“Workers of the world unite!” may soon be the new call of U.S. office workers. The famous Marxist call to arms may be resurrected if managers and so-called human resources specialists don’t realize that their employees are more than just resources and liabilities.

The state of the employer-employee relationship is at an all-time low in the United States. Trust, loyalty, education and family are no longer values in modern corporations. Instead, the profit-driven marketplaces of the Dow Jones and Nasdaq now shape the all-important company culture of the early 21st century. The result: people don’t matter, money does.

Some may say that the indicators of this change in company culture and corporate values can been seen plainly on cable TV. Twenty-four hour news coverage of world markets is now commonplace on at least three cable channels. Investors can update and check their stocks in an instant on the Internet, their PDA or even their cell phone. But we should all look a little closer to our own workspace to see examples of this monumental change in culture.

Take a look at the University of Denver. Recently, a human resources staff member requested that a Campus Safety officer stand-by during an employee termination proceeding. What was the HR staff member afraid of? Retribution? Rage? Violence? Even at an educational institution, one can see how a culture of suspicion and distrust has been cultivated between employees and employer.

But it is distrust that leads to possible violent behavior from employees.

People are people. Respect begets respect. Perhaps it’s time for managers in the workplace to view employees in terms of professional and personal growth potential and respect. Viewing them as liabilities and mere “resources” will make them exactly that.