Our ethos
OUR ETHOS
In Greek mythology, Icarus is the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the creator of the Labyrinth. Icarus and his father attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. Icarus' father warns him first of complacency and then of hubris, (unbridled presumption), asking that he fly neither too low nor too high, so the sea's dampness would not clog his wings nor the sun's heat melt them. Icarus ignored his father's instructions not to fly too close to the sun; when the wax in his wings melted he tumbled out of the sky and fell into the sea where he drowned, sparking the idiom "don't fly too close to the sun". (Source: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icarus)
The parallels for the modern workplace are clear. Employees need to take appropriate care when working, not being careless or reckless. But the employer, as the father figure, has a duty to ensure that the working environment is safe. Sir Thomas Legge (1863-1932) is often described as the father of occupational medicine in the UK. He was a principled man, with a profound liking and respect for workmen. He was famous for a number of aphorisms, such as:
"Unless and until the employer has done everything- and everything means a good deal, the workman can do next to nothing to protect himself.""All workmen should be told something of the danger of the material with which they come into contact and not be left to find it out for themselves."
And Stephen Covey's book,
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, he recounts the story of the goose that laid the golden egg:
Once upon a time, there was a goose that laid a golden egg. The farmer was delighted! Each day, the goose laid another golden egg, and the farmer became very wealthy.But one day, he needed the money quickly, so he cut open the goose to get to the egg.
Businesses need to be able to make a profit, or they go bust. But they need their workers to create that profit, and mistreatment of the worker will damage the firm's bottom line.
This is borne out by changes in incapacity claims over the last generation. The rate has increased five-fold since the late 1970s. There is no obvious change in the health of the nation to explain this.
But there have been significant political economic and political changes in this time: everyone is doing more with less. And if you find yourself in the bottom 10% of earners in the USA today, you will have to work a 60-hour week to earn the same inflation-adjusted wage as your parents would have earned 30 years ago in a 40-hour week.
In summary, if you agree that good work is good for health, that work provides meaning and structure to human life, and that both the goose and golden egg are important, we'd love to work with you!
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