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Giving Notice - book excerpt

December 05, 2007

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I'm currently reading a very interesting book called, Giving Notice . It's about employee retention and why some workers just leave their work entirely even though they are some of the best, brightest people on their team. Here's just one of the examples given: One weekend, Eric came into the office to put in more time on an important project.

I'm currently reading a very interesting book called, Giving Notice . It's about employee retention and why some workers just leave their work entirely even though they are some of the best, brightest people on their team. Here's just one of the examples given:

One weekend, Eric came into the office to put in more time on an important project. Dressed casually in a sweatshirt, jeans and baseball cap, he was stopped by the security guard. Again. It didn't take long to recall the other occasions when the guards had stopped him on working weekends when he came to the office casually dressed. This time, the guard fired off a barrage of questions about where he was going, what department he worked in, how long he planned to stay, and why he was at the office on a Saturday night. This time, Eric's company photo ID would not suffice, and he was asked to produce a driver's license to "validate" his identity. Then the guard asked him to remove his cap. As he did, Eric couldn't help but notice a white man in a baseball cap and jeans whizzing past the security checkpoint with barely a flash of his ID. At that moment, Eric's enthusiasm for work was gone, his desire to put in the extra time for the team evaporated, and his company loyalty faded. After getting the OK to proceed to the elevator banks, Eric simply turned around and walked out.

I found this not only a valuable piece of insight as to why people quit a job or feel uninvolved in a company, but how we as a society still stereotype regardless of our seemingly 'modern moralities'. Check it out!

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