- a minimal employer obligation;
- a minimum employee obligation;
- extremely tenuous as they are understood today; and
- in need of open consideration and critical discussion.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
When the Social Contract With Your Employer is Broken
Most of us, at some point in our lives, get a job. When we begin work, whether we’re aware of it or not, we initiate a “social contract” with our employer. We have expectations of the employer, and the employer has expectations of us. Expectations, based on role, experience, culture, gender, and a myriad of other factors originate a social contract between the employer and employee.
Social contracts are not new. They have been around since Aristotle and were made famous by Jean-Jacque Rousseau’s book, The Social Contract.
The idea is that in addition to any specific contract we might sign with the employer, we also get an unwritten contract. A written contract might place special terms of employment such as pay levels, vacation policies, and intellectual property rights, into legal form.
The unwritten agreement is called a “social contract.” The social contract assumes particular protections in various matters such as discrimination in terms of gender, race, age, religion, and disability. The social contract includes issues such as: coming to work on time, being respected in the workplace, cooperation, collaboration, and receiving rewards for productivity and creativity. Even an expected “good morning” could be part of an unwritten agreement or “social contract.”
When the social contract is broken (breached), when employers or employees do not fulfill their unwritten social contract obligations, resentment ensues, tensions build, and relationships break down. Breached social contracts are what make working intolerable for many people.
Our new blog is designed to begin a dialog with people in the world who are concerned about human factors in the workplace, and we begin the blog with the idea that, as Arthur Miller once wrote, “Betrayal is the only truth that sticks.” Breached social contracts result in employer and/or employee betrayal. We believe that social contracts in the workplace are:
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15 comments:
The articles says the "contract" works both ways: employer-employee and employee-employer. But I get the feeling that the articles has an employer bias: just another way to get employees to buckle under.
Rob
Hi Rob, IMO, Your comment goes to the heart of the matter. I am not sure I agree with the employer bias interpretaion. There is a false assumption that the relationship is equal, it is not. The term "buckle under" raises issues worth exploring. My first thought would be to ask, What would lead an employer to have to "get employees to buckle under?" This question is one emans of opening the path for analysis of the myriad of factors associated with the employer-employee relationship. I bring to the discussion, a behavioral health care organizational perspective,and the perspective of a clinician as I serve our employees as the Director of Clinical Operations and Quality Assurance. I also have a small private pracice. The employee-employer environment is the treatment environment and must be managed well to produce favorable outcomes, in my circumstance, quality behavioral health care for vulnerable individuals and a safe an healthy work environment for our employees. look forward to others comments as they come in.---RJK
Dear Roger:
Thanks for responding to our Blog and bringing a behavioral perspective to it. I work for CEC Associates, Inc., the sponsors of this Blog. We are Disability Management program specialists, and most frequently we work with individuals who have been injured in the workplace. If you have a chance to read the article attached to the Blog that our President, Dr. Jasen Walker, wrote, you will see that many of our client workers are extremely suspicious of their relationship with their employers. They feel they were “betrayed” and are extremely reluctant to return to work, especially to the workplace in which they were injured. Does this fit with your experience?
Fred Heffner
I can imagine that Rob has been the victim of a breached a social contract at work. I know I have. The problem is that these so-called contracts are not the subject of discussion on a regular basis in any workplace. They're simply assumed, and then when the employer believes they've been broken, then all hell breaks loose. Sort of like a marriage that begins to end when the toothpaste is not squeezed properly.
Hi Fred, sometimes that is the case, though rare as far as we know. I will read the article tonight or tomorrow. What I can say that we have experienced is fraudulent claims, although this is a low number. Most of the workers injured who liked their job in the first place want to return asap, and are devastated when it appears to the contrary. Maybe unique to BHC, I DK. I'll look forward to more dialogue after I read the article. Great blog so far, I encourage you to continue. ---RJK
Going off of anonymous' comment - aren't the employment "assumptions," or as I call them as a fairly new manager, "expectations," what is really at issue here. I know that my employees expect to get a raise just for working with the company - not based on their growth, attendance, etc., but quite simply on their seniority. I as a manager in turn expect my employees to grow and be on time. These expectations are what then can cause strife between me and my employees - especially if I feel that they haven't met my expectations but they still expect that raise.
I've found that the bigger issue around this is whether my employee knows my expectations and if they don't then I need to make sure they are completely clear. Again though, I feel like I'm taking all the responsibility and my employees aren't being at all accountable to me! Any suggestions on how to work on that?
I want to respond to Christina by first saying that I share her frustration and I want her to know I understand it. Christina, keep in mind that you are in a leadership position undoubtedly because you have attributes, abilities, and motivation that some of those around you do not possess or are unwilling to manifest. That alone painfully sets you apart. "It is lonely at the top." If I may provide you with a bit of advice keep in mind that you are leading people and managing tasks. The distinction is important. Remember that the people you lead are probably doing their best at any one point in time given their abilities, attributes, and motivation, things that he may not be able to change. Give them opportunities and perhaps negotiate performance objectives that they can reasonably achieve and make sure that they are objectives that satisfy you. This is a form of social contracting I suppose. If they achieve their objectives, validate them and their achievements. Don't be afraid to fail. I've failed more than I've succeeded. In fact, when all else fails, say the serenity prayer. Under all circumstances, don't feel betrayed as it tends to consume you, at least that has been my experience. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and please contribute again.
Christina,
I also can appreciate and relate to your management struggles.
Another tip might be to communicate very directly with your staff about this issue. Let them know that you want to reward them for growth not only seniority and give them some ideas about what you think each person can do to stretch. It could be something simple, but little steps can eventually bring big changes.
I appreciate your comments Jason and anonymous. The frustration level of managing others is off the charts half the time, and the other half is spent trying to de-stress myself. With the whole betrayal element, I feel more like I'm constantly having to watch my back. As a manager, if I "forget" something that one of my subordinates was responsible for, I'm the one who's still on the chopping block - and I feel that I work with people who just don't care; they're not self-respecting of their own work; they don't value what they do - they just want to get paid.
Christina reflects on a significant problem for most managers - we can try to change ourselves or we can attempt to influence the behavior of our coworkers and subordinates, but sometimes the problem lies within the corporate culture.
We certainly have an appreciation for this more global, organizational problem. The lack of "shared values" is a common problem in most organizations - and here at CEC, we've addressed this in an article written by Fred Heffner a few years ago. There are other articles addressing this on the web, and one in particular is found here.
Managers can do only so much to guide their subordinates toward group achievement. At times, the organization must set the standard.
Litigation in an employment situation is not the result of a workplace accident.
When employees initiate litigation against their employers in terms of workplace injury, it is because they have been betrayed, or have the perception that they were betrayed, by their employers.
Fred
I just discovered your blog, and when I think of human factors and social contracts, I wonder if business and industry is willing to become more "green," given that Al Gore won an Oscar for "an inconvenient truth." Let's face it, unless we do something to turn around global warming or climate change, whatever you want to call it, all social contracts are broken. What does your company know about private sector, business-driven efforts to be more friendly to the environment?
Most employers indicate they do have a Disability Management program in place. What are the components of this kind of program? Where do employers find these components?
Anonymous wrote: "What does your company know about private sector, business-driven efforts to be more friendly to the environment?"
We try to be environmentally responsible both as a company and as private individuals. We have been for some time emailing all of our friends about Laurie David's effort (www.stopglobalwarming.com)and contributing as individuals to that effort. But, we also must admit that we need to know more about what else we can do as a company.
We do, however, see a parallel with our own intense effort to get more employer to understand the need to be responsible in terms of disability management. Our primary effort is on getting other employers to "recycle" employees through Disability Management.
Randy –
If you’re interested in information about Disability Management components, we have an article posted on our web site that I think you’ll find interesting. Additionally, here’s the link to Laurie David’s web site, which is different than the one Fred provided and the correct site for Laurie David's efforts to raise our awareness of global warming.
In a recent article about a town that is going through an "environmental nightmare," the ideas of disability management and being environmentally friendly have a common thread – they are about protection. Whether challenged by an employee's health or air, land, and water, an organization should have shared values around both maintaining employees and saving the environment.
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