One Foot Out the Door: How to Combat the Psychological Recession That's Alienating Employees and Hurting American Business by Bardwick Judith M

Author:Bardwick, Judith M. [Bardwick, Judith M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: AMACOM
Published: 2007-10-30T14:00:00+00:00

REALLY KNOW EXPECTATIONS AND PRIORITIES

For much of the twentieth century, the number-one priority for the great majority of working Americans was security. It was the lingering, multigenerational impact of the Depression. Workers who were born long after the Depression grew up hearing the cautionary tales of older relatives or neighbors. Perhaps they watched as the town’s main factory closed and many people lost their wages, benefits, and pensions.

Even young people who never directly experienced the Depression shared the majority view that achieving security was the main goal. If that was accomplished—the man of the house got a job with a big company and could expect to stay there forever—people might then strive for some success and a comfortable life.

Because of the universality of this view, people were far more alike than individualistic. They mostly wanted the same things. At the same time, the great majority of American organizations were also far more alike than different. They were based on the traditional hierarchical pattern that hadn’t changed much in more than a century. So they were predictable providers of the patterns of security that most people were seeking.

Now, in the beginning of the twenty-first century, both are undergoing profound changes. Organizations are showing a far broader range of characteristics, and employees display a far wider range of individual qualities. In the world of work, we are quickly becoming more different than we are alike.

While many fundamental economic conditions have been changing since the 1970s, they are changing at different rates in different places and in different industries. Even within the United States, there is a broad range of basic economic conditions in various parts of the country and in different industries. This means there is also a broad range of practices, values, and expectations among different organizations.

Organizations are changing, and so are the people who work in them. Companies can no longer assume that what their workers want in terms of things such as working conditions, risk level, flexibility, autonomy, accessibility, work-life balance, and the like will be the same for all employees. We are seeing major demographic differences and a greater insistence on individuality than we ever saw in the twentieth century.

Organizations will do well to heed these changes and pay attention to the new priorities that employees bring with them. Losing, recruiting, rebooting, and retraining are very costly. Organizations need to know themselves and hire with caution.

We are seeing major demographic differences and a greater insistence on individuality than we ever saw in the twentieth century.

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