Early in my career, I was a wage slave and one company that I worked at was unusual in how they ran things, it was all hierarchal by title or tenure. To get a chair with arms you needed to be there for 5 years. The cube walls were over six foot to discourage talking to your neighbor. It was a family business where the owner married a cousin to keep the business in the family. Basically, not ideal working conditions. I knew I toiled for pennies to increase the owner’s wealth.
The world has changed since then, the current trend is toward making the workplace the source for meaningful connections, a type of spiritual home for all. The idea is to allow people who may have no other social home to create one at work. While this is somewhat laudable, I find it concept a bit elusive and narrow minded.
While research shows that employees who find meaningful connection at work will be more motivated and committed, work harder, and have a more positive and trusting disposition, of this I agree wholeheartedly.
But again, society has changed and there are schisms that did not exist yesterday like they do today, so scholars have identified what they have identified as a “loneliness epidemic” and offered solutions like focusing on relationship building and creating opportunities to learn about colleagues’ personal lives. The problem with this approach is it implies that the answer to meaningfulness resides primarily, or even solely, within the workplace organization. A whole new world from when I started working.
You can look at WeWork’s as a theoretical example of this not working, since they have not proven their business model. WeWork’s made it clear that today’s employees expect their workplaces to meet our every physical, social, and spiritual need in their lives. But, WeWork’s and a growing number of other companies with similar philosophies are simply going too far in controlling all aspects of employee’s lives.