I do my best to live by Jesus' words in the verses above. And it is something I take very seriously as a parent, knowing how I treat my child will make a difference on how she perceives and regards me. While as a parent, I am in a position of authority, it in no way permits me to abuse such authority. The same should be true in employer-employee relationships, teacher-student relationships, police-citizen relationships, etc.
Today, I came across an article from CNN.com in which a water company is looking to institute a bathroom break limit to its employees as a way of increasing production. From the company's standpoint, the employees have been taking advantage of current bathroom break policy. From the worker's view, the company is harassing them in an unnecessary way. As a person who takes a particular interest in how workers are treated in the workplace, the story caught my interest.
What continues to boggle my mind is that in this day and age, many employers still do not do right by their employees. It's as if they forget that the people who come to work for them everyday are actually human and not mere robots. Being that workers are human, they are worthy of dignity and respect. But so many workers do not receive this from their employers. To me, it would actually be more financially and publicly beneficial for companies to run themselves in fairness and good will. Too many of them don't.
I can list 10 things right now off the top of my head that would improve the work experience for most Americans and would increase production on the job and render happier workers if these things were actually followed:
1. Pay workers a more deserving salary.
2. If workload is increased, increase salary.
3. Encourage workers with positive reinforcement rather than negative.
4. Realize that workers have a life outside of the company and be sensitive to that.
5. Give workers longer lunch breaks and more breaks throughout the day to keep them sharp.
6. Give workers more of an incentive to do their best with bonuses and promotions for hard work.
7. Provide proper training for workers so they don't feel lost and frustrated with job assignment.
8. Treat workers with dignity and respect they deserve at all times.
9. Develop a system where input and concerns of workers is actually valued.
10. Do not blame all problems within the company on the workers.
How much happier people would be to go to work, even if it isn't their career of choice, if more of these things were implemented within companies? The key to all relationships is that if we treat others as good as we would treat ourselves, we could build some real solid relationships.
As I write this, I can't help think about people in the past that I've wronged. Most of the people I've wronged I've actually had the chance to apologize to and make amends. But there is this one guy who was a good friend of mine back in the 8th grade when I attended Montebello Intermediate School. Frank was by all accounts a good guy and we shared similar interests in basketball, video games and WWF wrestling. He had a nice mother, friendly sister and a seemingly cool dad, at least in the beginning. I soon came to find out that his dad was an alcoholic. And while he was friendly to me, he was not so friendly to his family, particularly his wife.
One day, my buddy was visiting me and we went swimming. His dad came to pick him up and somehow, my dad and his dad got into an argument. His dad actually called my father the n-word. I was so upset over what had happened and I wrongly took it out on my friend in being mean to him and turning people against him. To this day, I regret what I did to him and that is one of the reasons why I seek to do right by people today. I've never had a chance to apologize to him or make amends for all the hurt that I wrongly caused him. He wasn't the one who said the n-word and even tried to convince me that he didn't feel the way his dad did. But I wouldn't listen and that's one of the hard life lessons that I've had to learn. He was a good friend and I lost him because I treated him poorly.
I guarantee you, the more you treat others with love, kindness and respect, you will find that you receive it in return more often than not. It becomes contagious, but in a good way. It is the age old way of how to win people over and have people who would go out of their way for you in return. If you left an amazing tip for a waiter and then return to be served by that waiter again, see if that waiter doesn't bend over backwards even more to give you an amazing experience. Sometimes, we sit back and wait for others to do for us before we'll do for them. But what is stopping us for doing for them anyway? Can we imagine a world where we had that type of mindset?
This is just something for you to think about in the middle of the week.We would be in a much better world if we treated each other better. Jesus had it right.
Happy trails,
LandoRigs
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