When we, the common folk, talk about ‘being a family’, we are generally referring to a basic social unit of individuals who are related by blood or marriage.
A unit that: -
provides emotional support, love and a sense of belonging to its members
encourages personal growth and allows individuals to develop strong social skills and values
gives a degree of shared stability and security, particularly in times of need.
But what about when an agency starts referring to itself as ‘being a family’? What precisely does that mean?
Well, sadly, in most cases, not very much. In fact, quite often, it is little more than a shameless tactic adopted by management to convince staff that the agency views them as so much more than employees.
It is also an attempt to promote an ‘all for one and one for all’ mentality’ amongst employees. The thinking presumably being that if your staff think of each other as ‘brothers and sisters’ (and by extension, management as mum and dad,) they will be far more likely to go the extra yard for them.
To reinforce this feeling of ‘family’, the agency cobbles together a set of value statements such as: -
We are loyal
We are kind
We are trustworthy
We have each other’s back
We are a united and happy team
These are then plastered on the walls, trotted out on websites and social media and injected artlessly into every client interaction.
To further validate their familial love, they make a big point of buying a cake on an employee’s birthday and hosting semi-regular ‘agency’ functions at which the word ‘family’ is much in evidence.
Now, I don’t know what you guys think, but to me this behaviour smacks of tokenism. It’s a fair-weather family who are ‘there for you’ in the good times when it takes little or no effort on their part.
But what about when the shit hits the fan? What about when a big ol’ recession rears its ugly head or one of the ‘kids’ can’t (or won’t) meet the exacting standards laid down by mum and dad. What price family loyalty then?
I can only speak from personal experience, but when I’ve been in this position, I’ve found myself retrenched, redundant or fired faster than you can say foundling.
You see, what agencies mean by being a family is something quite different to what we mean. For us, family is a two-way street where love and support flow equally amongst the constituent members.
But for agencies it is a one-way street that leads only to them. They demand your love, loyalty, admiration, sense of duty and admirable work ethic.
In return for this filial devotion, you get to call yourself family and qualify for your ‘free’ slice of birthday cake and thrice yearly functions.
But God forbid you become a problem child in any way, shape or form or deviate even slightly from the strict mores of your clan. Cause that’s when mum and dad swoop down like avenging angels, kick you out of the house, stop your allowance and disown you in perpetuity.
And if that’s family, well, all I can say is, from now on consider me an orphan.
Jeremy is a Sydney-based freelance copywriter and creative available for, well, whatever you’ve got really. You can reach him at jeremys2211@gmail.com
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