I started reading "For Firms that Cut Wages, Keeping Workers a Worry," wondering it how it could possibly be such a slow news day that someone had time to connect Dot 1 and Dot 2 for their audience. The payoff, however, is the last third or so--an eyebrow-raising illustration of the difference between leading and managing. Scratch that. The difference between leading and inspiring.
As with their customers, employers have to decide whether their employees have transactions or relationships with the firm. Obviously, I'm biased in favor of the latter, simply because I think that treating people like the adults & professionals you expect them to be is far more efficient than micro-management--quite apart from the purely human payoff. But it's a choice that must be made with the honest acknowledgement of the trade-offs unique to each. Anyone who insists upon having the upside of both quite frankly deserves the disappointment that results.
