Savhera reposted this
Today at a Verizon store, I watched a customer unload on an employee over some issue. At one point, the customer said:“I don’t know why you’d work for a company that…” Later, that same employee was helping me. I mentioned that he handled the situation well. He shrugged and said:“I have tough skin. But I don’t appreciate people telling me to work for a different company.” Then he said something I wasn’t expecting: “Verizon saved my life.” He told me 13 years ago he was heading down a bad path. He said if he hadn’t gotten hired there, he would probably either be dead or in prison. Instead, somebody took a chance on him. The company paid for his schooling and helped him build a career, stability, and a life he was proud of. What struck me was that he was far less defensive about himself than he was about the company that invested in him. Two reasons this mattered: 1. We spend so much time talking about compensation, retention, recruiting, etc., but it’s often quite simple. People defend places where they find dignity and a culture of care. 2. We live in a time when loyalty is often treated as outdated and work is increasingly transactional. There is human and societal cost to this. But human investment is a form of patient capital, and when employers do it right, they make work a place of belonging and becoming. The attachment this man had to his employer could not be manufactured through branding exercises or culture decks or a vacuous mission statement on the wall. It was the result of the patient capital investment Verizon made in him over many years. It was inspiring and it made me think: How many organizations are truly investing in people deeply enough to become such a profound part of their life story? And bravo, Verizon, for having that kind of impact on this man. #verizon #companyculture #patientcapital #humaninvestment #dignityatwork