Companies Want It All
Corporate life today is built on contradictions. You’re told to act like an owner, yet you’re treated like a disposable asset who can be laid off at any time.
Companies want it all. They want your time, your flexibility, your initiative but they won’t add any of the obligation on their side to make it fair.
By which I don’t mean fair at all. I mean helping you to meet those targets, encouraging you to do more than the minimum and giving you a hand when you need it most. That’s the minimum you’d expect when it’s a win-win situation, but that’s far from what is really happening.
The Infinite To-Do List
The innocent start to any work day echoes with the old idea. “If you don’t have work to do, find a way to add value”. Sure, we know that every company wants proactive employees and we’re more than willing to deliver that as employees.
Yet it’s taken to the extreme. That means it’s code for always be working. There’s no need to wait for direction, taking a breath or most importantly ever stopping producing.
If you’re overwhelmed by work and your inbox is overflowing, the tone changes. “You need to communicate the issue.” Translation: “It’s your fault”. You’re the one who needs to manage expectations and make sure you’re seen to be performing (whether that be like a seal or a member of Black Eyed Peas is up to you). If you have any personal issues that’s a “you problem” and it’s time you resolved issues that interfere with business continuity. But I digress.
You’re either lazy for not finding extra work or disorganized for taking on too much. There is no middle ground, there is no way to make management happy. No matter what you do, you’re wrong. You’re the one who got it wrong, and you’d better come up with a way to convince us of your worth.
Mentorship Without Mercy
A lifetime away, good companies spoke about training and growing talent. Modern companies have pivoted that into mentorship.
You’ll have a career progression pathway (whatever that is) that says “you must mentor others”, meaning your development is being responsible for everyone else’s development. The company provides no support to you so you’ll need to figure out how to be a great teacher on your own time. You’ll also need to find a mentor yourself to answer questions like “how do I be a good mentor”, and become the best possible student and teacher.
In practice it’s unpaid labor. Managers offload the human side of their jobs onto employees, who are then told to “be a team player” by doing even more outside their actual role.
This Incident Belongs to You
When production incidents happen, the company suddenly remembers your name. You’re expected to drop everything including family dinners, sleep, health to get systems back online and running.
But the same company that demands round-the-clock commitment won’t lift a finger when your child’s sick or your parent’s in hospital. Emergencies are a one-way street. Their downtime is your problem. Your downtime? “Please ensure it doesn’t affect project delivery”. How are you going to work that out, exactly?
Tech Debt, another Corporate Paradox
“Everyone needs to tackle tech debt,” they say. “It’s vital for the long-term health of our software”.
Then the sprint planning meeting starts and every ticket is business-critical, revenue-driving, and absolutely cannot be delayed. Somehow, there’s never time for tech debt, just expectations that it disappears on its own.
Developers know this hypocrisy intimately. The people setting deadlines have never fixed a memory leak, but they’re very good at assigning moral worth to doing so “in your own time” because what is passion if it’s not something that involves refactoring a set of tests to adequately test a dependency?
The Illusion of Growth
You’re told to “perform to the next salary band” but management knows the numbers, but you don’t. You’re encouraged to stretch, to lead, to “act like a senior”. When promotion time comes, the company remembers you’re “not quite there yet”. You need to be working at the next level for some time to justify being able to work at that level.
It’s an infinite game designed to keep you hungry, tired, and always producing. Like training for a marathon with a finish line that keeps moving. You’ll never get there but that doesn’t matter, all we want to see you do is try. Because when you try we get more value for each dollar we pay you.
The Missing Reciprocity
In healthy relationships, expectations run both ways. But corporate culture isn’t built on reciprocity, quite the contrary it’s built on asymmetry. Companies want self-starters who never stop, team players who never say no, and resilient employees who never burn out.
Because of course they do.
Yet they don’t tend to show any commitment back. Can you remember the last time you had any training? I can’t. Support? Yeah, right. Empathy and support are constrained by “policy” so you can’t have them. Of course you cannot.
That’s not a culture of excellence. Which has never existed.
Conclusion
The whole game is exploitation wrapped in professional language.
Yet it’s the game we need, and have to play. Are you willing to get good at it?
About The Author
Professional Software Developer “The Secret Developer” can be found on Twitter @TheSDeveloper.
The Secret Developer has been told to “take ownership” more times than they’ve been thanked for it. That probably tells you everything you need to know. They’re not really an ownership person.