Today is Earth Day, and while I’m not a fan of fake holidays or one day events that are supposed to draw attention to a topic but don’t effect actual change, I’d have to live in a hole to not comment on it. It’s expected. Earth day. Great American Smoke Out. Black out hour or whatever it was called where everybody turned off their lights for an hour. I can’t even remember the name. All these events are things that draw attention to something without actually DOING anything. Reminds me of the Brown Vs. Green episodes of Dirty Jobs. (Big fan of that show.)
So, Earth Day to me is a made up non-holiday where I still have to go to work, but also am required to feel guilty for not composting my own waste and growing my own food from said compost while living in a cave with no electricity or in any way impacting the native wildlife… if I’m understanding it correctly. If I can do this from a Hollywood jet in clothes I only wear once in front of a battery of lights and cameras all the better.
Earth Day to me is about stewardship. Now, stewardship is something I only ever hear talked about in church which is odd. I would think I would hear about it at management seminars, round tables, and in books about management. But it’s not referred to that way if it’s talked about at all. I think the word’s been co-opted and ppl are afraid I’m about to throttle them with some good old fashioned religion. I’m not though. Stewardship isn’t necessarily about religion. It is primarily, in all it’s incarnations, about responsibility. Our responsibility for how we act in regards to stuff. Whether it’s our stuff or someone elses stuff is dependant on which definition you’re using.
Earth day is about our responsibility to our stuff and all of our stuff, everything you own and everything everybody you know owns probably came from good old Terra. With the exception of moon rocks it’s all from earth… even plastic came from here. We don’t import that stuff from Jupiter. I’m not talking about that stuff though. I’m not talking about Styrofoam cups vs. reusable coffee cups and I’m not talking about hybrid cars vs. pure gas cars. Those things bore me. We all know the right thing to do already.
What is our responsibility to the planet is a daunting question and a little intimidating. Let’s start smaller though. What are our responsibilities to our employees. Not the responsibilities on the current Labor Law Poster that’s posted in a Common Area. Those are duties imposed on us by the State & Federal Governments. What, beyond that, are our duties to our employees. What makes us good stewards of THEM?
To be good stewards of our employees we should treat them fairly, and fair does not mean “the same” in spite of what Human Resources will often say. It’s not “fair” to expect a person with no legs to put stock on the highest shelves. They’ll never be able to do it. Making that part of their job is cruel, not fair. (You think I’m making that one up but I’m not.) It’s not fair to expect the same speed and quality of work from a brand new employee as you would get from someone who has been there ten years. How could they be as good? Human Resources departments will often insist on “same” over “fair” as a way of protecting from law suits. But I argue that a) If an employee is treated fairly they won’t sue and 2) employees who are treated unfairly will sue, whether it’s “same treatment” or not.
Today is Earth Day and we’ll all be pounded with requests to recycle, not litter, drive less and walk more, eat less meat, and turn off an extra light. Those are all good ideas for saving the environment. But what good ideas do you have to save your employees? They’re a resource you’re responsible for developing and conserving.
If you’re the employee you are a resource with value. Make sure you’re giving your best effort and best value for an employer who values you. If they start treating you like a Styrofoam cup don’t stick around forever, keep performing, but look for a job where your best effort will be recognized and rewarded. Find a new boss that recognizes your worth. There’s nothing so depressing as working at a job, or any relationship actually, where the other half of it thinks you’re a Styrofoam cup. Don’t put up with it at home or at work.
Seriously, it’s Earth day go save something.
UPDATE: Here’s another run at the same subject. I’m trying to figure out how to say something here and I think the second attempt was closer.
The Stewardship & Earth Day by Rich Griffith, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
