Interesting Commentary on Family and the Workplace

Lucy Kellaway wrote an article for the Financial Times last Monday that was humorous, while being a sad commentary about the workplace culture. She wrote her article in anticipation of "Take Your Dog to Work Day" in the U.K.

First, she writes that "the scheme is a considerable improvement on Take Your Children to Work Day... in that scheme, pretty much everyone loses." Her points about the issue are accurate, but it would seem that it says as much about adults ability to teach children about work, as it does about our workplaces.

A more interesting point is found in the following passage:

A further difficulty with dogs at work is that they are out of tune with the ethos of the modern employee. For a start, they are loyal, and this trait went out of fashion in the 1980s. Secondly, they aren't very clean, and hygiene is in, as I reported last week.

The cat is a much better model for the fickle knowledge worker. They will rub around your legs if they feel it is in their interests to do so, but then sod off as soon as it suits them. They are self-starters with a can-do attitude.

I too am a fan of hygiene, but I am also a fan of loyalty. Our work experiences would be more richer and beneficial if we had more loyalty on the part of employees and employers. This loyalty would allow people to grow and mature with a business.

Unfortunately, we do have too many "cats" in our workplaces. The only reason people seem to interact is if it suits their own purposes. This selfish attitude is an underlying attitude that has led to the decline in loyalty.

The challenge for Christians is to be great employees or employers, regardless of what benefit we might receive. Paul admonishes Christians to serve others as though we are serving God. That alone should lead us to being the kind of employee or employer that others want to be around.