In my last article I stated that “In publicly traded organizations, ownership is divided among shareholders, and CEOs are hired by a board elected by shareholders. 71% of whom are institutional investors that are investing on behalf of someone else with promises of returns. Thus, executives prioritize shareholder interests, and their primary customer is the shareholders, not their employees, not the purchasers of their products or services.”

This is why salaries have been stagnant for decades and the prices of products and services are constantly on the rise to promote their agenda of infinite growth. However, in reality, this only contributes to inflation.

I often hear companies say that their people are their most valuable asset, and yet they are the first thing to be cut and the last thing they invest in. Treated like a renewable resource, labeled COGS (cost of goods sold), and then organizations wonder why employee engagement, which has rarely been above a third of all employees, is on the decline (See: U.S. Employee Engagement Slump Continues).