It’s Hard to Work & Play Well With Others When You Hate Your Job!
“For over 90 years, The Conference Board has created and disseminated knowledge about management and the marketplace to help businesses strengthen their performance and better serve society. The Conference Board operates as a global independent membership organization working in the public interest. It publishes information and analysis, makes economics-based forecasts and assesses trends, and facilitates learning by creating dynamic communities of interest that bring together senior executives from around the world.” (From Conference Board Website)
On Tuesday January 5, 2010, The Conference Board released the results of a survey that indicated the lowest level of job satisfaction among American Workers in the last 22 years. Survey results showed that only 45% of Americans are satisfied with their work. What is even more significant is that 64% of workers under age 25 are unhappy in their jobs. In some workplaces, it is challenging to work and play well with others on a good day; it is particularly difficult to do so when you hate your job.
The last time job satisfaction was this low was back in the late 1980’s when most American workers were experiencing the results of the Reagan Administration’s “trickle-down economics”. And on October 19, 1987 (Black Monday), the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 508 points or 22.61% in ONE day. It was also a period that saw the beginnings of process re-engineering in which American Corporations began to systematically eliminate something called “non-value-added jobs”. The pessimism that stemmed from both events certainly took its toll on job satisfaction.
One of the conclusions of the current study is that this level of job dissatisfaction it could stifle innovation and hurt American industry’s competitiveness and productivity. And it may lead to older workers being less likely to share their knowledge and experience with younger ones. I find this last statement to be the most disturbing.
Jason Dorsey, the self-proclaimed “Gen Y Guy” talks about the fact that Gen Y does not want the Baby Boomers to retire because they know things Gen Y does not – like long division and state capitals! Now Jason’s talks are very entertaining and everyone usually has a good laugh. However, the reality is that Boomers do know things that Gen Y does not that directly impact the sustainability of American business organizations. If that knowledge transfer between the older and younger workers does not occur, it will be difficult for companies to continue to move forward. Yes, Gen Y workers seek the opportunity to “show what they can do”, however, if they lack an understanding of the context of how a company works and the rationale for why things have occurred in the past, they may truly be “rebels without a cause”.
Tags: commentary, Community Dialogue, Gen Y, generations