Employee Loyalty

The Chronicle of Higher Ed has a short post about faculty members leaving soon after receiving tenure at their institutions.  Tenure, in practical terms, is an assurance of employment (I know there are nuances, but that is for another discussion).  For many faculty members, this is a six-year process of intense work trying to demonstrate the value of their contribution to the institution in teaching, scholarship, and citizenship.

One person sent in a particularly interesting comment.  

"If the faculty member is good we get them cheap until someone else forces us to up the ante. Loyalty is just ruse to keep faculty on board. In my 30 years associated with 5 different universities I see little evidence at most that faculty are anything but “primary units of production”—direct quote from former dean."

Contrast that to another comment:

"When I was a tenure-track faculty member, my chair helped me with a reduced teaching load, travel funding, a mentor, and a graduate assistant. Now that I am a Dean, I do the same thing for my tenure-track faculty."

These two deans indicated two different views of the individuals they worked with.  While we don't know which, if either, of these deans would show up as energizers, we might be able to predict our own responses to them.  Which one would energize you the most?  Faculty positions are largely autonomous--as a faculty member, you do your own research, plan your own classes, generally with infrequent feedback from those in authority.  An energizer in the network might be particularly effective, since the motivation needed for continuing excellence in faculty work is generally considered to be self-generated.

Many of the roles you fill don't have specific, immediate, clear rewards attached for doing the job well.  I think of my role as a parent.  While I enjoy my children now, much of the work we do with them is done with the hope that they will grow up to be productive, happy adults.  What happens to my energy when I interact with someone who acknowledges that work?  What happens to yours?