Jan
24
Job Satisfaction and Engagement of the American Workforce
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A new survey reveals some interesting insights into the American workforce.
Job Satisfaction vs. Engagement
Across the American workforce, only 45 percent of workers say they are satisfied (33 percent) or extremely satisfied (12 percent) with their jobs. At the same time, a much lower number actually feel very “engaged” by their jobs. Only 20 percent feel very passionate about their jobs; less than 15 percent agree that they feel strongly energized by their work; and only 31 percent (strongly or moderately) believe that their employer inspires the best in them.
Firm Size Makes a Difference
Employees at small firms (49 employees or less) report far greater job satisfaction than do employees at large firms. They are more likely to feel “energized” by their work (44 percent vs. 28 percent at large firms) and “very passionate” about their job (53 percent vs. 36 percent).
They [employees in small firms] are also more willing to put forth extra effort to help the organization succeed (61 percent vs. 43 percent), to agree that the organization inspires the best in them (44 percent vs. 24 percent), and to say that they would “accept almost any job to keep working here” (29 percent vs. 16 percent).
This could be the reason, as highlighted in a previous post, on the The National Innovation Initiative (NII) report, from the Council on Competitiveness, which found that smaller organisations are generally more innovative and able to respond more quickly to customer needs, compared to larger organisations.
Emerging Trends
Two interesting trends continue:
1) Time Off and Family Life
Nearly all workers were seeking more time off — and a better balance between work and leisure.
2) Retirement Only One Option
While many workers expect to retire at certain ages (25 percent between ages 61 and 65; 16 percent between ages 66 and 75), today a whopping 34 percent say they NEVER plan to retire. Traditional views of retirement are changing dramatically, with many planning to keep working in some manner after retiring.
Jan
21
“Cognitive Distortion”: Life Interrupted
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I’ve just finished reading a facinating article from The Seattle Times discussing the research of Professor David Levy (University of Washington). Some of the interesting quote I found from from the article are…….
We’re shooting through technological rapids that have opened doors and changed the dynamic of work, how we communicate and live, and sometimes even think. All these tools have made our lives easier in many ways. But they’re also stirring deep unease. Some are concerned that the need for speed is shrinking our attention spans, prompting our search for answers to take the mile-wide-but-inch-deep route and settling us into a rhythm of constant interruption in which deadlines are relentless and tasks are never quite finished.
In fact, multitasking - a computing term that involves doing, or trying to do, more than one thing at once - has cemented itself into our daily lives and is intensely studied. Research has shown it to be consistently counterproductive, often foolish, unhealthy in the long run, and in the case of gabbing on the cell phone while driving, relatively dangerous. Yet it is also expected, encouraged and basically essential.
Today, we can do more. And do more, faster. And do more, faster, from anywhere, all the time. You can work at home or the coffee shop or even the beach. Is this a good thing? How do we navigate these rapids without eventually drowning? Are we allowing life to be the sum of tasks, the short term always the priority? Are we so connected that we’re actually disconnected? And has anyone had enough time to focus long enough to mull a question that requires a long, complicated answer - if there is one?
the average employee switches tasks every three minutes, is interrupted every two minutes and has a maximum focus stretch of 12 minutes.
Yet, multitasking is constant now. We do it because it is expected, but also because we believe we can - sort of. The truth, says, David Meyer, a Michigan psychologist and cognitive scientist who has run several studies on the subject, is we don’t and can’t do it well. We can if the tasks are simple and virtually automatic (think walking and chewing gum at the same time) but true, effective, efficient, meaningful multitasking is akin to jamming two TV signals down the same cable wire. You get static, not high-definition.
Closely related to trying to do two things at once is “task-switching,” which is when you flit between functions. Meyer, who heads the University of Michigan’s Brain, Cognition and Action Laboratory, has tested this practice and says the results are clear: Constant nibbling from one task to another both slows and dumbs you down. It also is fatiguing and potentially harmful in terms of long-term health, and the cost of that split second you lose when you’re talking on the phone and a traffic obstacle arises.
“We’re stressing people out with multitasking demands over time,” says Grafman of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Maryland. And it will cause further decline in our health and performance, he says, if we keep it up. “The brain gets confused and looks for default mechanisms. It becomes hard to focus; we take shortcuts.”
Two Harvard professors see evidence of what they call “pseudo-attention deficit disorder” - shorter attention spans influenced by technology and the constant waves of information washing over us. When the brain gets excited over some rapid data and is stimulated, it releases a “dopamine squirt,” they say.
“We are not only working faster but even longer, and filling our limited leisure with busy activities, leading to an increasing sense of time poverty,” he says. “We have let the new technologies become a technological leash, leaving us always on call and constantly subject to interruptions and new work requirements.”
Shelly Lundberg, a labor economist who teaches at the University of Washington, studies how families behave. The economy is about time, she says, not money. And as an economist, she takes a dispassionate view.
“If you’re feeling pressed for time and too busy, well, that’s your choice,” Lundberg says. “This isn’t a poverty-stricken country; there is freedom of action. Time is of the essence . . . And what you spend your time on reflects your values.”
Daniel Hamermesh, a University of Texas economist, studied time-stress perceptions among higher-income households in the U.S. and four other industrialized countries. His study - “Stressed Out on Four Continents: Time Crunch or Yuppie Kvetch?” - found that the better off one is, the more he or she seems to complain about the time pinch. How can this be? Your opportunities and expectations grow as you grow wealthier, he theorizes, but time, which is finite, doesn’t keep up.
Although many people believe that multitasking is an effective means of dealing with the demands of modern life, the reality is humans are not able to multitask effectively. The secret to effectiveness, and indeed efficiency is to focus on one task at a time, concentrating fully.
Try focusing on completeing a single task at a time without attempting to multitask, switch off the radio, the phone, IM and e-mail, focus on and complete the task at hand. I’m sure you’ll be as suprised as I was to discover, an improvement in quality and effectiveness. Not to mention the satisfiaction of successfully completing a task!!!
Technorati Tag: information overload
Jan
20
An interesting post from the T+D Blog on the Five critical business issues for the new year, which are:
1. Creating a Compelling Organizational Vision.
2. Understanding and Coping with a Constantly Changing Economic Environment.
3. Developing and Mentoring Employees.
4. Building a Workplace Community.
5. Negotiating and Managing Critical Relationships.
Jan
14
Introduction
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A recent report from one of our South African new site’s IT WEB stated that, blogging is
“very much a niche thing in SA and completely unknown to the mainstream Internet users.”
So, being South African, I decided to start a blog! This being my first post, hopefully the first of many 
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Welcome to The Practice of Leadership!
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What I support...
