Labor Day thoughts - Here's to everyone who works for a living

Labor Day is that one-day holiday that marks the end of summer vacation, the start of school, and time for businesses to get busy.

It's always seemed to me that everybody kind of kicks back in the summer as a rule. Of course, the workplace keeps going along through summer, but seemingly at a slower pace. Now that I'm building a business of my own, it seems like the beginning of September has marked a definite increase in activity and interest in tackling those new computer projects that weren't there over the summer.

If the day comes that my business joins the big time, I hope I remember all of those years spent as a wage slave. Times have changed, but if ever given the chance, I hope I can influence in some way a change back to some basic principles:
1. Workers should be able to count on their job being there as long as they're showing up, doing good work, and helping the company stay profitable and successful.
2. Employers must foster that long-lost principle with their employees, called loyalty. Loyalty is a two-way street, and must be returned to those workers who display it toward their employers.
3. Employees should never be treated as faceless "Human Resources". Every individual has specific talents and abilities that should be tapped to make the company successful.
4. There is a direct correlation between employee and company performance. Instead of paying the obscene bonuses to top management and ignoring the front-line workers, company successes should be shared by all. The same goes for downward trends - if you ask the workers to sacrifice, management should sacrifice as well, but all promised appropriate rewards with the hard times are overcome.
5. Fairness means never loading excessive unpaid overtime on a low-level supervisor just to save money on overtime or adding staff to the department. It also means supporting employees in ways that help them succeed, and tailoring compensation to give incentives for them to achieve specific results.
6. Playing politics must be forbidden. Anyone trying to elevate their status within the company by undermining or criticizing others will be immediately reprimanded, and if it continues, terminated. Everyone in the organization must be committed to the same goals, and all focus must be on solving problems rather than assessing blame.

In summary, I commit that my organization, no matter how large or small, will always value employees and encourage them to treat the company as if it were their own. A goal for what I hope to be a strong, successful company is that all those who work here wholeheartedly refer to this as the best place they've ever worked.