Ever wonder how a store clerk can be so surly, marvel at the way a waitperson performs a few simple tasks so badly, and question why you must contend with a complicated phone screening system when you need to speak to a live human employee now? Here’s a bit of insight:
IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ — Only 6 percent of Americans say they love their jobs. Anywhere from 50 to 90 percent say they are job haters, depending on the survey. According to a Gallup Poll, with similar findings reported by Entrepreneur Magazine, approximately 77 percent of Americans hate their jobs.
This reality costs American companies over $300 billion annually in stress related claims. And this doesn’t even consider the costs in terms of absenteeism, turnover, and the loss of creativity and productivity.
That’s from a news release about business consultant-author Scott Hunter’s new book, Making Work Work.
According to Hunter, who goes on to offer a list of common-sense solutions, the job-hating situation costs the economy trillions.
It’s likely 99 percent of working Americans hate their job at times; that’s human nature. It’s also likely that a few in the work force would find plenty to dislike about any job, no matter how easy the work, high the pay and pleasant the conditions. That’s just the way some people are.
But if those surveys are at all accurate, the number of people who harbor deepseated, ongoing, actual hatred for the work they do is shocking. It surely explains a lot of lost opportunities, poor performance, mistrust and dissatisfaction all around — employers, co-workers, investors, consumers, etc.
The shocking nature of this situation doesn’t end there. It’s just amazing that so much of what’s wrong could be prevented, lessened or repaired through widespread application of remedies that aren’t rocket science, as Hunter indicates with his solutions.
In fact, we’ll boil it down to three words: the Golden Rule.
Far more than the alleged Social Secrurity crisis, the gay marriage wedge issue and even tort reform, this is something Americans in all areas of the economy, in both private and public sectors, ought to be thinking about and discussing. Under the status quo, we’re all losing.
I just picked up Jared Diamond’s book “Guns, Germs, and Steel” about the evolution of human societies. What is remarkable is the rapid spread of Homo Sapiens after their appearance on the planet. I think this speaks to an ingrained dissatisfaction humans have that push us to look for something better, newer, what’s over the next hill, etc. I suspect that attempts to “fluff the pillow” for workers would have limited success in garnering better job satisfaction results.
For that matter, when in history has there been so much material wealth available to so many, and when has work been less onerous and less remunerative than today?
I am a bit suspicious of statistics telling me how much productivity is lost from job hatred. What proof is there that complaining workers would be any more productive somewhere else?
This job hatred thing is just part of a whole that runs pretty deep, from spouse hatred through political hatred touching on sports hatred to a kind of society hatred reflected in lawsuits and the awards given out (let alone the awards asked for). You castigated me earlier for saying that “in society a few sacrifice and the rest loot”, but I use “loot” to mean partly the unwillingness to sacrifice for society. For example, if you take up smoking and later have health problems from it, instead of saying “well, there was a cost to my smoking, and I will pay it as my societal obligation”, the more modern credo is, “the tobacco companies made a dangerous product that I used, so now they must make me whole by paying me much dollar”. Likewise if you are part of a botched surgical procedure, or are in a work related accident, the credo is that someone else should pay for my loss. There is no recognition that we are all in this together and that we all share in losses and gains from society’s activities as a whole.
I worked a couple of years for a guy who was the business owner. He said he loved his business and loved to work. He expected his employes to be the same way and told them so.
I soon saw that he would come in late on Monday mornings. He often went to play golf on Wednesday. If he came in at all on Friday he was usually gone by lunchtime.
Employes who put in 40 hours didnt dare complain. If he heard complaining he would say the door is there for anyone who didnt like working there. If he heard the same person complain again he would find a way to get rid of them. I left that job when I could but see a lot of the same things everywhere else.
rightsaidfred, I think you’re wise to be suspicious of statistics on work attitudes and most other attempts to delve society’s thinking. I deliberately included qualifiers because I do also. But even if taken as broad strokes, the indication is troubling.
Americans really are not raised to think in terms of considering society overall. Our culture is strong on Lone Rangers, mavericks, “I Did It My Way.” In some ways this serves us well, in others it’s detrimental.
BTW, “castigated” is an awfully strong word for what you mention. My comment wasn’t meant to be that vehement.
Yes, castigated was too strong. I regretted using it after I posted.
What blutus posted is heard often. I guess the other side is that the business owner carries more risk. The owner has the prerogative to hire people to do his work.
The employer/employee relationship has a large adversarial component to it.