An email drops into your inbox, innocent as a newborn kitten but with the latent menace of a landmine. Its subject line, something saccharine like “Your Voice Shapes Our Future,” or “Let’s Co-Create Our Path Forward,” makes you want to spontaneously combust. You’ve seen this movie before, and you know the ending. Yes, it’s the annual moment which inspires a mixture of curiosity and quiet dread; the time when companies ask: “How engaged are you, really?” As if the answer lies somewhere between “I have dedicated my entire existence to the glory of this company” and “I am currently plotting my escape via an internal transfer to a department that has fewer meetings.”
The ritual begins much like any classic three-act corporate play. First, the preamble. A video from leadership appears in the all-hands meeting, delivering a speech so painstakingly earnest it practically sweats, reassuring that “we are a family” and they “care deeply about your opinion.”.
HR follows with a...
