What Does It Mean Being a Decent Boss? (B)

In March 2007, less than one year after his appointment as CEO, René Obermann received an e-mail from a 48-year old technician working in the T-Com Berlin department. The letter was carbon copied to some members of the Board of Management, union representatives and some other employees. It rapidly spread throughout the organization and become viral in Germany. The following is an extract of the letter: Your continuous messages to the workforce with different and sometimes contradictory signals have convinced me to write this message. The main reason is your continuous request to us, the employees, to be more committed to the company. I can say that I and most of my colleagues are more committed to the company than the whole top management. Now I will explain to you why. This company is and has always been my life. I started my career in this company and in this company I intend to finish it. I saw the federal post office become Telekom, subscribers becoming customers. But I have also seen our company, where originally everyone was at everyone else's service, turned into an organization in which everyone thinks of themselves; where each part simply tries to keep its own area clean and to skim off from the other parts as much as they can¿ I have seen our staff been turned into human capital and how we are considered as nothing more than a cost that should be got rid as soon as possible.