The recent New York Times (NYT) story about Amazon—people allegedly crying at their desks, working ridiculously long hours on very little sleep, being encouraged to tear apart each other’s ideas—has people talking.
In response, people are saying stuff we’ve heard before, including ideas about work-life balance, responsible journalism, and innovation. But the NYT report on Amazon also seems to have people talking about something more, and that something, it seems, is dignity.
According to Monique Valcour in Harvard Business Review,
“ … dignity is fundamental to well-being and to human and organizational thriving. And since many of us spend the majority of our waking hours at work, work is a major source of dignity in our lives.”
If dignity is fundamental, it makes sense that readers and commentators care whether Amazon and other organizations treat workers with dignity.
No one wants to be treated unfairly. No one wants to be overlooked. No one wants to have their work ripped to shreds or have their value discounted. One of the places we find dignity is through the work we do. It’s the way we were designed.
But dignity isn’t limited to what happens at work. (Read the rest, over at the High Calling…)
Photo credit. Used with permission.