Employees Want More Work? (Not Less?)
April 17, 2008
I’m happy to post this guest blog by Doug Klein President of Sirota Survey Intelligence and one of SF Research’s Thought Leader partners. Doug will present findings from resent research on this topic with us in a webinar next week. Join us then to learn more.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Well, not really. What employees truly want is the amount of work they have to do to match the expectations they had when they took the job. During the on-boarding process and throughout the early years, every employee continuously re-evaluates the “deal” between themselves and the company. When the “deal” is still fair, employees are satisfied (even enthusiastic), when the “deal” sours, they become highly attuned to dissatisfiers.
Part of most employees’ “deal” is to feel valued. This has a personal and performance component. They want to certainly be treated fairly and with all the common courtesies (like management not ignoring them, not being treated as a second class citizen, etc.) as well as having their current and future development needs met (so they can achieve their own personal work-related goals – whatever they may be).
Employees who are bored (reporting “too little work”) are often doing work for which they are ill-suited, or have jobs that are poorly designed. As a result, they have by far lower job satisfaction, sense of accomplishment, and pride in their employers compared to all other workers. All in all, they feel less valued.
Feeling overworked – a condition that could lead to job burnout – is far more prevalent than feeling bored and spikes during 2-5 years with the company. Employees who complain about being overworked often feel they are not receiving adequate support from co-workers. In addition, they contend that the quality of their work suffers (because of this inefficiency), resulting in greater stress and tension, and their feeling that they have sacrificed their personal lives for their jobs.
The complaints of both overworked and bored employees should be taken seriously, yet being bored has far more serious consequences for an organization than being overworked. Complaints about being overworked can be an indication of poor quality or work processes, and it can be difficult in certain circumstances to retain employees who feel they are overworked and out-of-balance with their work-life. But bored employees have an even greater negative impact on an entire organization, lowering morale and productivity, and draining resources.
One mechanism of action at play, as previously indicated, is employee perceptions of the “deal-delivered.” Work-life balance is almost an afterthought to people who feel their employers are meeting their end of the “deal” by being fair, providing interesting and meaningful work, and recognition or rewards for a job well-done. Work-life balance becomes a real issue when employees feel that their employers aren’t holding up to their part of the partnership.
However, when employee don’t feel valued (like when they feel bored) or feel overworked (because the company is being inefficient or cheap vs. dealing with an unexpected - or expected – rise in demand) issues like work-life balance, commuting, etc. become highlighted in their minds and become true dissatifiers.
Related posts
Comments
One Response to “Employees Want More Work? (Not Less?)”
Got something to say?
No joke, I want to be busy (but preferrably doing meaningful, brain taxing work) all the time. In fact, I’d rather work 60 hours a week then work 40 but scrape to fill that 40 with meaningful work.