At the organisation I work for we have been without a pay rise for several years. This would be bad at any time, but now, with inflation so high, it’s unbearable. I guess it would be understandable if the company was in dire straits (it’s not) and everyone had to make a sacrifice. But the CEO recently received a huge pay rise and made flashy “upgrades” to their office.
But my question is not about the unfairness of the situation. That’s beyond doubt. What I want to get my head around is, why at a recent all-staff meeting did people clap after the CEO made a sad, politician-like attempt to rationalise the double standards?
You may never be able to find out for sure precisely why these people endorsed such impotent drivel.Credit: John Shakespeare
I’m so sorry to hear that you’re not just being exposed to gross hypocrisy, but that it’s being paraded in front of you with such garish abandon. Being told at work that “everyone needs to take a haircut” is always unpalatable; being told that by the boss as they themselves are fitted for hair extensions is a form of grotesque comedy.
You’ve sent through a transcript of the CEO’s speech (which we obviously won’t print) and your characterisation (“sad and politician-like”) is, if anything, charitable. It’s a sloppy amalgam of motherhood statements, corporate buzzwords and quasi-academic language. Insofar as it’s comprehensible, it’s laughably unconvincing.
If the people who applauded this message did so because they found it persuasive, they are either shockingly gullible or have remarkably low expectations – not just of their boss’s rhetorical ability, but of how a public conversation can and should take place.
I doubt this is the case, though. I think there are two more likely reasons for the reception.
You may never be able to find out for sure precisely why these people endorsed such impotent drivel.
The first is that they were scared. They didn’t clap in any way sincerely; they clapped because they feared the consequences if they remained silent. I don’t think this totally excuses loudly praising the un-praiseworthy, but I do think it points to an awful work culture – and that’s not their fault.
The second is that they’re simply sycophants.
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