Dissatisfied Employees - Can We Save Them?

Posted by admin on January 5, 2010 under Leadership, Process Improvement | Be the First to Comment

A new study by The Conference Board (http://www.conferenceboard.org/utilities/pressDetail.cfm?press_ID=3820) released today shows an increasingly dissatisfied workforce.

A recent survey of 5,000 households found that only 45% of respondents are happy with their jobs - the lowest level since 1987, the first year the study was published. The top reason for discontent? Job design (i.e. interesting, challenging, meaningful work).
 
Interestingly enough, the satisfaction of the youngest portion of the population (those under 25 years of age) is at the lowest level is satisfaction level ever. It seems that many of these employees should only be in their first job. So, what does that say about their expectations for receiving personal satisfaction in the workplace?

Another startling statistic revealed by this study is that 22% of persons polled do not expect to be in their current job in a year. Considering the current state of the economy and forecasted levels of employment into 2011, that number seems very high. Just imagine if the national employment figure were closer to 5% or 6% - how many of our employees would be looking to “jump ship”?

Executives should be paying close attention to these statistics, and considering how to respond to this situation. If you were to lose 22% of your workforce, when it is likely already overstretched, what would you do? Do you have the succession plans, policies and procedures, business processes and training programs in place so you could respond quickly to this scenario? Could business continue, let alone grow, if you lost almost ¼ of your staff? Contingency planning is something we should be reviewing and adjusting on a regular basis.

Better yet, what does it take to create an environment where employees are allowed to innovate, and have challenging and meaningful work? If you could create an environment like that, how would it impact your ability to compete and thrive in the current economy? What steps are you taking to make this a reality in your organization?