a fish out of water

In a democracy, citizens have the right to choose their leaders by means of voting.  One downside in a democracy is that leaders are chosen by the majority, inevitably because of popularity.  That is why we had Estrada for a president.  A corporation is not run like a democracy.  Employees cannot choose their leaders.  And this should not be so.  Corporate leaders are not chosen because they are popular.  They are not chosen by the majority.  They are chosen because of their merits, skills and talents.  So i am often amazed when corporate leaders start playing politics.  I wonder why there is still the need to play politics when they have the skills and talents suited for their position?  This play is observable when you look at the symptoms.  You see it when people get into huddle and discuss items in a very hush manner like it is the crucial minutes of a basketball game, discloses it to almost everyone, getting buy-in from almost anyone but getting suggestions from just a few, saying one thing to one and another thing to the other, changing decisions as quick and as often as necessary, giving it the name "proactive" while advocating the mantra "open to change", encouraging people to participate, creating an image of "i am listening" and acting the attitude of "i don't care".

Office politics is a different kind of beast.  It is more difficult to understand office politics than to observe office policies.  It is tricky to entangle because once you involve yourself in it, you may end up trapped in its complexities.  And you may end up saying "my hands are tied", to borrow a common phrase by my boss.

Employers should not wonder when there is a high attrition rate. They should not expect loyalty from their employees if loyalty is not given much value by them. Where companies require only the best from its employees, those who get the best from outside means two things. Either they were not able to train within, or they fear to risk what they have at hand. But it is difficult to have the best of both worlds, that of having low attrition and getting the best from outside. If you drag a bait in the lake, by chance you may get the rarest of rare among the fish. But don't forget to nurture your pond.

Is our company playing this kind of game?  i hope not.  This is not something easy to prove.  For someone to say that he is definitely sure of it happening, he needs to to have enough, concrete and explicit examples to prove.  i don't have, so i won't.  At least not in this blog lest i be accused of nitpicking.  Or else, i may end up eating my words, or being dismissed by what i write.

Lastly, i read from Philippians 2:14 to "do everything without complaining or arguing." I am just writing my observations, but if i appear to be griping or complaining, i hope to be told about it.  In fact i am much thankful to God about a lot of things.  When i see the crowd of applicants lining up in hours, waiting for their turn to be called for interview, i thank God for giving me work, for having a challenging job, and best of all, having the dearest of staff i have ever worked with, patiently riding along with my idiosyncracies.  However, this doesn't guarantee that i will stay long.  I currently love my job, not necessarily the company, but more so the people i'm supervising, and some of the employees i interact with.  But when God nudges me to go, consider me a fish out of water.