#31: That's What the Money Is For! - Corporate America’s emotional abuse contract with employees

Is emotional abuse just part of the deal when you work in corporate America? In this episode, we’re talking about the unspoken contract that many of us have accepted at work: that we have to tolerate being treated badly in exchange for a paycheck.

And yes, the title of this episode references Don Draper's infamous line from Mad Men. As a former ad agency copywriter when the legendary show was on the air, I certainly didn’t enjoy working for people who treated me and my team members badly, yet I admit to pretty much buying into this mentality. There has always been a sort of accepted level of misery we’re supposed to endure on the job in exchange for money.

Then something happened: the pandemic created a natural experiment that exposed the true nature of the emotional contract between employers and employees and broke open something we never expected - initially, the freedom to work more comfortably and flexibly. But later, the backlash and control tactics - one of the most troubling examples of which is JP Morgan Chase's surveillance system, which has created a culture of paranoia and distrust.

The fundamental question becomes: what is the limit of treatment we're willing to endure in exchange for money? And why do we assume work has to include some level of emotional abuse at all?

Resources you might like:

Manager on a Mission podcast episode: Hell, No RTO

My book: NSFW - A good manager’s guide to better-feeling work in a toxic culture