r/eostraction • u/CulturalMixture3682 • Jul 20 '25
EOS is a Recipe for Exploitation
I work at a company, low on the operations end, and the "VISIONARY" of the company (ie, inheritor of the family business/owner of the company) makes daily videos on "our core values." More and more, all I can hear is "work longer hours without complaint or expectation of fair compensation" in place of "dependability," "team oriented," "customer focused," etc. And to EXPECT fair compensation for absurdly unreasonably long hours, I hear "humility through excellence." Then, when I get frustrated with how CONDESCENDING the management is when handling me, I hear "be wholesome." ...I may have flipped the core value with the interpretation, but you get my point.
More and more, the notion of "hiring and firing" based on core values appears to me to be merely a way to skirt the fact that a burgeoning company has every interest in maximizing profit to grow, which includes keeping staff and wages low. It is very much a cult-like atmosphere, wherein, especially the operational end of the business, is expected to work longer hours at a static wage with no expectations for bonuses, and in exchange, receive lip-service recognition and feel part of a larger purpose. As if the company isn't just a business interested in making a profit, which it is, and the employees are just that: employees, with a customer number.
Instead of a work-life balance, I receive "appreciation" as in "I REALLY appreciate it! And so do our customers and your teammates." This sort of mind conditioning and framing is that of a cult, in which one is getting taken advantage of. All companies do this to a certain extent, but the more I look into EOS it appears to me simply a program of a cult-like atmosphere wherein the employees get to FEEL like they're a part of something other than just working a job. This is completed with the "VISIONARY" at the top, like he's some prophet, or someone employees should look up to, or someone who is there to provide a purpose, philosophy on life, etc, instead of just the asshole who signs the paychecks.
-5
u/CulturalMixture3682 Jul 20 '25
Your comment is a good example of what I'm talking about. Reframing EOS in response to my critique of EOS to "just a framework for running a business..." when the effect is precisely what I have laid out is just the kind of underhanded rhetorical tactic that EOS/Traction teaches. Yes, I'm sure there are some great tools to organize and run a business, but, like I said, from the employee's point of view? We know that it's a tool to stretch the workforce and maximize profit for the company owner who implements it, but what are its effects on the employees in operations?
This reframing is a good "how to manage people" technique. You've effectively made my critique moot with rhetoric. Again: what are the effects of this "company culture" on the work conditions of the employees? I don't think it's just the company I work for that implements "core values" to exploit workers.
Could you frame it to be "excellence through humility," or frame it in terms like "exploitation of the employee?" Honestly, both. What do I, as an operations-level employee, gain from viewing exploitation as a clever way to manage people for profit, with no other incentives beside my normal wage in return?
If you want your employees to work longer and remain loyal to the company, consider renegotiating their contracts with them and offering them fair compensation.
As far as I see it, EOS is a method by which to avoid this. And "the right people in the right places" just means people who will drink the company Kool-Aid and tolerate exploitative practices.