Not sure why one would be "attached" to a company. It is a friggin business. You exchange your labor for money. That is all about it. Yes some projects can be exciting and mentally rewarding, especially in the initial stages but never forget that you are not the one running the show. Worry about yourself first. Owners of the company do just that and act accordingly. There are exceptions here and there but never rely on those. Hope for the best prepare for the worst.
It's a personal relationship with the people, not with the company. You feel a personal connection with the founders, with the other early employees. You're passionate about the product. You want to build something amazing, and make more money out of it than you put in, and maybe change the world doing so.
Your CEO probably cares about you. It probably kills him when the company is running out of money and he has to let you go. But the company doesn't "care." It shows no loyalty to you, and you should feel no loyalty to it. That doesn't mean you can't work for a company and love the work, but it does mean you shouldn't get wrapped up in it to the point where you lose sight of your own interests.
You know how businesses do things to limit the risk a single employee becomes indispensable? I do the same with employers and that includes becoming to attached to the people I work with.
I guess it all depends on how emotionally connected you are to your company. Some people see their companies as their almost literal babies and get very emotionally attached to them. Others just see it as a thing they built to make money. Depending where you fall in this spectrum will greatly affect how you'll react to such a deal, and trying to judge people on other end of the spectrum by your standards is basically pointless.
Don't sell company loyalty if you don't believe in it. Sell mutual self interest. Why should your directs be excited to be there, or at least not actively looking elsewhere? Cool projects, etc., all help -- but the directly experienced "the company is currently and actively treating you well and rewarding you appropriately for your contributions" is point number one. And yes, the implicit message here is that, if the company stops doing its part, your directs should consider looking elsewhere. So should you.
I see it a little differently, I wouldn't feel good about keeping people around doing nothing of worth for the company. I guess they could have thought of other projects for them but that could put stress on other parts of the company. At least some of these people can now work for companies that do need them.
It might be because I never want to work for a company that thinks of me as dead weight. It wouldn't be a good environment to work in.
It sounds like what you're experiencing is a sense of freely-chosen duty to the company, rather than that duty being taken for granted. It's perfectly okay to choose to feel duty to your employer. A company can earn your respect and sense of obligation, and then instead of resenting the demands it makes on your time, you can feel a genuine sense of shared purpose that drives additional levels of commitment.
If you're in a position to fire, you're in a position to have some sort of responsibility for the success of the company. Don't view it as babysitting or coddling; an employee that is motivated and engaged will be more likely to exceed the goals that you set.
I don't have any emotional attachment to my employer, but I'm fiercely loyal to the individuals therein that have listened to, respected, and honestly considered my opinions. I feel a personal obligation to ensure that I meet those individuals' expectations.
For me a job is a job, my emotional attachment is limited. It can be awesome, but how the company changes is not in my power, if I don't own an substantial amount of equity.
Usually if a company fails, it happens in slow-motion. As an employee you can often spot that years before it makes the news. Just move on before it makes the news.
I will work for you, not with you, as the loyalty of your company is non existent. I worked for many start ups, and enjoyed working on that type of challenges, but I am always aware loyalty is non existent. It is a red flag if company talks about "we are a family" or "work with us".
Working for a company is bad for you. Some people need the safety and security of a job. They need someone to tell them when to be at work and what to do when they get there. They may be dedicated employees, they may even be great managers, but they have no desire to take the risk involved in starting something from scratch. They crave the comfort and security that comes from an established company and can't handle the very real possibility that if that start a company it might fail.
Your post is probably accurate for most megacorps, but I should hope that employees at a startup or company of less than 10 people don't feel this way about the company. At that level, it's very much a personal relationship rather than a company-employee relationship where loyalty only goes one way. Not all companies are about the creation of profit at any cost... some actually like creating an environment that is pleasant to work in, with free food, etc. for no reason other than making life a bit more enjoyable.
The company deserves as much loyalty as it will show you. Which in many places is none at all; the world is full of people who demonstrated loyalty to their company and got terminated at zero notice for "downsizing" or bankruptcy.
I believe it can worth being loyal to co-workers and your immediate boss if they deserve it, since they're actual human beings and can be loyal to you, but a company is not a human.
I think it's awesome that some people enjoy their work and love their jobs.
That said, if you aren't an owner of the company then I think it's unhealthy to be emotionally invested.
In my last job, I had received a competing offer and informed my boss that I would rather not leave but that this other offer was too financially good for me to ignore. My boss responded by beating the other offer and I stayed there for about five more years.
I later admitted to him that I felt guilt about leveraging an offer in this way. He said something that really stuck with me: "You've got to put yourself first".
In retrospect, the thing that actually stuck with me is that I'd gleamed into the mind of upper management. That is, they are putting themselves first, and so should you.
True... and consider your self lucky. Joining an operation like this at a later stage usually makes it easier to leave it behind when it is really due, compared to the situation where you accompany it from its beginning and wake up at some point in time entangled into "serious business" / "enterprise" setup ... unable to leave it behind due to some irrational connection to some people or some of your knowledge work done there... humans are so well suited to get exploited due to their irrational traits which the "enterprise" world still ignores still so profoundly.
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