Three Signs of A Miserable Job
Paul in Cannon Beach
4,703 Posts
I had the opportunity to hear a diverse panel of "leadership" speakers today via simulcast. Of them all, the person I found most engaging was Patrick Lencioni, author of "The Three Signs of A Miserable Job" among other best sellers.
I plan to purchase the book next week. Has anyone read this or other books by Lencioni?
He is certainly a gifted presenter and if his books are as interesting and thought provoking as his talk today, I think I'll enjoy reading them.
If you are curious, the three signs of a miserable job are: irrelevance, immeasurement, and anonymity. It has nothing to do with the type of work done or the pay (as you probably guessed).
More info here: [url]http://www.tablegroup.com/books/signs/[/url]
Great stuff!
I plan to purchase the book next week. Has anyone read this or other books by Lencioni?
He is certainly a gifted presenter and if his books are as interesting and thought provoking as his talk today, I think I'll enjoy reading them.
If you are curious, the three signs of a miserable job are: irrelevance, immeasurement, and anonymity. It has nothing to do with the type of work done or the pay (as you probably guessed).
More info here: [url]http://www.tablegroup.com/books/signs/[/url]
Great stuff!
Comments
[url]http://63.135.122.65/bergdahlphoto/Wal-mart sign-022S.JPG[/url]
Anonymity
Irrelevance
Those are the three signs of a miserable job. How many of them do you see in your organization.
I had a frustrated employee in my office yesterday. He was considering transfering out of one department to another. As we talked, it became clear he was struggling with "anonymity" more than anything.
We discussed a strategy for him to address a couple of the main issues with his spvsr next week. Hopefully that meeting will go well and the spvsr will really try to hear what he has to say.
Anonymity is a big one. I've been reviewing the results of our just-finished employee satisfaction survey for one of our companies, and of those who seem to be unhappy, the common thread is that nobody seems to notice them or care enough to communicate.
Performance evals aren't done timely or at all and nobody says anything to the employee, the employee isn't sent to Orientation and nobody tells the employee why they weren't sent or when they will eventually be sent. Some employees even said they were surprised to hear we have certain insurance benefits. (I specifically ask about this in the survey.)
Clearly some employees just feel invisible and unimportant to the organization. Can't say I blame them, in some cases. I know our supervisors DO care, but perception is reality. At least now I have some specifics I can review with the supervisors to make things better. Typically, employees just leave for another employer and say nothing to us. Thankfully we have this information now and maybe we can save some decent people...
Just curious, how are you communicating to those who took the poll? I know that follow up is important (and challenging).
I can relate to the frustration of knowing that supervisors DO care but somehow its not being communicated in an effective way. And you are right, perception is reality.
Personally, I think dealing with anonymity requires a top to bottom approach. The top leadership must know the names of the staff. But I think the real effort must be made by the supervisors to know their staff, their challenges, and communicate regularly that they care about them.
Some of this seems to go against the whole "I dont want to know anything about your personal life because maybe that could come back to bite me" HR approach. We spend 8-10 hours a day with our co-workers. We have to care about these people and share their lives. I know some people out there will disagree with me on that but that's ok.
To put it into perspective -- I work in an office of 3 (HR mind you). You'd think that we would be somewhat familiar with each other. Not so. In fact, we're relatively 'lucky' if our VP even acknowledges us with a simple 'good morning'. We don't even have regular staff meetings, have not had a performance review in almost two years -- and when they are done they're typically negative and any positive comments for a job well done are not heard.
I'm sure you're thinking "why don't you find something else". Easier said than done. I am now the sole provider for my child as my husband passed away unexpectedly and cannot 'afford' to go to a new job where I will be expected to work an excessive amount of hours because my child comes first at this time, but I am certainly keeping my eyes and ears open and am consistently networking to find the right opportunity. Where this once was a company that people were proud to work for, employees are embarrassed to be here -- their words not mine.
I, for one, will be buying this book and hoping to get some very good insight and information and put to good use - even if it's in a new position.
I would be curious to know what has led to the change? Was it gradual? Did you have a management change? Somewhere along the line, you culture took a turn for the worse.
I think the only good news is that you CAN turn things around. It takes time and the support of your leadership. I am not sure you have those elements though. Change won't happen if the leadership simply dismisses complaints as "whining".
That is one of the reasons I have been with my current organization for 15 years. Good leadership that I respect and trust.
I am going to be reading the book soon. Maybe we can discuss it on this thread later. I think you are right, the book may not be able to turn your current situation around but it may help you recognize the kind of employment environment you will enjoy working for in the future.
I have a large network in the HR community and this person's credentials were brought to my attention -- and they are not stellar. I advised my superiors prior to the actual start date and was reprimanded for doing so. The prior company was almost run into the ground and the same things are happening here. Mid-mgt has lost all respect for upper management and decisions are made that are boggling to the mind. Policies and procedures are established - then changed - and changed again -- and again, and again and again. And there is certainly more that I could say but would not be comfortable doing so on an open forum -- would be happy to share off-line but not here. They would probably make your hair stand up on end. To say that leadership here would back any changes for the positive is not possible.
I have 18+ years here as I did trust and respect -- Can't say that any longer.
Are you documenting any of this? Might not be a bad idea.
Thanks for the offer of venting!