what do we owe our employees?

As executives at a publicly traded company, what do we owe our employees? In this day and age, some executives might believe we do not owe our employees anything other than a paycheck. But I believe our obligations to our employees go far beyond a simple paycheck. In fact, there are at least three obligations I believe an organization owes the individual.

First, I believe we owe our employees a clean, safe work environment free from harassment of any kind. Employees need access to the tools and information to do their job well. And their environment should be conducive to performing their work functions.

Second, I believe we owe our employees the benefit of smart decisions. At the end of the day, employees need to believe that their management team is making correct decisions, smart decisions. And they need to know their executives are managing by fact rather than emotion.

Third, I believe employees deserve the basic respect due all individuals. One manifestation of this respect is valuing an individual’s contribution to the greater good. It is true that each of us performs a function in return for compensation – money is why we work. But employees often place value on more than simple compensation. Employees want to understand how their job fits in with the overall purpose of the company. Even further, employees want to be appreciated for the value they create as individuals for the good of the organization.

These obligations are not fulfilled for altruism’s sake. Rather, these obligations are fulfilled out of necessity for providing value to the shareholders. Employees are not simply our greatest expense line item on an income statement. Employees, and the corresponding knowledge within the employee base as a whole, are a company. Their hands are the hands that create our products. Their feet are the feet that deliver our services. They are the face of our company to our customers.

When employees reach the point in any organization where they realize the executives they work for have neither the intellectual capacity nor the moral integrity to meet a minimum performance standard, yet this performance is not only tolerated but rewarded, commitment to the company declines dramatically and employees will quickly seek our organizations that are meeting their obligations to employees.

How many or few companies deliver on these obligations? According to recent upturns in the job market, we will likely determine the answer sooner rather than later. When individuals realize their company is not meeting basic obligations to employees, and when new opportunities are created at organizations that do focus on the individual and the critical nature of culture at any firm, individuals will likely jump ship. After all, what do employees owe a company that owes them nothing?