an unattractive outcome, ask yourself “What could I have done differently?” You don’t control others’ behavior or circumstances, but you do control your own actions. It’s incredible power if you tap it and take responsibility.
Simple example is people blaming traffic for being late to an interview. I would *never* hire these people. They are powerless, blaming circumstances for their failure to get results.
Someone who takes total responsibility for outcomes would realize traffic may be a problem and leave home with extra margin of time to account for it. They are powerful.
This is about the same time I realized “My boss/company do not give a damn about me” (was still in corporate world at this time). Literally zero. Your boss owes you nothing. If you feel you’ve been mistreated or not rewarded properly, the only recourse is to change jobs. No whining.
Take full responsibility for everything. It’s painful at first, but quickly becomes liberating and empowering.
Love it. Taking responsibility is liberating and empowering indeed. Don’t depend on anybody else. If someone does help, great. If not, it doesn’t matter because you are focused.
I was born and raised in Pity City, so I only get out on vacation once in awhile!
I’m happy for all of you who only get to visit every now and then.
“Employers Don’t Care As Much About You As You Think”
It is always been that way in the USA. Why do you think the USA is one of the least worker-friendly countries in the world ever since it got its independence? It is another reason to have unions, worker coops, put workers on the board of directors, and have a strong government from the city to the federal level to put the wealthy people and corporations in their place.
I also blame many people who constantly voted against their economic interests and who support an unregulated capitalist system for the last 43 years and now, their kids and grandkids are paying the price.
Freedom is not about your individual economic interests!
Communism and Socialism are by design the reduction of individual freedom for the acceptance of mediocrity and regulatory grafting of all the citizens to support the most wealthy!
As a manager at a non-profit I read a lot of quiet quitter and anti-work type posts. We are not as cutthroat as some places seem to be, but we still have deadlines and productivity quotas to meet and I will say that motivating and managing people is hard (because they make it hard).
I like your blog but I do disagree with this post in that your managers often do care about employees as people. The caveat here is that company CEOs.are.often disconnected from the bottom rung employees but many mid-level.managers are invested in their success and know how hard it is to find and retain quality people.
Based on this my opinion is that it is not that hard to be successful in the work environment. You are correct that it is not 100% a meritocracy and that politics plays a role, but what are politics? I would say in a lot of cases it is being likeable and easy to work with. You can be known as someone who gives your coworkers and even leadership a hard time and always seems critical of policies, or you can be someone who has enough emotional self-control to maintain space for others and keeps conversation light and friendly. Policies aren’t meant to hammer productive employees but are really more of a guard rail for employees who are out of control.
I had an employee once who was always needing to be talked “off the ledge” by others and I suggested to this person that instead of pursuing more technical qualifications they sign up for a low impact team sport like pickleball.
A lot of life is about keeping things in perspective. Another example of this that rings truer and truer to me over time is the movie Office Space when the main character stops worrying about what others think of him and starts speaking with honesty to senior leadership.
“motivating and managing people is hard” agree. And I also agree about mid-level managers like yourself caring about the employees more b/c you interact with them day-to-day.
I have to imagine public company pressure to perform is higher than non-profit company pressure though. When your stock is underperforming for all shareholders and the world to see, the knives come out.
Go pickleball!
Having experience in non-profit, for profit public, and for profit private I have felt the similarities and differences. In all three the people you work with all seem to care for one another. The major differentiator is that, in a for profit public company, each person is ultimately just an employee number on a spreadsheet. Your assessment is spot on when viewed as the C level folks.
I’ve worked for a number of gov’t agencies and both large and very large corporations.
The problem I saw was that the people most familiar with me and my work had virtually zero input into my compensation, promotion, or retention.
Your bosses, peers, and subordinates can all believe you are the best thing since sliced bread (and maybe even be right), but if the promotion board is by a committee clear across the country with no direct knowledge of the thousands of candidate files they are perusing, good luck.
Somewhat related to that, at any largish employer, the moment the numbers turn negative (or not high enough), layoffs will occur and, again, these selections are often made by people with no knowledge of who they are laying off, they are simply reducing the payroll. These layoffs are selected by many criteria, geo-location, level of management, department, product or service division, industry, salary relative to others, age (whether they admit it or not). The missing part is what a great employee you are.
The point being, in organizations this size, it is all a numbers game, and even if it works for the employer (when it does) when averaged on the large scale, you are an individual.
Unless you want to trust to luck, you really have to regard yourself as something of an independent contractor–although that in no way justifies giving less than your best–providing you are being compensated for it, and if you aren’t, you need to redefine things or move on.
But just as your employer won’t give you any hint you are going until the layoff comes, you probably shouldn’t give them any hint you are going until you already have that next job expecting you. Digression: And never, ever, accept a counteroffer to stay — unless, of course, they are countering with a corner office and a golden parachute, ha, and maybe not even then.
And, seriously, be very cognizant (situational awareness) of what happens to people who give two weeks notice; a lot of places will have them walked out the door right then, others will ensure they get all the worst duties for the remainder of their time. Some few will throw you a party on your last day and wish you well. Don’t count on that–but if that’s what they do, you should play nice, too. In all events, try to be professional. Don’t be naïve, bitter, or angry.
It’s kinda like when driving in the real world rather than in driver’s training. You are taught in school to go the speed limit to be safe(r), whereas, in reality, you need to pay attention to how fast the other drivers are going and drive at that speed to be safe(r). Otherwise you might even get run over.
Tuppy,
I agree that motivating and managing people is hard because they intentionally make it hard!
My wife and I owned and operated a franchise restaurant.
We went through the hiring process and after 6 months we had hired 22 employees and had settled out on 11.
During this process it became apparent very quickly who was interested in being employed and who was interested in receiving a paycheck.
Because my wife and I both were Mainstays at the restaurant the employees who did not want to work were identified and through meaningful positive communication were encouraged to develop better working habits for which most opted to leave.
The remaining 11 were appreciative of our commitment towards them and through our shared labor with them.
It is difficult for poor performers to convince their peers that the boss is being unreasonable or unfair with their assignments or expectations when they themselves are equally involved in those tasks.
By this assessment 50% of the labor force is comprised of people with ill intentions and 50% is comprised of people willing to work.
On average the restaurant industry has a 250% annual turnover, we sold the Franchise store and 10 of 11 employees were still working for the new owners a year later and the one that left had moved to another state with her fiancé.
Leadership is easy, get rid of unethical people and keep the ones with integrity even if they have lesser skills.
You can teach all skills necessary for your employee to be successful and you can demonstrate preferred behavior!
You cannot influence evil character once it has been developed, get rid of it or it will destroy the morale of your entire team!
I agree with comments about the the pity city CEO. But it does work both ways. I am a physician with a small work force. Years ago when starting my practice, I implemented a generous defined contribution plan for my employees. Financial advisors warned me this was not a good idea, would have huge benefits for employees and not much for me. My response to him was if someone was with me for 25 years , I want them to walk away with something. After 25 years, the advisor was correct it was more for my employees and quit honestly there has not been too much loyality. I am sure there are two sides to every story, but a small business needs to be careful.
Employers Don’t Care As Much About You As You Think
No surprise here. People (some people) care about people, but chances are you work for an organization. Organizations are not people. Don’t be fooled by the fact they appear to be made out of people, even if they are, in general, pretty decent people. The organization itself has about the same amount of personal loyalty as an amoeba.
Looking back, those team-building events don’t give you much to support your family with, not to mention all the little engraved plaques for employee of the month, or team of the quarter, or whatever. I always had scads of those.
And here’s another thing. They might know for months they are going to let you go, but they will typically give you no inkling until the day they call you into HR. They don’t want you to leave until they are ready for you to leave, regardless of whether that may leave you unemployed and hunting for work when it might have been quite possible, with advance notice, to leave on a Friday and start at a new employer on Monday.*
The first time I got laid off, after twelve years of ridiculous levels of loyalty. I made a vow to myself that I would never work for anyone else ever again. When I mentioned this to a coworker, he told me I was unrealistic and would no doubt have other jobs. I informed him that, yes, I would be compensated with a salary again, but the difference was this: I would forever after consider myself to be a contractor, my loyalty would be to myself and my family. And I would stay or go strictly on what seemed most beneficial to me. It’s just business, right?
That wouldn’t make it a bad deal for whoever was paying me. That my obligations to them would be realized due to my devotion to my own professionalism, rather than loyalty to them, would not and did not alter the quality of my work.
It might be okay to be somewhat emotionally attached to your career, but never to your job.
* One personal exception to prove the rule? The local managing director was pretty peeved at corporate for expanding too quickly and overextending itself, then decreeing a nationwide layoff across all offices, even though our city was quite profitable (yes, it’s crazy, what I said about amoebas can also describe decision-making sometimes). In that case, she told me I was laid off, then bonused me 50% pay to stay until the current client project I was on was complete. Two months later I turned in my laptop on a Friday and started across the street at my next employer (with a substantial increase in salary) the following Monday. The original employer was shutdown within a year and those of us that had worked there stayed in touch, and even had an “alumni” lunch or dinner every quarter for years afterwards. Everyone that I knew of (know of, thank you LinkedIn) went on to do quite well in their careers.
Gadzukes, lady charm turned on a dime!
Her message delivery at the onset is decent. She then flipped to mother of Dragons! That was totally awesome! Humility goes a long way. She might want to look up the definition.
Be well.
Be water my friend
Jeff
LOL.. ah, you made me chuckle. I’m sure she was getting some nasty anonymous comments from employees that sounded like they were whining. At the same time, it’s better to stay calm and not show disdain for all to see.
Her employees should definitely leave pity city and get it done by looking for another job!!
I used to get angry at employers with CEOs like Andi Owens who would say something like this.
But honestly… Now I’m mad at employees who don’t pursue FIRE so that they can leave the workforce and bad employers like Andi Owens behind.
As COVID showed, employers don’t pay more because you deserve it, the company’s doing well, or you deliver record value to your company.
Employers pay more when you cut off the supply of employees.
More and more people should pursue financial independence! Bad employers would have no workers and good employers would have plenty!
Yes. Sadly, loyalty is fading. The world is simply way too competitive not to make the hardest choices in the name of profitability anymore.
The more experienced the employee, the more they will realize the realities of business. Once you get let go the first time or see your company underperform or collapse, your outlook changes.
I definitely am bracing to get laid off this year.
My current company, I would never take it personally.
I would still want them to succeed and would do things to help them succeed.
The only company who I’ve truly felt loyal towards, so far.
I have a feeling I’ll feel the reality of businesses this year.
This is funny. It made me think back to a time many years ago when I made one of the boldest moves I ever made career wise. We were called in for a substantial multifaceted meeting by the vice president and a general production manager. It turned into an hour long bash of the staff, the region, US regulatory policy, Chinese regulatory policy and anything that wasn’t him specifically. At the end of it, I stood up, turned to my manager and said, “Sold! He’s completely convinced me that there’s no future in this rotten company! I quit.” My manager, also a friend of mine, said he wished he had the nerve but couldn’t bring himself to do it. That was a Thursday. I was gone the next day. Best move I’ve ever made made.
Hah! Love it! Bold move! What did you end up doing next?
I geo arbitraged. I moved three states west to what was then a much less expensive state and started teaching again. Now with a paid off house from the proceeds of the sale. Over the years adding a few rental properties. Now no mortgages and a pension. Since I worked construction from when I was young, and during the summers and Christmas breaks when teaching, I’ve gone back into it. I work for a friend three weeks on one week off. I thoroughly enjoy it. Zero pressure and 58.
Sarge54, Thanks for sharing this story. Made me LOL!!! I’m part of a Toastmasters club and have been keeping an eye out for funny stories to share since there is always a “Funny Story” segment at every meeting. I’m definitely going to be sharing yours!
Have at it. Lol
lady-tech-bro.
Another nice one FS, and hints of the exploitation principle of Marxism, probably why some don’t like your article.
But yeah, company loyalty is dead. I work for a major corporation with a powerful union. Since going public they have cut bonuses (salary when hired, bonuses when they take them away), lowered pay, turned health insurance over to us (HDHP?), ended our pension, cut head count twice and refused us raises.
Some of this may be necessary- in hard times a company’s gotta live, too. But when times got good- they took on more debt (also took govt. bailouts so my money again), raised the dividend and increased contract wages while we went through Covid and post Covid with avg. 2.75% raises, and we all know the salary structure here so we know the raises for lower management.
Reciprocity is no longer name of game. If you want that, start your own company- it’s get what you can because I guarantee they’re getting theirs.
“ If you want that, start your own company- it’s get what you can because I guarantee they’re getting theirs.”
Yes, if you believe in your own abilities, then, running your own business, is the best way to go. Nobody to blame or reward but yourself!
The chart doesn’t add up to 100% on the right side.
Or the left side either. But they don’t have to add up to 100%.
Thanks for another great article!
I recently missed a chance to negotiate a severance in December 2022 but the increase at the new job was almost double my old base pay. Starting this new job made me realize that I was doing too much for not enough. It is definitely best to keep looking for better opportunities. My only reservation now is if my wife wants to live where the work is. If you’ve got an article about convincing a spouse to move I’ll gladly read and use that too.
Congrats! Are you saying you work remotely? Why does your wife want to work where the work is?
I have an entire chapter about where to work for max pay in Buy This, Not That.
Sam,
I’m not personally big on rental RE, but I think this article has convinced me to start buying hard in Pity City and renting the hell out of them.
Because too many people spend their whole life there. Right off Woulda-Shoulda-Coulda street.
I’ve only visited pity city once in my 18 years working for the same employer. I’ve gone through 4 bosses during this time. The incident happened two years ago when my newest boss was hired. I think he was trying to set the tone by telling me to produce a report in two days when it would normally take five days. I tried my best but when I couldn’t get it done on time, I kindly told him the timeline was unreasonable and he was fine with me taking the five days needed. As an experienced professional, I knew my worth and that I could easily get a job elsewhere. To my surprise, I was the only one that received a merit raise bonus a year later from this same boss.
I absolutely believe that I should control what I can and let the rest of it go. This belief has been fabulous for living a stress free life.
Nice job standing up for yourself in the workplace! Having the confidence to do so is something I hope all readers can adopt.
I wish that more women would know their worth. I was at a conference last week and connected with a couple of friends that I made in my industry over the last four years. They are smart (one was valedictorian), outgoing, and some of the nicest people I know. At dinner, they were asking how I was doing and I told them “Great, now that I’ve stopped giving a damn. Funny that this has actually allowed me to excel at work.” Naturally, I asked them when it was that they stopped giving a damn and these strong, capable, and seemingly confident women said that they still struggle with going after the promotions and careers that they really want. These women are so much smarter than I’ll ever be so I was shocked by their lack of confidence. As any good friend would do, I’m going to make sure to keep encouraging them to go for what they so deserve.
Ouch, I’d be so offended if I worked for her. Being a CEO is not an easy job by any means, but man that’s one nasty way to speak to your employees.
There was one senior manager at a firm I worked with who was a total a-hole and constantly barked at us in a similar tone as Owen. One day we were watching a pivotal moment of the World Cup cheering on our team when he came in and curtly yelled at us for not being at our desks. Sure, we were watching on company time, but he didn’t have to yell at us.
We all hated his guts after that. He could have reasoned with us in a calm, civilized manner and said something like, “wow what a close game! Ok guys, you can 2 more minutes and then please head back to your desks. We can all catch the highlights after work.” But he didn’t, and his irate outburst will stick in our memories forever. What a crappy way to be remembered!
Fortunately he left not too long after that!
Yeah, what a grinch. World Cup happens once every four years. What an amazing event to bring colleagues together. I used to take clients out for lunch and World Cup games almost every day during the World Cup. I was the boss and it was a BLAST!
Built great relationships during the process. So fun.
So you were watching a game DURING office hours and got offended with your boss because he got angry? How about asking him if you could see it BEFORE the game. Im sure he would have accepted or negotiated something.
All work stops for World Cup. Sorry, If you just don’t get it. Soccer is the best game in the world. Futbol is life!
Ohh but i get it; my colleagues and myself got to watch a lot of games WITH our boss and sometimes some of the directors. How? we planned in advance, asked them if it was ok (giving them their due respect), and we stayed a little extra time to compensate for watching games and we all had a great time.
What i trully dont get is the entitled attitude im reading in many of the comments
I think the general attitude is to ask for forgiveness, not permission. Unless it’s a factory line or guard tower, sitting in a cubicle is not usually contributing to the goal of a business. If most of the time the office has a decorum of professionalism, then what’s the big deal if some guys watch football from time to time? The manager’s behavior is rash, patronizing, and disrespectful to his reports. Is this the way he wants his boss to treat him?
If the person who’s watching the game already had his work done for the day because he wanted to see it, and at the same time wanted to be reachable during watching the game, he is actually contributing even while not being at the cubicle. If he goes to the manager for permission to leave the cubicle even when the job is done, he’s just wasting the manager’s time.
If the guy is slacking off and can’t meet his deadlines, it’s his problem – the consequence needs to be accepted.
It’s best to behave respectfully to co-workers, no matter what role that person is filling at the moment.
I find it interesting that a person could be done with their work!
I have never in my life been able to get all the work that needed to be done completed!
That’s why it’s called work and why I continuously get paid to come in every day.
I agree with Steve on this thread,
Futbol in Europe Sure!
Football in the U. S. Sure!
Futbol in the U. S. Get real!
Ask for permission or risk not getting forgiveness!
Collective Cowards should never be supported!
You are paid to be productive at the direction of your supervisor!
If you can sit with your peers and openly complain about your boss it is clearly your group that is the problem.
Thanks for all of your insight very good content. I finally decided to negotiate a severance and move on this year after 15 years in corporate America. I’ll either move into a better situation and get paid three times (severance, new active income, passive income), or I will have a very enjoyable summer traveling and focusing on family and health. Either way I feel great as I am in control of my life.
Congrats! Negotiating a severance is the best as getting paid to leave a job you no longer enjoy feels amazing.
It is so much better to control your exit than get laid off by surprise one day.
“go get the damn $26 million!”
I’m confused. Isn’t this kind of her job to lead the rest of the company into situation to make that money? I’ll definitely leave if anyone talks to me like that.
$26 million definitely is an impressive order to land if you are a sales person. But that definitely sounds like more of an order size appropriate for C level executive.
If you bass a sales person’s earnings off 10% of the value of the order, that’s a $2.6 million bonus.
You’d be doing your employer a favor. Wimps make bad salespeople. You can’t take that abuse? How can you be expected to take the abuse of a tough sit, a hard call, a bad month?
This post seemed a bit whiny and snowflakey. Business is hard. It’s not her job to softshoe it for grown up 6 and 7 figure earners.
There’s no whining at all. Take action and leave as the solution if you don’t like a situation. Because if you don’t, you will be filled with bitterness and regret.
Yes, we all saw Glen Garry, Glen Ross.
Certainly one of Alec Baldwin’s finest performances. But it’s a movie, not real life.
Is this a joke? The company is composed of more than sales people, like designers, engineers, and manufacturing.
I’m not in sales and make a very good living out of it, and it doesn’t involve selling my dignity. There are plenty of companies that create value without abuse. You don’t have to have such mentality to live a good life. What the CEO demonstrated is a bad leadership, and it’ll hurt the company, both in terms of reputational damage and employee engagement.
If you are true non-“snowflakey” person as you say, I challenge you to question your “tough business” world view. Being employed doesn’t necessarily mean you are a wage slave. You have a choice. Don’t buy into their BS.
Nice. Quoting Alec Baldwin, “Glenn Garry Glenn Ross”….
“Coffee’s for closers”.
Because you feel entitled to have a personal license to destroy anything that might be considered a legitimate argument for increased productivity!
Likely because you have a pathetic excuse of a mommy that will ensure you at least get food on your table!
Communistic thoughts like yours are disgusting!
Can an unbiased American chime in on this?