Tangent: That comment showed me, after 40+ years of adult working, that any individual person is filling multiple roles, each defined by other peoples' perspectives and needs. Indeed, that individual may not even be aware that they are in those roles, much less that those roles may be crucial to those other people.
Note that I almost edited "multiple roles" to "multiple work roles," but this probably applies to most social relationships.
Huh.
but who calculates this "value"? And what is it relative to? That's partially why stocks exist, to try and answer that question.
That is how we end up with our high turnover culture today.
To understand, explain and illuminate how value is created should be one of the first basic tasks for managers. Part of the purpose is to eliminate as much disagreement with and among "reports".
Imagine someone coming to you and saying it.
"I want to be recognized and compensated proportionally to the value I create on your behalf. Furthermore, I suspect that the tasks/goals you choose for me are wasting opportunities for me to learn and for you to grow. Hence, I am bearing the long-term risks of your investment-decisions in my time, and you are reaping the short-term benefits.
"Because you seem to be unable to recognize the value I produce, and because you are squandering the opportunity of my time, I do not believe you are suitable for your job. It is possible there exists a job definition for which you are 'killing it', but it is not apparent from my perspective.
"So it is impossible for us to have an open honest conversation."