Ken Goldstein suggests you try the Gallup Poll yourself. And he sure hopes you’re not in that 70%.
A Gallup study released last week on the State of the American Workplace reported that 70% of American workers are disengaged in their jobs. An extraordinary number of these people convey that they hate going to work for their employers. Here we are, ostensibly emerging at long last from The Great Recession, and yet, this is how a frightening majority of employed individuals are reported to feel.
Sound impossible?
Try it on yourself.
Here is the twelve question survey Gallup used to measure employee engagement, from Page 19 of the published report:
1) I know what is expected of me at work.
2) I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
3) At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
4) In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
5) My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
6) There is someone at work who encourages my development.
7) At work, my opinions seem to count.
8) The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
9) My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
10) I have a best friend at work.
11) In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
12) This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.
I will be writing a good deal more about my thoughts on this in the coming weeks. In fact, as mentioned often here I have written a novel on this theme that will be published this fall (October 2013) by The Story Plant. Before I offer some of my opinions on the topic in a subsequent post, I wanted you to have the opportunity to ask yourselves the Gallup poll questions. Be honest, internalize the answers over some quiet time, then draw your own conclusions.
Are you in the 70%? I sure hope not. If you are disengaged, try to boil it down to the essence of what is eating at you. I’m guessing you already know.
Wow, 70%. Imagine how much creativity, passion, energy, and enthusiasm is waiting to be unleashed in all that humanity. Now there’s a problem that’s worth solving. And you know what, it is completely solvable, if that becomes a shared value.
What’s the solution?
Start with the questions.
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Originally published on Corporate Intelligence Radio
photo: Victor1558 / flickr
Turner, this is a great question. “Are you doing what you want to do?” The answer for me is a qualified “no.” I’m in the field I like and believe in but for a variety of reasons, have had my hands tied. It’s like an artist being hired for his creative abilities and telling him what he can and can’t do.
Funny that it doesn’t include a simple yes or no question: “Are you doing what you want to do?”
There are few human beings on the earth whom I believe are adding less value than Cramer. As he proved categorically when he appeared on The Daily Show, he is purely self-interested, a modern-day huckster and a con man who spreads pain in exchange for ratings. He is without shame, pure ego, I don’t care what they pay him, he will never be vindicated for spreading misinformation. I can’t even imagine the idea of seeing him as a role model for anything in business except for what you never want to be. When his three score and ten are up,… Read more »
I want to solve the problem of what to do with millions of people who won’t have jobs because the jobs won’t exist. This should be a good thing, but without a culture change it will be a disaster. You know you have a long way to go when someone compliments Jim Cramer of CNBC on his work ethic and follows with the comment that everyone should work like that. Really? 100 hours a week to “stay competitive in today’s world”. Let me clue you in guy. We need to change today’s world.
Ken, I have been working with men and the women who love them for more than 40 years. Good column and hope you get good response. I’ll be interested in your experiences. One of the reasons I left my job 15 years ago and went into business for myself was I didn’t feel challenged, supported, and engaged. As economic conditions worsened and we were told we needed to pay more attention to “the bottom line,” there was more fear, competition, worry, and anxiety. I had grown up believing that job security lay in getting a good education, finding a good… Read more »
Jeb, going out on your own takes huge guts, and I commend you for doing it. As you convey, the short term pain can be offset by the long-term rewards, most of them intrinsic. I plan to write a follow-up post with my thoughts, but the short answer is, it’s dumbfounding how many employers miss the obvious. It’s even worse how many bad bosses there are out there, and that they are allowed to continue to destroy value and harm their subordinates. At the same time, there are many good bosses, and they should be celebrated as examples. The bottom… Read more »
Ken, We are at a time in human history with major changes going on as we reach the end of easily available resources and an increasing number of people on the planet, all trying to get enough water, food, land, and a few “goodies.” People at all levels are feeling the stress. I work with people throughout the world and find that when people feel overwhelmed, don’t know what to do, and feel frightened, they often become angry and abusive. We need to help everyone understand the changes and see them as opportunities for new ways to related on the… Read more »
I have to admit that I struggle with some of the questions. One in particular is “5) My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person?” It’s one thing to feel affirmation by a peer/co-worker but it’s completely different when that affirmation comes from above. Apples and oranges. In fact, when I look at other questions, it appears to take the onus is off the employer/supervisor and places it on peer environment. So here goes …. 1) I know what is expected of me at work…. It’s called a job description, so the answer is… Read more »
Tom, thank you so much for your candor, how cool of you to go through and answer all the questions so openly and honestly. This is exactly the kind of feedback employers need to hear. Your comments are actually way more important than my post. I hope they are widely read by those who need the feedback!