Re: From the article....
@Fogcat
I'm going to assume that it was an honest question
It was, so thanks for responding in the manner you have.
Just for example... spouse/child/favourite pet falls sick, you're up all night waiting in ER. You go into work in the morning, you're tired, you don't perform your job well that day. Some sympathy and empathy means that people understand why you're having a bad day and you don't end up with loss of pay, "performance management" or notes on your HR file.
I've been there (sick child followed by hr notes). I just thought, correctly, that the manageress was a bitch, and pretty quickly moved on to a better job elsewhere. You can't make a bad boss into a good boss, so you're better off out in my view - unless your bad boss is in fact Jennifer Aniston. There's a million companies within 50 miles of you and you don't have time to work for them all.
I require my employers pay the market rate for my skills, no less (more is nice, right). I'd like interesting work, but frankly, it's optional because no matter how interesting the work I'd rather be with my kids. Sympathy & empathy have never really figured on my list of things I want from an employer.... That said, your points seem valid and I'll certainly give them further consideration, but I expect they'll remain way down my list of things I want from work - they'd genuinely never occurred to me as desirable up to now.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
