Two Views of Employment

Management of a Corporate Entity

Any organization is a corporate legal entity, not a human being. So its obligations and expectations must be taken over by people. This incarnation of the corporate entity is referred to as:  «the management». From the perspective of executive work, the CEO and managers constitute «the management». Even then the Governing Board or Council sometimes needs to be included.

Executive members of «the management» have an inherent conflict of interest in that they are employees needing to be managed. Hence the importance of: a strong Board, and separating the Chairman and CEO roles.

Responsibilities of the Board

Clarity about the distinctive duties and interaction of Governing Boards and Top Management (as well as owners, executives and wider society) is provided by THEE's Framework of Purpose: See Ch.12, Working with Values. That framework is not directly relevant to the present framework.

The Protagonists

In any employment situation, there are two protagonists, each with a distinctly different perspective: one personal and the other impersonal.

● The employee (staff member or person) asks:

what obligations and expectations do I take on myself ?
and
what obligations and expectations do I place on the organization via its management?

● The employer (the organization via «the management») asks:

what obligations and expectations do «I» have as a legal corporate individual?
and
what obligations and expectations do «I» place on this particular employee?

● Because only persons can ask and answer such questions, many employees are expected and obliged to ask:
what obligations and expectations are placed on my particular role as part of «the management»?

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► Continue to the contract of employment that starts the ball rolling.

Originally posted: 20-Oct-2011