The post was originally published in Polish on Szymon’s LinkedIn profile. Szymon kindly agreed to republish what we think is of great value to our readers.
Companies think that they are doing someone a favor by giving them a job. But the reality is that it’s the employees thanks to whom companies exist.
Many employers still believe that they got lucky, that if someone gets a job, they should be grateful, that it is the company that gives them a chance, and the employee is supposed to “deliver” and be happy. This is a complete reversal of roles.
Szymon Janiak, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Czysta3.VC
The truth is:
- Companies don’t exist without people. It’s not the logo on the building, it’s not the mission on the website, and it’s not the CEO’s business card that makes the business work. It’s the ones who do the real work every day.
- It is the employees who bring value. Their competences, ideas, commitment, and energy. Without it all, the company is just empty offices and processes standing still.
- It is the company that should be grateful. Because if it finds a good employee, it can even decide how long they will work there.
Despite this, we still hear:
- “You’re lucky to get the job.”
- “Others would hurt and get hurt for this position.”
- “Don’t whine, just appreciate that we hired you at all.”
Such thinking leads to only one thing–rotation.
Employees don’t leave because they lack loyalty. They leave because they see that their contribution is underestimated. Because they know that they can get more elsewhere–not only money, but also respect, promotion opportunities, and decent treatment.
The best people always have a choice.
And if the company thinks that the employee is supposed to be grateful for the work as if it were gold, sooner or later the truth will come out about how wrong it is.
The comment section had to add:
Not in a year or two, but the managers of the largest VCs are already betting on when the first unicorn will be created, founded and run by one person and AI. Who knows, maybe the future will look like this: each of us will become a one-man company providing services to others. I don’t mean the pathology of pushing people to B2B, but everyday businesses. In such a world, the employer-employee relationship will cease to exist, and new dependencies will appear. Will it be better? I cannot know. The future will certainly surprise us more than once and remodel our thinking about work, income, and life goals.
– Tomasz Bartel, Regional Sales Manager CEE at CrowdStrike
I think that it is primarily the customer who makes companies exist. Without customers, there is no money to pay these employees. Everything you wrote is true, but employees often forget about where the money for their salaries comes from, and it doesn’t fall from the sky. So, as usual, the key is to balance the expectations and needs of both employers) and employees. Yet without a customer there is no money, and without money there are no salaries. The question is whether the employee understands this.
– Daria Guz, Franchise Owner at Soward Franczyzy Edukacyjne
It’s not entirely true. A well-functioning company is a win-win relationship. Shareholders, the management, and the employees all contribute for the common good. In such a situation, an employee is indeed lucky to be able to work here. It is the employee who has a job for which others will fight. But the company also hires an employee who contributes, and thus it is the company that is lucky that the employee is involved. My management guru used to say: “There are no bad employees, there are only poorly selected workplaces for them.” See the potential, support it, and you will only know staff turnover from articles.
– Krzysztof Heller, Chairperson of the Supervisory Board at Social Banking S.A.
Exactly, the success of companies is primarily about the people who create them. I am convinced that it’s not true that there are no irreplaceable people. This is a very pathological statement, depriving us humans of our uniqueness. Let’s put an end to this capitalist uniform and remind ourselves that we are not robots who should be grateful for the leftovers from the ‘lord’s table’ forever.
– Monika Żurawska, Director of Project Management Department at Grupa Wirtualna Polska
Szymon Janiak is an investor and a business-driven Managing Director at czysta3.vc, a Venture Capital fund located in Poland. He has over 10 years of experience in the technology sector. Szymon is also a Member of the Supervisory Board at stockbroker Grupa Trinity S.A.
