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Endangered Species

By JOHN PICCHIOTTI,
Waterville businessman and member of REM's Board of Directors
(July 28, 2000)

Work ethic, pride, and productivity. These are the attributes every employer looks for in an employee. Coming in early, leaving late, doing what has to be done, helping customers with a smile. A rare gem in today's employee pool. A vanishing breed, you say? Was it better 20, 30, 40 years ago?

How about employers? Fair wages, incentives for extra effort, sharing in the profits of a good year, loyalty to workers, fair treatment to all. Attributes employees seek in an employer. A vanishing breed, you say? Was it better 20, 30, 40 years ago?

Houston, we have a problem. Sounds like a stand off to me.  Well, guess what? Workers are still the same and bosses are still the same. Nothing has really changed. Employees still want to be treated with respect, feel like they are part of the team, and receive fair treatment and fair wages. Employers still want a fair day's work, loyalty, respect and workers who care. Where the problem lies is in the fact that it is perceived that employees seem to have lost their work ethic, pride and the productivity. Employers seem to have lost loyalty to their workers, sharing in their prosperity with the help (sometime called incentives or bonuses), ignoring the needs of workers. At least that is the way both sides seem to feel.

Folks, the days when you went to work for a person or company and stayed there until you retired are long gone. "Everyone for themselves" is the new motto. "Trying to survive and simply live" is a familiar theme.  Companies and stores are trying to stay open and compete in today's marketplace without going under. This is a kinder, gentler nation?

Fortunately for us, we live in an area that still has some of the old spark. That would be the real Maine, not the southern end that is the northern suburb of Boston. We still have employers and employees alike with the qualities that we all long for. But look quickly, because they will and are disappearing quickly. It is something we better pay attention to now. It is no different than losing our downtown shopping areas. It is our way of life. We can bring in and promote all the business parks in the world, adding new companies and new jobs, but we can never replace what we have and what we will lose. Look around and everyone can name them.  I am talking about the companies and stores that actively take care of their workers. Workers that take pride in their companies and feel good about going to work. Work ethic, pride, productivity, fair wages, incentives for extra effort, and loyalty of both management and workers. TRUST! Let's not lose what we have.

It is our choice. We can choose to support our local companies and businesses or we can choose to lose our way of life. Once an endangered species is lost, it can never be brought back. Remember that Jurassic Park was just a movie. We can't take a piece of DNA and implant it in an egg and make it like it was. We need to reconsider our choices when we choose with whom to do business. We need to do it for all of us now and for the future.