Workforce

1 Pages 331 Words

For most of the 20th century, it was widespread for many individuals to be employed by a corporation and continue with them for their entire lives. “It was not uncommon for people to start work with a company in the mailroom or as a courier at the age of 15, or even younger, and to retire at age 65 with 50 years or more of service”. Many of them were known as “womb to tomb” employers (Carlson 42). Popular with modern beliefs, many employees would be hired by a corporation, perform to their greatest potential, and secure a job for life.
To effectively manage any department within a company, one was to have knowledge in every aspect of their sector. “Employees [were] expected to work their way up through the ranks, starting at entry-level positions and gaining more experience as they were promoted to positions of greater responsibility” (Carlson 42). It was essential for an employee to understand all aspects of their department to be promoted to a position of supervisory or management.
Today, many people in the workforce may labor for several different corporations and have many alternate careers throughout their lives. These employees may even work for a competitor of a previous employer they may have had. “During [these] working years, they acquire a set of skills that is the unique accumulation of the different jobs that have held and the experiences they have had (Carlson 42). These skills enable someone to grow and expand their capabilities that may make them more useful to another employer than their very own.
Management in a corporation may be a talent in itself due to the straightforward fact that they may be unfamiliar with that particular corporation’s products or services. This is particularly due to many managers “often [being] hired from outside of the company for their vision, [their] ability to achieve results, or [their] ability to motivate people” (Carlson 42)....