Companies seem to be increasingly manipulative and exploitative, although this is wrapped up in shiny paper to look like a present. Take things to the next level, live your best live, work hard play hard, perform to the max, and other corporate maxims purport to help people develop and realise their own potential. However I see this as squeezing more and more out of employees, sometimes at a cost to their mental and/or physical health and sometimes at a cost to their private lives and relationships. Employers exploit, that is the nature of capitalism. These maxims or mantras are currently a popular tool to increase productivity per person. The benefits of any extra productivity are rarely shared (expect in co-operatives maybe) and are generally appropriated by the employer. The worker might have some vague potential reward in terms of career progression; however the number of promotions remain the same and competition for these promotions increases.
Increasing productivity of workers by making them work harder and not sharing the gains with them, for example by raising salaries, is exploitative behaviour. Recent management trends are to increase productivity through manipulation. One example it to try to build a feeling of kinship through forced sharing of highly emotional personal stories at team-building events. The emotional and psychological cost of this is borne by the workers; the benefits, if there really are any, go to the company. This is reckless exploitation, brainwashing even, and many professional psychiatrists would be very reluctant to forcing people to share intimate and emotional stories with their peers – who knows what emotional damage this may cause.
Liam Mor's Blog