I can assure you I have worked many jobs and I am currently at a job where I have been working for more than two years now. Based on what I have learned through my experiences, the main priority for any business is profit. This essentially means keeping a budget. Within this budget: salary costs have to remain at a minimum, attendance among workers must remain consistent, strong sales for retail oriented businesses, keeping consumers or customers happy, and expanding your business as much as possible to maximize profit, and getting rid of people who cost your company too much money. On the flip side, a company knows they have to keep the morale high among its employees if they expect productivity since a lack of productivity will essentially cost their company money. Keep in mind that if a person isn't happy in the environment they are working in, the long term investment in that employee will not be worth the company's money. With my experience, I also understand why a lot of businesses hate dealing with unions. There are positives and negatives of a union that I won't get into.
Why your attendance matters (vacation time excluded):
Everyone has to deal with baggage outside of work. Ideally it is best left out of work and I can assure you dealing with some of this baggage may disrupt your ability to work. But from a business standpoint, the employer will expect you to deal with your baggage on your own time. This means the employer is not going to give you time off because you are sad. The brutal truth is that you have to deal with your baggage appropriately and show up to work as scheduled. So what if you had a breakup with someone or if your car isn't working? That is the mentality of the employer. It seems the only excuses for your absenteeism is that you are not in any medical condition to show up or someone close to you has passed away. If you are getting married, then vacation time will be given. By failing to show up to work for any selfish reason would mean that you are wasting company's money. Remember training new employees costs money. You wanted your job bad enough and your company paid for your training. You will be expected to be reliable with your attendance and productivity. You should do whatever it takes to hold down your job.
Salary and sales:
If you want to make big money, go to school and use your skills and applied knowledge to get you to where you want to go. Working as an employee in any business will not guarantee you big money. If you create your own business, you will have the right to run your business as you please. But keep in mind that the goal is to make money. In order to do this you have to maximize sales while minimizing salary. Now you understand how Wal-Mart works as a company. The guys that run the business will make the top dollars and those who work in the stores will make very little in comparison. You have a problem with that? Tough luck, go to school and make something of yourself because your employer won't care what you do with your life. What they care about is your attendance and productivity for them. Your employers won't care that you want a promotion or more money, they are trying to run a business that will maximize their sales.
Reputation and keeping customers happy:
You have all heard the saying by now: "The customer is always right." This is essentially true since the customer will want to shop at the place that will make them happiest. All companies want to keep their customers happy so that they can make more money off them. This ringing a bell yet? This of course means the customer wants a certain product from you. They will go somewhere else if they can get a better deal or if they can get exactly what they want. The customer is making an investment in your company and they trust your company with their money. If at any point the customer becomes unhappy or they feel they are wasting their money, they will go elsewhere. This helps effect your company's reputation for keeping customers happy. If too many customers are leaving, the company will have to change their business because there appears to be a problem with how things are running. Don't be the problem that your company needs to address. This is especially true in a retail setting.
What to do when you are unhappy:
The following will have to be considered if you are unhappy with your employment: Can I find happiness and peace elsewhere, or do I need to change?
Granted, an employer who is running the business into the ground is going to make many people unhappy. If the ship is sinking, get yourself off it as soon as possible and go find another place to be happy. There is nothing you need to change to help a sinking ship. Plenty of companies go bankrupt due to a stubborn belief that they don't need to change a damn thing about themselves. It is also possible that the needs of the customers changed so drastically that the company couldn't handle the change so quickly (bad economy). Another problem would be competition making more money and taking away all your customers. These kind of events will effect the company that you work for. You may have been happy at your job, but the future doesn't look good.
On the flip side of the coin, you are unhappy with your job and the company is doing great business and all the customers are happy. For the sake of this argument, let's assume the morale of the workers is high. You are unhappy for whatever reason. Let's assume the reason you are unhappy is because you realized this job isn't for you. Don't blame the company and don't ruin it's reputation. Do the respectable thing and walk away on good terms. This will help you out when you are looking for other work and your current employer will be more than happy to help you in this transition (wishful thinking for some employers, but treat them with the right amount of respect and you will get the help you need).
This pretty much sums up my understanding of how a business works and what the employees need to do in order to help their employers.
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