Working for the Weekend

With our slippery-slope economy and Wall Street completely besieged by bears, American workers have a right to be moody. People employed at multimillion dollar companies fear the lay-off axe just as much as employees at tiny, nimble businesses. In short: no one is safe anymore.

But the flagging economy isn't to blame for the U.S. worker's foul disposition, experts report. In fact, it's a continuation of a dissatisfaction that began stirring long before the pin pricked the tech bubble in 2000. The Worst of Times In a July 2002 special consumer survey on employee satisfaction, the Consumer Research Center of the Conference Board, found that only about half (50.5%) of Americans across age and wage groups say they are happy with their work. "The most interesting thing is that we've done the survey at three different points in time, and we've noticed there is just a downward trend in satisfaction irrespective of how the economy is performing," says Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "Boom times don't necessarily boost employee morale." The 5,000-person surveys were also taken in 2000 and 1995. Since 1916, the Conference Board has created and disseminated knowledge about management and the marketplace to help businesses strengthen their performance and better serve society. Working as a global, independent membership organization in the public interest, it conducts research, convenes conferences, makes forecasts, assesses trends, publishes information and analysis and brings executives together to learn from one another. "The widespread feeling among many Americans that their jobs aren't providing the satisfaction they once did is likely to be a growing concern for management," says Franco. "Workers are least satisfied with bonus plans, promotion policies and educational training programs." Just the Facts Workers ages 35 to 44, a group that used to be the happiest group, showed the largest drop in job satisfaction, from 60.9% to 47.4%. Additionally, New Englanders experienced the largest regional decline in satisfaction in contrast to people living in the Rocky Mountains, who reported greatest satisfaction. Money equaled greater happiness in some cases, according to the survey. Worker satisfaction tended to increase with income. So it was no big surprise to find workers in households earning less than $15,000 were least satisfied and those earning more than $50,000 were most satisfied, when broken down by income group. However, satisfaction fell for all sets overall, so increasing salaries might not be the answer. One big factor that affects workers is manager performance. It's not enough that bosses treat just some employees with dignity because treatment of an employee's co-workers matters too, according to Mary Beth Marrs, a visiting assistant professor of management in the College of Business at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Statistically, workers who witnessed abuse were just as likely to seek payback as was the target of the verbal aggression, she says. Forms of revenge included taking unapproved time off and stealing supplies. Additionally, employees reported they were less committed to the job and less likely to go "above and beyond the call of duty," Marrs says. Bungling Bosses Surprisingly though, employees dislike incompetent bosses more than ones they found abusive, according to another study. "Nobody likes abuse, but employees can find ways to work around abusive managers. Employees don't want to be involved with chaotic, mismanaged workplaces where nothing gets done well and people feel like they can't be effective," says Randy Hodson, professor of sociology at Ohio State. Hodson and colleagues performed a detailed analysis of 108 book-length studies of employees in various workplace settings. "We need ways to ensure managers are held responsible for how they treat their employees," he adds. Another problem is that the information age's novel technology has made the world an extension of the workplace, according to Franco. "In the past 10 years or so - with the advent of technology - there has been a blurring of the line between work and play. Between e-mails and cell phones, for some folks it is like they are on call 24/7," she says. When a task comes down the pipeline, it often must be completed in mere minutes. "Now, one sends an e-mail requesting information and expects a same-day turnaround rate," says Franco. "This new performance expectation can lead to increased levels of dissatisfaction and stress." Employers and workers need to realize that the job will be weighed as a whole package. As a result, positives like shift flexibility, tuition reimbursement and sign-on bonuses will be measured against whatever negatives the job contain. "It depends on current labor market conditions as to how much power an employee has," she says. What this means is most workers might have fewer chances to leave a job, even if the situation becomes difficult. Conditions in the general business community don't always reflect what's happening in health care. Currently the health care job market has swung heavily in favor of the worker because of severe shortages, and this translates into some major bargaining chips for caregivers. Those who count themselves among the disgruntled today should assess why they're unhappy and assign the blame accordingly. As a starting point, you need to ask: As an employee, are you giving your best effort? Is your employer? Shawn Proctor is on staff at ADVANCE. You can reach him at sproctor@merion.com.