Job Satisfaction at Lowest Level in Two Decades

Research published by The Conference Board reports that Americans of all ages and income brackets continue to grow increasingly unhappy at work. These findings compliment research by others in Europe in the UK and represent a long-term trend that should be a red flag to employers.

The report, found only 45 percent of those surveyed say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from 61.1 percent in 1987.

Fewer Americans are satisfied with all aspects of their employment, and no age or income group is immune. In fact, the youngest cohort of employees (those currently under age 25) expresses the highest level of dissatisfaction ever recorded by the survey for that age group. A finding that supports the assertion I made in my last post that there is a significant Engagement Gap in contemporary business.

"The downward trend in job satisfaction could spell trouble for the overall engagement of U.S. employees and ultimately employee productivity. These numbers do not bode well given the multi-generational dynamics of the labor force. The newest federal statistics show that baby boomers will compose a quarter of the U.S. workforce in eight years, and since 1987 we’ve watched them increasingly losing faith in the workplace." Twenty years ago, some 60 percent of that generation was satisfied with their jobs. Today, that figure is roughly 46 percent. The growing dissatisfaction across and between generations is important to address because it can directly impact the quality of multi-generational knowledge transfer-which is increasingly critical to effective workplace functioning."

The drop in job satisfaction between 1987 and 2009 covers all categories in the survey, from interest in work (down 18.9 percentage points) to job security (down 17.5 percentage points) and crosses all four of the key drivers of employee engagement: job design, organizational health, managerial quality, and extrinsic rewards.

"Challenging and meaningful work is vitally important to engaging...workers," adds John Gibbons, program director of employee engagement research and services at The Conference Board. "Widespread job dissatisfaction negatively affects employee behavior and retention, which can impact enterprise-level success." In fact, 22 percent of respondents said they don’t expect to be in their current job in a year. “This data throws up a big, red flag because the increasing dissatisfaction is not just a ‘survivor syndrome’ artifact of having co-workers and neighbors laid off in the recession,".

The Engagement Gap - THE HR challenge for 2010

I have been spending a lot of time working on a new approach to employee engagement over the past few weeks. Improving employee engagement (i.e. achieved by matching Business Values (BV) and Human Values (HV)) has proven to have a positive impact on the performance of organisations and is recognised by many as THE critical HR/CXO issue of the moment.

One of the most interesting issues in this field is the imminent "Engagement Gap". What I mean here is that there is an increasingly wider divide between the expectations of organisations and their employees. More and more employees, driven by a desire to be more involved in the workplace (Gen Y especially) often supported by Web 2.0 technology, are seeing their aspirations for corporate involvement dashed on the corporate rocks. This gap is likely to become more acute as the Conservative Government's drive for efficiency takes bite in the UK.

My advice to employers? - get on the engagement agenda before it is too late.

If you need any evidence just look at what is going on at British Airways

100Thoughts - encouraging growth and success post-recession

Whilst I have expressed my problems with Twitter on several occations I am intrigued by the newly launched 100Thoughts campaign by HSBC. This initative aims to encourage businesses to think and focus on the activities that will drive growth and success post-recession. The campaign is intended to run alongside a series of supplementary booklets in The Times promoting business advice and inspiration from business leaders around the world – these are available in PDF form via the campaign microsite at http://www.100thoughts.hsbc.co.uk/ (the site is also a useful source of information on the wider campaign).

The initiative encourages businesses and employees to share their ‘thought’ i.e. their snippet of business wisdom, via a tweet including the #100thoughts campaign hashtag – we’ll then find and retweet the thought onto the official www.twitter.com/100thoughts profile.

Over the course of the campaign five winning thoughts will be selected by HSBC on the basis of the quality of insight they offer and five places will be awarded VIP entry to 100 thoughts panel debates around the country featuring likes of business experts Sir Eric Peacock and Chris Lewis, who will be taking place in the London panel on 25th May, hosted by the BBC’s Andrew Neil.

From the end of June, users will get a chance to vote on their favorite ‘thought’ from our five winners via the 100 thoughts microsite at http://www.100thoughts.hsbc.co.uk/ and a grand prize will be awarded - an exclusive one-to-one consultancy session with a world-renowned business guru (to be announced shortly).

"Fit for work notes" - an alternative to the "sick note"

With election fever gripping everyone’s thoughts, and business news being full of the consequences of the result, you may be forgiven for not noticing a change to the ‘sick note’ regime that came into effect from the 6th of April.

The scheme is designed to reduce the £17.3 billion estimated cost to the UK economy caused by staff absenteeism by allowing health professionals and employers to look at what an employee can do as opposed to what they can’t.

Under the old ‘Sick note’ culture, which was first introduced in 1922, employees were either unfit for work, in which case they were signed off by the GP, or they were fit for work, and expected to perform their usual duties.

The new fit note creates the ability for the employee to discuss their condition with the health professional and determine the tasks that can and can’t be undertaken and the length of time until full duties can be resumed.

This puts greater emphasis on the employer to accommodate an employee who is returning to work on a ‘may be fit for some work’ recommendation from the doctor. The employer is expected to assess the working conditions, such as whether the employee can easily climb stairs and if not, whether they can work on the ground floor, as well as providing a risk assessment for both the employee and their colleagues.

Depending upon the employee’s condition and the recommendations of the GP, it may not be possible for them to return because the roles that the fit note suggests aren’t required. In cases such as this, the employer is entitled to state that the employee is not fit for work and ask them not to attend the workplace, but because they have indicated a willingness to return to perform the tasks outlined by the GP, they may be entitled to full pay whilst they are away.

Employers also need to take into consideration the Disability Discrimination Act when an employee produces a fit note. Measures have to be taken to show that an employee is given the opportunity to return to work under acceptable conditions as soon as is possible.

For this scheme to work, it is vital that there is clear communication between employers and employees and that all steps are documented so as to demonstrate that opportunities are being given. Aiding an employee’s early return to work can help them overcome their condition sooner, can increase productivity for your organisation and can help reduce the costs of absenteeism, but the challenge is doing this in a way that benefits all parties and doesn’t leave you open to any risk or claims at a later date.

HR Consultant Tracey Sherwood has produced an excellent online training module ‘From Sick Note to Fit Note’ that can be purchased at http://www.expertlectures.com/presentation/37/from-sick-note-to-fit-note

Ranters can use promotional code ‘FNSM40’ when purchasing this product so that you pay just £40 + vat.

Communication - it's all about moustaches

I was running an event about leadership and communications last week. My theme for the event was borrowed from Garr Reynold's "Presentation Zen" book. However, rather than design and presentation technique, I focused on what it takes to be an effective leader and communicator.

The event went very well and I enjoyed interacting with the large group of accountants and actuaries (honestly I really did!). At one juncture we were discussing one of the key facets of what I think creates an engaged workforce - the golden rule of communication zen

...do unto others as they would have done unto THEM...

The group responded positively about this but then one delegate interjected:

...there is no place for empathy in the workplace - just tell them to get on with it and they will...

A silence came across the room only to be broken by the following retort:

...ahhh that reminds me that one of the most important things a leader must have is a moustache...

View more presentations from Scott McArthur.

It's only words - business still speaking like idiots

I had a very weird experience the other day. One of our accountants called me and asked me for my "backlog forecasts". Excuse me? "We need to accrue your backlog as part of the cycle"....what cycle? "the WIP" WHAT? Now I'm sure this is all important stuff but jesh - why use English when finance speak will do a much better job of confusing the hell out of everyone?!

This conversation starter from Delta 7 says it all:


If you want to measure just how much business speak you are using in your documents of presentations, I recommend the excellent free software over at Fight the Bull - warning - leave your business ego at the door.