11/13 - Can Employees with a Social Pedigree Disrupt the Workplace?

Last time we discussed employees who are hired or who advance because of some connection. Today, we'll consider a subset: those with some sort of social pedigree. We'll see if they might disrupt the workplace in any way, creating a special challenge to stability in the workplace.

Let's start with the simple fact that not everyone encounters such people in the workplace. If you're a lineman working on telephone poles for the phone and or cable company, your world may not be peppered with these pedigreed types. And if it is, there's a good chance that such an individual is some relatively remote big shot; or maybe it's someone who's decided to chuck the pedigree label and pursue the working man's life, for whatever his or her reason.

On the other hand, you may encounter such folks in an area similar to my own stretch in the private banking world. Now there's a plumb place for the pedigreed types. Not that everyone in that business is of that ilk, but it's certainly fertile ground for those who come from privileged backgrounds.

As you might imagine, banking - a business soaking wet with wads of money in all its iterations - can be a good fit for the privileged. They can use their contacts and connections to bring business into the institution. Even if they're not directly in sales, bank management sees them as good fodder to feed financially fit families and individuals. 

Having gotten into this space without the social pedigree, I could tell you stories - most amusing - about encounters with potential clients and benefactors who sniffed out my humble background, presenting an additional hurdle to my getting the business. A quick for instance: It's a common practice in meeting someone for the first time to ask them what they do, where they work, where they live, etc. The "where they live" frequently came up in meeting the wealthy, especially those who came from money, vs. making it on their own. And my answer almost always drew a barely disguised smirk of dismay from those who grew up in high-end digs and surroundings. I wasn't their type, I suppose.

Then again, there were other opportunities that did not rely on the pedigree for at least getting shot at the prize.

As far as colleagues were concerned, you could more or less sense who had the "right" background when you worked in this environment. Many, if not most, displayed a less than driven demeanor as they plowed their way through the day. Not that all lacked any skills, either personal or professional, of course. But their fate was less in their own hands than those of us from more humble origins.

Did they create disruption in the workplace? Not typically. We who rose out of the lower rungs of society were too busy trying to make money and get ahead to let such types get into our heads. And if they were part of a team effort that benefited from their social pedigree, so much the better.

Sure, there was an occasional upper class twit who could grate on your nerves at times. But a mature person doesn't let this sort of thing get in the way of doing a good job - which is ultimately what you get paid for.

For the most part, these sorts didn't disrupt the workplace. Their presence was a more or less neutral factor when it came to promoting stability. Indeed, when they were so inclined, and were paid enough to supplement the trust income some of them received, they might be quite content to sit their butts down and stay seated for the duration.

St. Benedict didn't have to deal with the wealthy and powerful trying to worm their way into his monasteries. And if such a one did enter religious life - as did happen from time to time - they would only be a major source of trouble if they were allowed special privileges, as we saw last time. But he did have to deal with priests of clerics who might want to become monks. He dealt with these as follows:

"If anyone of the priestly order ask to be received into the monastery, permission shall not be granted him too readily. Nevertheless, if he persevere firmly in his petition, let him know what he will have to observe the full discipline of the Rule and that nothing will be abated for him...let him not presume to do anything, knowing that he is subject to the discipline of the Rule; but rather let him give to all an example of humility. If there be question of an appointment or of some business in the monastery, let him hold the place that is his according to the date of his entrance into the monastery, and not that which is granted to him, out of respect for his priesthood..."

As usual, we find a combination of concern for the community and the individual. And if an abbot followed St. Benedict's clear instructions here, they would mitigate any chance that such types would either disrupt or undermine stability in the monastery. Indeed, following the Rule would likely lead to a smooth incorporation of someone who could enhance the spiritual lives of all the monks.