In honor of this past Monday being Labor Day, this one’s for you working stiffs. (And doesn’t that describe most of us these days?)
The New York Times ran a well-thought out and research-packed piece on “America’s disengagement crisis” at work — a business problem that costs the country some $300 billion annually. Not sure about you, but where I’m from, they call amounts like that “real money.”
We’re in an age of chronic and persistent unemployment even among the skilled and well-educated. As a result, many supervisors, managers and execs — people in roles of workplace power — hold the position, “you should just be happy to have a job.” And this, employees are made to feel, is justification enough to suppress their wages, skimp on benefits, and otherwise create non-nurturing environments.
The problem with this Lowered Expectations thinking is this: there’s a strong correlation between dissatisfaction at work and dismal bottom-line results (As the authors of the New York Times piece explain). And as I point out in this video, it isn’t exactly rocket science to create an atmosphere in which people are excited about coming to work and giving their best, even when the larger economy appears to be going up in smoke. It all boils down to a few simple things such as respect, fair (and not necessarily astronomical) financial compensation and most importantly, providing a sense of significance.
For that last one, cynics will call it spin, corporate “B.S.” or perhaps some even less savory terms. But it doesn’t change the fact that we humans are meaning-seeking creatures. We want to know that what we do matters. We seek fulfillment. Ultimately, the most self-aware individuals desire self-actualization. Employers may never be able to provide that when a job requires a college grad to staple papers and move them from one corner of the office to another, no matter how necessary a function it is. But what they can do is provide a feeling of progress, by giving that grad opportunities to develop through training, mentoring, and — when rightfully earned — advancement and upward career mobility.
I’ve been harping on this for some time now, but must admit it’s not exactly an original thought — nor a radical one. Here’s how the authors of the NYT piece put it:
“Promoting workers’ well-being isn’t just ethical; it makes economic sense. Fostering positive inner lives sometimes requires leaders to better articulate meaning in the work for everyone across the organization.
“If those who lead organizations — from C.E.O.’s to small-team leaders — believe their mission is, in part, to support workers’ everyday progress, we could end the disengagement crisis and, in the process, lift our work force’s well-being and our economy’s productivity.”
So bosses, employers and anyone else who calls the shots for teams of workers, please read the NYT piece (as well as a few other excellent works in the labor-focused series they did) and take note. “Employee engagement” isn’t a bunch of touchy-feely mumbo jumbo. It’s a legitimate pursuit that yields real-world economic benefits to businesses who take it seriously.
Akweli Parker is the founder of Digital Delta Media, a communications consultancy near Philadelphia. As a graduate of the highly regarded Melcrum Internal Communications Black Belt programs, he helps clients create their own, effective employee engagement strategies that in turn advance their business objectives. Reach him at aparker (at) digitaldeltamedia.com.
