Glen... I owe you an apology... I realize in my previous posts, (one in particular) I came off a bit caustic... and I realize, that was just plain un-necessary and unfair to you... I was in one of my Bustin-Chops moods... Please forgive me...
Now I honestly do not think we are completely in disagreement about the fundamental issue about profit caps. I share the boot strap ethics that you hold... Make no mistake. I am not 'unhappy" with my job... If It appeared as though It was, it was not the intention. I carry my weight and then some, on the work i do... I earn every penny of what I have. The work has paid off.
My chief complaint about many (Not all) Corp Execs, is that I personally know many, who patently and out right confess it...They don't give a sheeeeeit about the employees... To that end..they engineer and sabotage the efforts of many boot-strappers, in order to get a bigger slice of the pie for themselves.
I am a strong advocate of keeping my crew happy. The way I see it... They can topple me anytime they decide... So I'ts in my interest to treat them with dignity and fairness...
One way to do that, is to actually show earnest appreciation of them through things like office parties , Picnics and other events (Paid in full by the boss) .
More critical ways include taking an earnest interest in their professional development.. If I have a budget, I look to see ...can I match funds on say...education, or certifications etc...? Proof of giving a sh*t about their growth is to also reward them for their accomplishments afterward, with things things like raises/promotions, bonuses...new sets of responsibilities, more authority ... etc.
Now , we cant always do the ideal.. But even the spirit of intention invokes more positive response from that work force...
Is always assumed that the crew understands they must work hard and reliably... Its also understood that sub par efforts are highly frowned upon...
But when a guy starts from the ghetto, and works his way up hard & honest to viable position with income..,,, and he gets impeded by the sabotage, caused by the execs, I have a real problem with that...
Let me give you a recent example: Our bonuses are based on performance. Plain and simple. You work hard to "exceed" what's expected of you , you get the bonus...Its a no brainer, right? Well, what if you get a manager, who re-writes your role and title such that the expectations of role/title are open ended? So, instead of defining it by a benchmark , i.e. "to meet expectations you must secure a minimum of 10 widgets" they say instead, "To meet expectations you must secure a lot of widgets..."
Now...suppose you go and secure 50 widgets? Come Bonus time, they say..."Well thats good that you secured 50 widgets...That's a lot of widgets... so you met expectations... But you did not exceed expectations. ...SO, no bonus for you...have a nice day...
You see where I'm going with this...? How's a hard working, honest fella , supposed to compete against something like that?
SO yeah, the answer is maybe to quit... But that's a tough sell to the timid folks who cant fend for themselves any other way (and there are a lot like that)
. I will say that envy drives greed ... 
