Why Employee Morale is Low
Posted: Thursday, August 12, 2010
by Randy Vaughan
When I mention that I have worked for sixty employers in my life, with rare exception the immediate response centers on same variation of the theme that I have a bad attitude. At one time this would force the debate of chicken and eggs and which came first. These days I state the fact and move on because most people inevitably choose what to believe based on how it makes them feel better about themselves. And quite often feeling good about yourself requires nothing more than a comparison to someone else that leaves you feeling superior, better in some way. So the other party might well concede he doesn't particularly like "working" any more than the rest of us but hey, at least he's still hanging in there, unlike me who appears to quit a lot, not to mention being fired on several occasions.
So why exactly is employee morale so low these days? I have already alluded to a couple of the reasons.
The emphasis on college degrees has to stop, period. And in context, I'm presuming you already understand I am not addressing true "careers" and vocations that simply demand specialized training and education (aka college and university studies), things like doctor, lawyer, and rocket science. We're talking about the more "traditional" concept of employment in which an average man or woman could work his way up that infamous "ladder" to positions of supervisors and managers in this capacity or that.
Said directly and bluntly: Working men and women have yet to see what it is about a college education that has convinced employers that four years of formal education (regardless of the field of study) makes a college grad your preferred choice for these positions over someone who has been working for you for, oh, ten years or longer.
You see, we really are not stupid despite the fact we didn't go to college. You bring in the college graduate and then we have to train him in the specifics and details of the particular industry because even with that degree in "business administration," the guy is still dumb as a bag of rocks when it comes to exactly "how" that widget is made. So you don't hesitate to "use" us, but we're not quite "good" enough to be trusted and promoted. You insult our intelligence and take us for granted but don't hesitate to "use" us.
Low morale? No, not really. Just angry as hell.
I've also already hinted at the second reason. It's axiomatic, I hope, that there is no love lost between me and not only the former employers in my personal life, but employers in general and the very reality of what employment has become. And yet it happens on occasion that some specific employer has, will, and does express great indignation at my conclusions. He will vehemently deny that he and his organization are anything at all like I describe, that he is somehow "different".
After all these years and all those jobs and all that experience my response is always the same:
"How does it feel?"
Before we can work for you, we have to pee in bottles and agree to background checks and verification of past employment and often there is an investigation into our credit history and then we're asked to self-identify in terms of gender and my God it goes on and on and on.
The moral to this is obvious: You begin with the presumption of guilt, that we're all potential crack-heads and worthless bums who can't hold a job and we're all in debt up to our eyes and then the most amazing thing happens.
After this "screening" process, these hoops and hurdles you throw in our way, it is you, the employer, who screams the loudest about what a disappointing "work force" you have. You hire consultants and have meetings to try to figure out what you can do to hire "better" employees.
Do you, the employer, really think for one minute there aren't ways to "beat" your drug screens, that people will not and do not lie on their applications and resumes and during the interview? You lie to us about what a grand and wonderful and "fun place" your company would be to work for, don't you? (I'll revisit this in a moment.)
Listen: You are hiring human beings, men and women, and that includes warts and all. But when you begin the presumptions I've stated and that you clearly hold us in such low regard that we "might" cause you legal hassles down the road, well, believe you're going to attract what you fear. I'd suggest that rather than screening and interviewing with the focus on weeding out the undesirables you begin trusting us and talking to us in order to get to know us as people first. Do that and you'll have a really good sense of those who indeed pose no potential legal threats to you and your company.
Let me state this in the most simple of terms: Employment in this country has become a thoroughly legalistic matter. When you talk about low employee morale, you are addressing our humanity. You want to improve that morale? Focus on humanity and back off on the legality.
And yes, when I called you a liar I meant it. Repeat after me: Men and women without college degrees are not stupid.
You tell us you have no money for raises but there is always money for new computers and new desks (especially that $10,000.00 solid mahogany monstrosity for your "meetings") and the new secretary for the new manager you just hired straight out of college. Oh, there is plenty of money, all right, just none for us.
I'm actually not even close to being done, but I'll end this the consideration of money and because this topic doesn't require a litany of specific reasons. A reduction to a "top ten" list insults both employer and employee.
The average employer has wrongly convinced himself that the number one reason for low employee morale is money.
With all due respect for all your titles and prestige and business success, that makes you a total idiot when it comes to knowing what really matters most to working men and women.
I've worked with, for, and around men and women like you all my life and I've worked with and around thousands and thousands of my "peers," my coworkers. Yes, each and every single one of us would like to make "more" money. You want to increase corporate profits. We'd like a bigger paycheck. We have that much in common. But that really is about all we have in common.
You have proven you value money and profits ahead of everything else, including your employees. You dehumanize us right from the start by calling us "Human Resources". And from there it gets worse. It is understandable, therefore, that you would naturally conclude that our low morale and bad attitudes must have something to do with money, that we think you don't pay us enough, pay us what we are really worth.
Okay, it is true that you do not pay us what we are worth to you. But that topic is better left for another time.
So here is the real source of the conflict taking place. We understand you have a business to run. And we know that it is in our best interests, as employees, to consider the "bigger picture". So yes, we might complain that the raise we did not get (our "best interest" at the moment) really was the best decision for all involved in terms of the future, job security, and so forth.
The failure, you see, is reciprocity. There is none.
Most working men and women go out of their ways to give employers the benefit of the doubt, to trust them. And it is because of that "bigger picture". Employers, however, so focused on business and money have proven they do not give one damn about their employees as people, could not care less about their very humanity. You care about us only to the degree that we sell ourselves to you in your pursuit of personal and corporate wealth.
The tragedy? None of this is ever going to change until those at the bottom stop playing your silly little games. True change, meaningful change always starts at the bottom. So-called change that comes from the top down is always a perpetuation of the same problems with different names, that's all.
Now you see why I've worked for some sixty employers.
And you know the irony?
Eighteen of those companies that I know of (which means there could be more) are no longer in operation.
I determined years and years ago that an invisible line exits beyond which I would neither willingly step nor be forcibly dragged or pushed. You had better believe my humanity has taken a beating but my soul is still intact, still not for sale, and I lived to tell to the tale, didn't I?
You complain about low employee morale? Well think about this:
Employers scream to the gods above about the high costs of hiring and training new employees. Keep doing what you've been doing during my lifetime and you're going to see more and more people just like me. Won't that do wonders for your bottom line?
Listen:
Employees are never going to be "happy". That's why it's called "work". But you can do much to create a workplace in which people are content and one free from hassles and petty bickering. I've heard nearly every one of my former employees say the following and it's a sentiment with which I agree: The average workplace is nothing more than a daycare for adults and management spends most of its time babysitting a bunch of whiny employees.
Would you like to make that go away without it costing you a penny?
Make your interest in your employees second to your concern for them as people. Convince them you really care about them and their families and you know what? They will care as much about the success of your company as you. And you know why? Because it is in their best interest to do so.
Question: What does your business and being in love have in common?
By definition, "business" and "capitalism" are reduced to a "fair exchange of value". Reciprocity.
Love, being in love, by definition, is reciprocity. What will doom a personal relationship quicker than anything else? Unrequited love. And what is unrequited love except the failure to reciprocate in kind?
So what will doom your business quicker than anything else? Hint: It is not the competition or "global markets" or any of that other stuff you learned in college or that distracts you from what matters the most in life.
So do you really want to improve and maybe even rid yourself of that low employee morale? One word:
Reciprocity.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)Reciprocity is in neither a republican's or fat cat's vocabulary. All they know are bottom lines. As long as republicans remain in power and can say no to every humanitarian and social bill brought up by democrats, things will get worse until low wages and no benefits will rule the day and people will be fighting even over those marginal jobs. Why? Because ever since Reagan, the poor and middle class had been methodically raped, yet the fat cats have, through their talk radio shills who are all rich themselves, convinced the poor and middle class that they are in a culture battle and liberals are all bad. Worry about your guns and bibles, forget about poor wages and no benefits. And you know what? The poor and middle class seems too stupid to ever see the light of day and swallow this BS hook, line, and sinker. Good luck. Too bad you can't make a living reading the bible and shooting a gun.
Yikes! I have seen so much of what you have referred to over the years I was sitting here nodding my head. You are right, reciprocity would go a long way in a lot of situations.GraceHi, Grace...Thank you very much. Doesn't sound like asking for too much, does it?
This was one of your better rants Randy- you're just great at turning the shirt inside out, exposing the frayed and jagged seams. Of course what these employers are doing is, violating the basic law of the universe- the principals of Yin & Yang- which are applied to the chaos of nature itself- including human beings and human life. The law of the unity of opposites, is that one cannot exist without the other- they must come together to create a whole- as humans do to create a life. Without this Yin & Yang balance, we have chaos- in anything. No reciprocity- no balance. Why these supervisors, managers, business owners etc. can't plainly see this- I don't know, blinded by greed, I guess. This was, as yours usually are, a good read- Thanks Randy- Always- EllaHi, Ella...Thanks very much. What's scary (and what I've come to believe) is that they *do* see it. They just do not care....
Nicely said, Randy. The first thought I had when reading that you'd worked for sixty different employers was "here is a person who refuses to accept that he has to be exploited". Good for you.Hi, Jennifer, what's up? That makes you the exception! Most everyone launches right in on me about my "attitude" (which I have, of course). There are, as you know, some die-hard types who will defend "institutions" at all costs, put all the blame for everything on regular people because those "institutions" simply can do no wrong. I used to love tanglinig with people like that. These days I try to avoid them...You take it easy now...
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