Corporate America is Missing the Trust

Hello dear readers! Today is the last day of my first week at the new job - say that three times fast - and it feels like the perfect day to say shame on you to corporate America for the lack of trust they seem to show their workers. Now, I have to admit that the caveat to this is I've never really worked for corporate America. I've only spent 6 months at a company that had more than 75 employees and yes, it was the worst.

However, generalization isn't always wrong.

I'm sure you're all familiar with the first week at a new job phenomenon wherein you don't check your facebook page or your personal email or anything else online in order to appear the fastidious, hardworking employee you promised them you were. I admit, I started the week that way myself but then I experienced something unexpected. My new company actually said to me "we find it helps if you have gmail up all day."

Whaaa?

I mean, okay. If they want gmail up all day, I will have gmail up all day. Has it significantly distracted me from work? No. Has it prevented me from learning and absorbing all week? No. If anything, it's helped me to relax. I don't have to panic and hide my email each time a coworker comes near. I don't have to strategically plan my email checking. I actually get facebook updates from coworkers during the day!

So corporate America, listen up. Maybe instead of obsessively watching your employees internet usage and scanning their emails for "inappropriate" words and generally making them feel like bad people for not being automatons during the work day, loosen up. Instill a little trust in your employees and vice versa. It might even turn out that by acknowledging the fact that folks have a life outside of work (especially when you're asking them to work upwards of 40 hours each week) might even make people want to spend more time at work.

We can dream anyway.