the human value

What is the inner philosophy of a corporation? is it profit making? is it investment? is it talent hunting? Perhaps all of the above but at a very high cost for human lives.
I just left a mini corporation after 4 years of committed dedication. When I first started to work for them, my initial step was to prove that it was worth giving me a chance. Once I reached that level my next goal was to pursue the company’s ideals and dilligently administer the resources I was given . I constantly wondered where people were placed within the value chart of the organization. Most staff seemed to be appreciated when they brought "value" to the place, and "value" meant: money, numbers, action (in this case: students, agents and lots of applications). What else could one expect? That's ok I thought, we all need to make money... we all need to profit in order to survive... but I also noticed that sometimes people would leave the company feeling undervalued and I always hoped it would never be my case. I managed one of their branches for 3 years, and I did what was necessary in my mind. I started by hiring a team of people I felt comfortable working with and who I thought would be committed to their specific role. Some people stayed for a while some people found it hard and left after a short period of time... either because they had different goals to pursue or because they felt they weren't getting enough income in comparison to their working hours.
I was hardly ever given direction. My three bosses never showed up and when they did, they often walked around for a couple of days and found things to be in place.
It wasn't until recently, when I decided to leave the place, that they came to visit and took a closer look at the way we had set things up. I am assuming they weren't fond of my decision to leave but they had no choice. I had my own dreams to pursue and I was also moving to a new city to establish my own enterprise, living together with my partner.
Overnight, many of the things they never "saw" or didn't want to see, started to surface... and I was told that my whole administration had been a disaster... teachers sucked, customer service sucked, programs sucked... everything sucked and it had to be fixed immediately. I tried my best... but my morale had already sank. I looked around and I found a wonderful team of people sinking along with me... I tried to remain positive until my last day despite my often stomach knots and my anxiety attacks. The performance review I submitted to my direct boss was returned to me with negative remarks and my annual bonus was denied on that basis. I had nothing else to say, I was speechless... even though I could've gone back to argue that they were being unfair. They listed all this numbers and measures that didn't correspond to anything I had been informed of... but I had no energy to rebutt it... I didn't want to argue back... I just thought they had a mind set about their expectations and they were not going to move an inch... but... what was I doing there for so long? why didn't I leave before? I guess the fact that I was left alone for so long helped. I was able to create a friendly environment where people really cared about each other and was happy to come to work everyday... that environment obviously didn't correspond to this workaholic idea of fear and control... no one felt threatened, no one felt uncomfortable to be there until they saw the bosses' real aims... our blood, our brains, our energy... with no mercy.
I was let go without a farewell, without a thank you note, without a phone call... but lots of students, and teachers and co-workers did try their best to make me feel fantastic... that was the human value I was missing and which the top blinded management couldn't see... they are not interested... because the minute they let their emotions get involved with the company they won't be able to exercise their inquisitional measures. People are numbers and wages per hour... people should be machines and they are given a favour when being hired... they should be thankful... I see a tyranic aaproach in this corporate mind that no one can question, and this credo is sacred and divine... In a conversation with one of my bosses, whom I call after I left... I said... it is unfortunate that the value of people is below the value of profit... his answer was... yes, it is very unfortunate that it is so! Share