Business; Bigger isn't Better.

I have worked for three different companies over the last 22 years. At each place there have always been the “old timers”, people that have been working at that one place for 20+ years. When asked about the “good ol’ days” these people all say the same thing. They talk about how fun it used to be to come to work. How they used to kid around with supervisors and the feeling at work was light-hearted and upbeat. But those days seem long gone.

What happened to company sponsored holiday parties, picnics and outings? What happened to incentive programs to reward employees who put in that extra effort? What happened to talking face-to-face to an employee and trying to work problems out, rather than hiding behind “company policy.” Whatever happened to showing a little mutual respect towards one another, regardless of who has official authority?

In my humble opinion, the start of the downward spiral of American industry was when companies stopped treating their employees like an extended family and started treating them like any other resource, to be used up and discarded. When owners stopped caring about the people that work for them and started to abuse that relationship that was when the great rift opened up. It became a situation of “us” against “them” and the need for unions came about, followed quickly by legislation to protect worker’s rights.

I would love to see the day when unions were no longer needed. When companies would police themselves in an ethical and moral fashion, at least in regards to their employees. But due to the manner in which the corporate world has evolved I don’t think that will ever happen. My only hope for this daring dream is small business.

Big business is just that, too big, too many people involved. More to the point, there are too many levels of hierarchy. Far too much separation between the low level “grunts” and the big-wigs upstairs. But small business (SMB), by its very nature, has very few levels of hierarchy. This means the owners don’t risk falling out of touch with all levels of the company. Its easier to stay aware of potential problems when everyone retains a face, rather than becoming merely a number.

It is my firm belief that small business is the key to America’s future. SMBs provide jobs, improve the local economy and (among other things) helps to fill the growing gap between the economic classes. So please, support your local small businesses.