{"id":54626,"date":"2026-08-22T17:31:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T15:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turner.nl\/uncategorized\/column-by-peter-de-bruin-attractive\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T17:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T15:31:12","slug":"column-by-peter-de-bruin-attractive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turner.nl\/en\/blog-en\/column-by-peter-de-bruin-attractive\/","title":{"rendered":"Column by Peter de Bruin | \u201cAttractive\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Column by Peter de Bruin<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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'Attractive'<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In his latest column, Peter de Bruin examines the mutual attraction between employers and employees. There is also a societal cause underlying the labor shortage. The freedom to be who you are certainly requires responsibility on the part of the employee! <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cI\u2019m not going to take on a project in Maastricht\u2014I want to be home by 6:00 p.m.,\u201d a quote from the day-to-day reality of a professional service provider. These days, internal staffing requires just as much lobbying as external sales. <\/p>

Imagine being an employer in these times of labor shortages. Good employees have high expectations\u2014and rightly so. Less qualified employees do too, for that matter. That\u2019s less justified. Wage increases are the logical consequence, but these demands aren\u2019t solely economic in nature. <\/p>

Don\u2019t get me wrong\u2014I don\u2019t feel sorry for employers. But there\u2019s something unbalanced about employment relationships these days. The attraction should be mutual. For a lasting relationship, it\u2019s not enough for the love to come from just one side. The employer must engage and inspire, but is also entitled to make demands. Let me explain how I see it. <\/p>

The root cause of this runs deeper than just labor market shortages. The freedom individuals have gained is a social phenomenon. Why is that? As far as I\u2019m concerned, we\u2019re doing well. Maybe even too well. We are materially rich but emotionally poor. When \u201cwoke\u201d activists and \u201cwappies\u201d control public opinion, social media is taken way too seriously, and single-issue parties dominate politics, it\u2019s clear that trivial matters are running rampant. The Titanic has nothing on this. <\/p>

If we look a little deeper, we see that all our threats (climate, security, etc.) are actually quite far removed from our daily lives. On average*1<\/sup>, we lack \u201cnothing,\u201d and yet we\u2019re not satisfied. We\u2019re free, able to do whatever we want, but we\u2019re outraged at the slightest thing. We\u2019re primarily focused on ourselves. In fact, we\u2019re searching for ourselves\u2014especially on social media. Lost in freedom. No boundaries. Everything should be allowed. Empty\u2014you could even say that\u2019s the result. <\/p>

An employee\u2019s freedom is a great asset. Being able to become who you are is the ultimate goal. Yet that also requires making choices. After all, we are defined by our limits. And those limits aren\u2019t optional. Commitment\u2014stick to your choices. Buuuut, responsibility isn\u2019t second nature (anymore) for everyone. <\/p>

What should an employer do now? Appeal to that freedom (\u201canything goes here\u201d) or to responsibility (\u201cif we both show commitment, you can grow tremendously\u201d)? Which is more appealing in the long run? Think of the issue as an Australian pasture. There are no fences, no boundaries; the cattle are free and stay close to the water source. The most attractive breeding ground for sustainable growth. <\/p>

Imagine being an employee in this age of freedom. You have endless options, and you\u2019re offered plenty of time and money. How do you decide what\u2019s the right choice? Which employer challenges you to take responsibility and demands that you use all your freedom to do something meaningful\u2014for yourself, the company, and society? The same applies to an employment relationship: love without commitment isn\u2019t sustainable. <\/p>

Here\u2019s a recent example. At a national daily newspaper, a new employee\u2014a recent high school graduate\u2014approached the editor-in-chief and said, \u201cI think it would be a good idea for me to start my own column.\u201d Well, well. <\/p>

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*1) Of course, I am not downplaying the plight of minorities or the underprivileged. Poverty and other forms of disadvantage are, as always, a concern. On average, we have never been richer, based on indicators such as GDP per capita, the state of healthcare, access to Education, etc. <\/em><\/p>

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Meet the Author<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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