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Survey: Workers feel jobs are stagnant
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TEXT OF INTERVIEW
Tess Vigeland: As we mentioned earlier, unemployment is edging closer and closer to 10 percent. But that means 90 percent are still employed. We wondered how they're navigating the new office realities. So we decided to ask Jim Davis of the talent management firm DDI. His company recently released a survey taking the temperature of the folks lucky enough to still have a job. Mr. Davis, welcome to the program.
Jim Davis: Thank you, Tess. Glad to be here.
Vigeland: You spoke with about a thousand workers, non-management types about their perspectives on work. What did you hear?
Davis: We were somewhat surprised to hear that over half of these workers feel that their careers are stagnant or in limbo.
Vigeland: And did they tell you why?
Davis: Yes, they did. How I would term this is they said that they were "in the no." They had no challenging assignments, they have no opportunities to learn new skills, they have no room to advance, they get no recognition and they have no line of sight to how their jobs fit in with the objectives of the organization.
Vigeland: Then how do those feelings of stagnation manifest themselves in the workplace. What's happening?
Davis: People are going to actively seek new jobs as the economy improves. People are saying things like, "I just do what's asked of me, nothing more, nothing less. I just do my job and go home." As opposed to people that say, "I'm interested in what I do, I'm excited about going to work." And it has a negative impact on productivity and quality and customer service in organizations.
Vigeland: Frankly, that just sounds like a bad 'tude.
Davis: It may be a bad 'tude. We did ask people what they're doing about it and individuals are not going and talking to their boss about their future. Forty-two percent of the people that DDI surveyed have not had those kind of conversations and we think that would be important for people to be able to make some changes and to do some things differently.
Vigeland: Did they say why they're not talking to the boss about their unhappiness?
Davis: No, they didn't say why they're not talking to the boss. But they did tell us some of the other things that they were doing. We found that people were more likely to do things like watch YouTube videos or check their Facebook site than to help a fellow employee with work or to take on extra assignments. And we also found that one out of every five people are calling in, playing hooky at work when they could be at work.
Vigeland: Oh my goodness. That is really counterintuitive to me, given the job situation in this country. I mean, yeah, you can be unhappy at work, but isn't this kind of the worst time to display that?
Davis: I agree with that and like I said, we were sort of surprised to see that figure come up that it does seem like it would be a time to be at work every, be working hard, to be doing all that you can do. I think that people, because they feel like their workloads have increased so much -- 53 percent of the people in the DDI study felt that their work load has increased 25 percent or more. And I think we get a little bit of "Well, I'm entitled to a day off, here or there," which is a terrible attitude to have.
Vigeland: Then how can companies motivate their workers now? There are not a lot of raises coming, bonuses have gone the way of the dodo bird -- unless you're the CEO -- promotions probably not likely in this economic situation. How do you motivate a worker?
Davis: I think we go back to some of those areas that we would call the "land of the no" and turn those into the "land of the yes." So we look to give workers challenging assignments, we look to take these times to develop new skills in people and we look to provide recognition. We're probably not going to be able to provide room to advance right now, but we can do recognition, build skills and create challenging assignments.
Vigeland: Jim Davis is with the talent management firm DDI and we've been talking about their survey of the current American work force. Thanks for coming in.
Davis: Thank you for having me Tess.
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Your comments on the results of the survey are surprising. You should have your own surveys done on any California manufacturing or even sales force.
My worksite is surviving this recession, but with no new hires, more work and no sympathy from management, in fact I would say disdain from management.
Jobs I have heard about in manufacturing want employees to spend their time training Chinese firms to do their business. When someone complains about inferior products being used in the Chinese process, they are taken off the project. Management is reticent to point out to the Chinese that there are problems with their process. Rather then work with the Chinese to improve the process, they knowingly accept an inferior product. So, how would you feel about assiting to transport your work product to China and realizing that your Company no longer cares about quality, just how cheaply it can be done in the future. The result will be an inferior product and loss of future business. The Company is slowly being put to death and management does not care. It is extremely disappointing and disheartening to the employees, who now just do what they are told, no more and no less. Why should they care if management so obviously does not?
Lucky you, Tess. You must not be in the half of the work force whose work load has increased by 25% or more with little, no, or negative compensation. If you were, you might better understand why the American worker is disengaged from their job. In the five years I have been at this post, our leadership team (of which I am a part) has shrunk from seven to four. Two of the position elimations came in the past year. We also have had mandatory reduced work weeks and a freeze on wage increases for managers. Yet the company is busier than ever. More work spread across fewer and fewer workers. To be perfectly frank, being part of the workforce is exhausting. Yes, I am grateful to have a job. And I am fully on board with tightening belts and finding ways to do more with less when times are tough. Yet it doesn't seem unreasonable to me to ask that I be given a workload that is surmountable. The company I work for is surviving the recession. It's workers, however, may not.
When I heard this interview I almost drove my car off the road. What were you people thinking? Workers day off now and then because they feel they deserve it and it's the wrong thing to do? When you have workers putting in over 60 hours a week to do the job of 3 people darn straight they deserve a day off. Workers receive no respect from their employers and they employers know that they can get away with it because people need their jobs. Even when you do a brilliant job there are no raises, no 401K matching and a very large reduction in benefits to look forward to. Sorry for the "bad 'tude" but workers are putting in the effort and time to keep their head above water and they receive no recognition for it.
To the American work force welcome to the world of the undocumented labor mood,the land on the no. As one embassador of those 12 million, this report ilustrates part of our everyday challenges. I had worked ten years for a small company and the only motivation I have is my check. I had always known that I get pay less and that I have to do more than what is expected from me. So I am used to fight stagnation and no recognition. My American Dream is been able to support my family.
My situation is quite different. I am not bored with my job. The issue is that the workforce was cut 20%, but the workload did not decrease, it did not stay constant, it actually increased. Yeah, I got my well deserved 2% raise this year, ( I should be darn grateful, my manager said) but I am working 30% more than I did the previous year. I was working plenty of unpaid overtime last year, so 30% more is getting unbearable. And, all indications show that 2010 will be worse with even more workload.
Hookey? I can't even take my earned vacation for fear of not accomplishing my workload. If the employees do not meet the unreasonable commitments laid down by management, there is hell to pay.
At my company right now, we are very motivated to do our job: motivated by fear.
CEO pay is the "elephant in the room" for this story... The fact that my CEO makes about 200x my salary shows that my job is relatively unimportant, and the fact that my CEO still has his job when our stock price has dropped 80% in the last year shows that job performance isn't important either.
As I listen to this, I immediately identified, but also felt shocked by Tess and Jim's shocked-ness. My statistics are: 28 yr old female 6 yrs with a new small car dealership. It used to be a fun job. Now it's tough. Morale is my number one reason why I find myself not getting my work done. It's symptomatic of depression. And I'm fully aware of it. Now you guys are too.
Workers don't care? Duh. Bad attitude? Mmm... I don't think so. The first part of your interview said it all - no challenges, no upward mobility, no raises - no profit-sharing. Who's motivated by that? You exhort people to have a better attitude. Ummm, right. Sure, Tess. Don't you think that the real problem is that the message has come across loud and clear: Management/Owners have you right where they've always wanted you. Cost analyzed to death, over worked, underpaid, stuck in a slot suited only to their own ends - NOT the employee's. No American dream for you my friend - this is the new post American Dream America - where corporate overlords are the only ones living the dream. Somehow, I don't think you're ever going to sell that to a labor force raised on a mantra of personal independence, growth, expansion, and manifest destiny. Oh sure, you may play the shell game well enough to keep them for a bit - until - surprise, surprise! The employes start plotting their escape - even in the worst of job markets. That's the American spirit! So tell me, who really has the bad attitude? The labor force, or the bottom-liners whose one dimensional obsessions and morbidly cynical manipulations suck the value for the employee out of any job?
Shame on you for your back handed reprimand of dissatisfied employees. But then, just as you imply people should be grateful for their jobs regardless of the conditions, I guess I should be grateful that I HAVE a publicly funded radio program with an open and unbiased slant on things...
Bring it, wilya?
I have been working at the same company for over 20 years. Last year I got a 1% raise and I was told that I should be grateful just to have a job.I have been forced to take furloughs and have had my hours cut. To date this year I have lost 15% of my pay from last year. Yet my CEO made over 17 million which is a 45% raise from 2007. He has received a bonus of over 4 million dollars even though the Companies stock has dropped over 46% from last year. And you seemed surprised that workers are not happy? The harder I work the less I make and the more my CEO makes.
Until my CEO changes "his" attitude I'll keep watching YouTube videos.
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