Dear Mr. Employer

Every now and then, I receive e-mails from my employer. Usually, these e-mails contain information about courses my employer offers to its personnel. There seems to be a recurrent theme in these "courses": personal development and "satisfaction at work". The titles of the seminars are always very flashy: "How you grow as a person" or "Learn more about yourself: happiness at the workplace". The latest offer to us is "change management". We are to learn how to deal with change. In other words; we are to learn how to shut up, accept whatever bullshit is thrown at our face and maintain a straight face even though things are going straight to hell. "Job satisfaction" and "change management" is, I suppose, a way of manipulating the employees, inplanting in them a "work ethic" that is useful from the point of view of results. You get a gym card, you are invited to seminars where you are offered free coffee & a muffin, you are offered "a stimulating exchange of information". You should be thankful. Don't complain. Manage your bad feelings (we offer you a guru from the university of XXX who'll enlighten you about the 5 steps towards personal self-exploration).

Take your job and shove it...

Management literature is nothing but lobotomy disguised as "philosophy", "psychology" or "science", but what is worse, the ass-licking language that is so prevalent in these books seems to have been embraced by the way many employers communicate with employees. In catch-phrases, big words, big offers (in reality, it's bullshit). Innovations, core-competencies, core values. Employers try to make themselves look like they care for the personal satisfaction of their employees, but in reality... At my former job, every meeting started with the manager's telling us that we are expected to develop as "professionals". "Professional" was a magic word for him but I never really got clear about what he meant by it. He talked about the grand changes that are going on, and that we have every possibility to grab our piece of the market. Everything looks great, great, great. And we are professionals. We are going places (at the market, in relation to our competitors).

Hey, Mr. Employer, I don't want you to care for my "self-realization", I want you to care about the world and our place in it. I want you to care about what you do, what we do.