With a clumsy nod to the Rolling Stones’ classic tune, it appears to be true: since 1987, workers have become steadily less satisfied with their work. This is according to research results released last week by The Conference Board. What’s more, it’s not a generational thing: satisfaction is decreasing amongst all ages groups. While the…
Leadership
Taking a Break
I was out in the stores early this morning snapping up some after-Christmas sale items. In what appears to be a developing theme with me, I overheard another conversation with Human Resources implications in the store this morning. (Blog series, perhaps? See my other HR eavesdropping observation here.) Overheard: Employee: “Do I really need to…
The Card Playing CEO
Now, here’s something you don’t see every day: a company CEO sitting in the firm’s break room playing cards with his frontline employees. Or do you? This is the question I’ve been pondering for awhile after I witnessed this exact scenario at a client’s headquarters a few weeks ago. After making a few discreet inquiries…
Praising Mastery
I’m reading the book The Power of Respect by Deborah Norville. She cites a very interesting study from the journal Motivation and Emotion. In this study, a group of researchers from Reed College in Oregon studied whether one form of praise was more effective than another. The researchers used two different types of praise: “mastery”,…
In the Family Way
Years ago, I attended a company-wide meeting in which the company’s President Pete addressed the employees. During his presentation, he declared, “It’s great to work here at XYZ Company. It’s like family here.” At the time I thought, “Well that’s a nice thing to say” and didn’t really give it another thought. So imagine my…