What is the relationship between a knowledge worker and his/her employer?
How is it different than an industrial worker?
Both relationships are contractual, with each person bringing certain
values to the table to be traded through the process of work. The terms of
the contract are negotiated during the hiring process. These terms set the
expectations for both people involved in the relationship.
Since the relationship is contractual, there is no need for a "power
struggle" between the two. The worker knows what he/she must do to get the
valuables the employer is willing to give in exchange for work. Indeed the
only time I've seen "power plays" at work have been when someone was
trying to use another person to achieve a result that was never made clear
and not part of the contractual relationship between employee and
employer.
Why do we think a knowledge worker should be treated any differently than
an industrial worker?
-- Benjamin Compton DWS -- "The GroupWise Integration Experts" http://www.emailsolutions.com bcompton@emailsolutions.comLearning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>