#EngagedEmployees numbers from the Gallup poll at 33%! #WOW — It should be much worse!
I recently visited a large tech company with a friend of mine who I was introducing to an ex-colleague — the VP of Support to test his appetite for my friend’s product. I barely remember the conversation that happened at the meeting but my mind is indelibly etched with a passing comment made by one of the employees in that tech company in the hallway when asked (by the VP of Support) colloquially — on how he is doing and the answer came back — “How bad can it be — it is Friday after all!”.
And if it was just John Doe having a bad hair day, we can pass that off as a momentary low point but every organization has Jane and John Doe’s that have a bottomless feeling in their stomach on Sunday evening’s and a high on Friday evenings (or morning in the case of our John). Therefore the 33% of US employees being engaged at work according to Gallup in 2017 surprises me. 10% or less anyone? And believe me — ask my friends and colleagues who can attest to this — I am an eternal optimist, so my compulsion to write this is driven by a deep sense of angst and disenchantment with the workplace of today. And my troika of reasons for this state are
1. You join a company but you leave a manager, however when the company leaves you as part of “workforce restructuring”, can one fully re-engage again? Having been through many a “workforce restructuring” myself — on both ends of the equation — I can speak with some authority on this topic. Yes, it is “employment at will”, as the legal wonks in the US coined this phrase many moons ago so there is no ambiguity about legal recourses in case anyone is downsized. But the first time this happens, it is a shock to the system. Especially when you have been an “engaged” employee. How can one then be anything but “disengaged” or “wary at best” in their next gig? On the other side — as a manager — one is asked to rank employees and annually let go of the lower performers or jettisoning an entire team for a variety of reasons. Again — maybe perfectly legitimate reasons — but then let us not act surprised when hearing the Gallup poll numbers being so low on employee engagement.
2. A dedicated employee becomes a “risk” and needs to be walked out right away — This one makes my blood boil. I have had ex-colleagues and team members of mine who have been treated like “shit”. HR and the manager have a 15-minute conversation with the employee and then they are walked out summarily. #HaveAHeart!! In one case, John Doe gave 10 years of his life to the company and was a wreck when he telephoned me on his one-way drive back home. Again, maybe legitimate business reasons, but common sense and humanity need to win over stupidity. Seems HR has lost the “human” in their job description!
3. The authentic leaders are muzzled — The true mettle of a leader is when things get tough — and unfortunately in many large (and small) organizations, that is when the lawyers and HR come to the aid of the leader so the communication is “sterile, sanitized and limited”. When there are rumors rife and conspiracy theories abound, one looks for a leader to come out to squelch or at least shed some light on what may be true or not (my attempt at doing this many years ago to my team was met with a hand slap that I did not have the guts to stand up against — #WeakLeader). And that is exactly when the gag order is placed.
That’s my assessment of today’s workplace. Yes, there are examples to the contrary — Chobani Yogurt, Zappos, Patagonia … — but we need many more than a handful of marquee organizations. And the comment that remains in my mind of “How bad can it be — it is Friday” should really be an exception than the rule! And, that my friends — not the case today.
Comments, brickbats, contrarian views — all are welcome!
P.S. — I hate whiners who do not try to do something about their peeves — so in a small way the creation of the #iPoP (In Pursuit of Purpose) group is my attempt to help a small group of individuals find their “purpose” that transcends work and life so they never confuse their purpose with that of their employer — allowing them to be engaged but not beholden to the workplace. Easy? Certainly not. Achievable? Absolutely.
