By Ellen Goldhar


So many of our workplaces are full of contradictions. What is often said and what is actually done, at times, are opposite.

An upset and frustrated employee came to see me recently. His manager had just come down pretty hard on him for an error he'd made.

The employee's frustration, however, wasn't about how the manager spoke to him, but about why the mistake happened in the first place. In his view, it didn't happen due to carelessness, but from being overworked and a lack of company support.

The employee had an exemplary track record, and prided himself on doing a good job. After departmental cutbacks, however, maintaining the same high performance standards became tough. He were feeling overworked, underappreciated and a little less proud about his work.

"I don't get it," he remarked. "The company keeps emphasizing the importance of quality, but how do they expect to get quality work if they continue to overwork us and under support us? It's totally contradictory."

That got me thinking about other "corporate contradictions" that exist in our workplaces. What other mixed messages are being put out there?

Here are some workplace contradictions that have aggravated a few: It's not uncommon to hear leadership advocating the idea that it wants its employees to think "outside the box." Then when an employee braves putting an original idea on the table, -- i.e. "What about changing our banner from blue to green?" -- they get a response such as: "How could you recommend that? That banner has been blue for 50 years. Green isn't who we are! What were you thinking?"

There goes any chance of having employees put forth any more "out of the box" ideas.

The big corporate buzzword word these days is "balance". Many managers speak about the importance of having balance between work and home. Then again, many of the same managers speak to their employees about pitching in and working overtime too.

For example, you might hear something like: "Sure we want you to go and see your son play baseball tonight, but I need you to stay and finish this report before you go."

Balance can be good for the employee as long as it doesn't throw their boss too off balance. What about the "You're all responsible adults and that's how we are going to treat you" speech? That one was said in a company that insisted on taking daily attendance. Three minutes late and you got the big "L" for being late -- in the morning and after lunch.

That-a-way to make 'em feel like an adult. Are they this strict in grade school?

Our North American workplaces abound with diversity, and most leaders acknowledge the importance of different perspectives to an organization's survival.

But on more than one occasion, managers have come to human resources and said, "I need to do something about an employee that's driving me crazy. They just don't think the same way I do." And thank goodness for that!

Companies almost always preach the importance of creativity. Yet few understand how to foster a creative environment. They'll say, "We need our employees to come up with creative ideas", but what they might as well say is, "Can you please be creative in this little, plain grey cubicle, while wearing restrictive business clothing, between the hours of nine and five?"

Maybe the boss needs to step out of their grey cube to consider some more creative work space alternatives.

Although we can probably justify why contradictions occur, what's most important is that we become aware they exist in the first place. Confusing your staff is not only frustrating, it's counterproductive, draining and insulting to their intelligence.

What workplace contradictions have you experienced? Write in or e-mail me with your stories.


(Ellen Goldhar is a manager of people development at Sun Media Corporaton, send questions and comments to ellen.goldhar@tor.sunpub.com.)