Considering the fact that I'm heavily concentrated in business management for my undergrad, it didn't take me long to steer off in another direction when I was asked to do some research regarding the reason(s) why nearly 71% of people in this country can't stand where they're working right now.
Kathy Caprino, contributor, Forbes.com, provides us with a list in her article: The Top 5 Reasons Professionals Hate Their Jobs And What To Do About It.
1. The skills they need to use to succeed in their job feel difficult and uncomfortable for them
2. The rampant toxicity or crushing demands exhaust and depress them
3. The outcomes they’re working on feel either meaningless or wrong
4. They sense they’re made for something much better, more meaningful and more exciting
5. They long to use different talents, and leverage their creativity and ingenuity but have no idea how to do that and make the money they need
Then, I looked at some other sources to see if I could triangulate key reasons why people seem to be dissatisfied with their jobs. Here's what I found...
Huffington Post, 2013: 10 Reasons People Hate Their Jobs: LinkedIn
1. They think the grass is greener someplace else
2. Their values don’t align with the company
3. They don’t feel valued
4. Job insecurity
5. No room for advancement
6. Not enough pay
7. Too much red tape
8. Not being challenged
9. Passion is gone
10. The boss sucks
Psychology Today, 2014: Top 5 Reasons People Are Unhappy at Work
1. Pay
2. Job Security
3. Lack of Social Connections
4. The Work/Underutilization
5. Misbehavior in Workplace
Morgan McKinley, 2014: Top Reasons Employees Are Unhappy at Work
Lack of recognition
Low pay/no raises
Clash of values/personalities
Lack of work/life balance
No room for progression
Wrong work environment
Does anyone notice a trend? Upon reviewing all of the wonderful things I had skimmed through about corporate hierarchy, I'd come to recognize five things as being the most prevalent across the different plains of information, all with one common factor:
1. Employees don’t feel appreciated
Whether it’s through monetary compensation such as their salary, wages, raises, compensations, bonuses, ESOPs, whatever – or recognition through praise, such as a promotion, public acknowledgment, etc. The fact of the matter is, many employees feel like they’re underappreciated and undervalued and because of that they become unhappy and…underproductive. Which leads beautifully into my next point:
2. They feel underutilized
Most employees who aren’t happy at work tend to do exactly what they're told and do it to the best of their ability in order to get the job done. Beyond that, employees who feel unappreciated probably aren’t going to reach out and ask their manager if any new and interesting work has come through the office lately. It doesn’t take long for these employees to recognize that their skills and expertise could be easily utilized someplace else.
3. There’s a clash of values
I’m just combining the term “values” into one subsection, here. But obviously, throughout the several places that I sought out information, the word value(s) was used in different context. Basically, employees aren’t living with their company. Simple as that. They literally aren’t on the same page. The company has a vision, sees a future, projects their strategy – if the employees aren’t on board with every step of the way, that company isn’t going anywhere fast. Because companies need employees to bring in profits to grow the company (which then, leads back to employees needing to feel appreciated…see where this is going?).
4. There’s job insecurity
I saw this pop up a lot. And with much dismay, I learned that there are so many people out there that go to work every single day wondering if they’re going to walk in to their desk contents being piled up in a box. Many employees actually dislike where they work because their management hasn’t made it clear to them that they’re not as replaceable as they fear – that their particular skill set is needed within the company…that they’re appreciated (hello-o).
5. Employees feel suffocated
I’m gathering several points again, but when I say this, I mean that they feel the pressure of too many demands, or demands that are out of their practice/skill set; management or boss just flat out sucks; red tape and double-standards everywhere you turn; no room for advancement, etc. I did everyone (myself included) a favor and summed all that up into a succinct blurb, here. The more crushing anxiety that’s placed on an employee the minute they step through the door, the more likely they are to become dissatisfied with their work environment. Oh, and did I also happen to mention that when an employee feels suffocated, it tends to be a result of – you guessed it – being underappreciated.
Alright, we get it, tell us something we don't know.
Look, I'm not promising ALL employee dissatisfaction can be solved by giving gold stars out for good behavior, okay? But, do keep in mind one simple rule of thumb: if you are in management, you should do your absolute best to ensure that every employee feels that they are needed and cared about. (Only if they really are - if they're a drag and just don't want to be there, then you should totally let them go and stop waiting for them to change, because they won't; you're only making them more grouchy by giving them the run-around). The people who work for you want to work with you as well, so…let them! Trust me, your company will yield much better results with happy employees - it's been proven numerous times.
Have Fun. Be Fun. Forever.
-Kourtni
Sheetal Tadiparty
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