Five top factors contributing to dissatisfaction at the Workplace

June 2, 2011 - PRLog -- How prevalent is workplace dissatisfaction?

Accenture a global management consulting company recently conducted an international survey on more than 3,400 professionals in 29 countries comprising of equal numbers of men and women.  The results were that fewer than half of all respondents were satisfied with their current jobs.   In the US alone, job satisfaction has hit a record low, according to a recent Executive Action Report from The Conference Board, a non-profit New York City based organisation.  While discontent was universal across all age brackets, incomes and regions, the biggest decline in overall job satisfaction came from respondents in the age bracket of 35 to 44 years.  The lowest job satisfaction level was reported from workers in the 45 to 54 years.  

With such alarming figures, what are some of the contributing factors to job dissatisfaction?  


Bad Management

The greatest cause of workplace unhappiness has been attributed to bad relations between managers and their subordinates.  The majority of employees leave because of their immediate manager.

People with poor management skills tend to underestimate the value of happiness at work and view happy staff with suspicion and as unprofessional.  Often they are unhappy themselves and use hierarchical leadership styles, control mechanisms and autocratic leadership to manage their staff.   Examples of bad management styles include taking the credit of their subordinate’s work or ideas, belittling staff in front of their peers, spreading false rumours about subordinates they dislike, managing through fear and intimidation, abusing the power of their position by practising nepotism and cronyism and surrounding themselves with sycophants.  This creates fear, resentment, disillusionment and discontent.

On the other hand, good managers enjoy not only their own work but the people they work with and are interested in making themselves and their staff happy.  


Stress and Overwork

Work related stress occurs when employees are presented with demands and pressures that do not match their knowledge, abilities and training.  Usually there is insufficient support from the organisation, management or peers and little control over work processes.  Although work pressure is part and parcel of the modern work environment, it is when that pressure becomes unbearable or unmanageable that it leads to stress which can in turn damage an employee’s health and the business’ performance.

A healthy work environment is one where the pressures on employees are appropriate to their abilities and resources, the amount of control they have over their work and the support they receive to accomplish their tasks.  An employee’s health and happiness includes not only the absence of disease but also physical, mental and social well-being.


Depression

Depression is an illness accompanied with feelings of sadness, anxiety and irritability.  It is lengthy lasting from two weeks or more and results in poor sleep, reduced or increased appetite and a lack of energy.  Other symptoms include a decreased interest in other people and leisure activities, feelings of uselessness, incompetence and suicide, low self-esteem, poor decision making ability, pessimism, despair, poor concentration, negativity, agitation, passivity and lack of productivity, etc, that eat away at individual and business performance.  

Depression is costly to the organisation, for example, depressed staff find it hard to manage tasks and responsibilities including the maintaining of effort for lengths of time and handling change.  Emotions experienced include irritability, sadness and numbness, thus making it hard to do the job, let alone enjoying it. The inability to concentrate, make decisions and memory loss make it harder to deal with tasks, impedes performance and results in a loss of accuracy.  Work Relationships suffer as avoidance of co-workers, frequent conflict and irritability and low tolerance thresholds hinder successful teamwork and in turn results in less support from the workplace.  Reduced energy levels and disrupted sleep patterns make it difficult for an employee to handle job demands.  Physical and emotional symptoms may lead to poor performance and absenteeism.


Bullying

Workplace bullying is verbal, physical, social or psychological abuse conducted by managers, peers or groups of people at work and can occur in any type of workplace e.g. the office, shop, café, restaurant, workshop, community group and government organisations.  It can happen to anyone including volunteers, work experience students, interns and apprentices, casual and permanent employees.  It can also take a criminal vein such as violence, assault and stalking, etc.

Recipients of bullying often are less active or productive, become less confident at their work, feel scared, stressed, anxious or depressed and carry the negative effects of bullying into their private lives including their homes, relationships and studies, etc.  Often the rate of absenteeism for such staff is high with negative feelings including the inability to trust their employer and colleagues.  Low self-esteem and unhappiness about themselves and their work is prevalent.  The physical symptoms of stress such as headaches, backaches, disrupted sleep and lack of alertness, etc, are present. This in turn affects their performance and that of the organisation.


Office Politics

Office politics keeps people from interacting with their co-workers and disintegrates team work and teams.  As office politics increases, criticisms increase as does discontent affecting the performance of staff and the organisation.  In the long run, this causes a “brain drain” resulting in a loss of corporate knowledge and insight.

Office politics impedes the productivity of individuals and thus ultimately the organisation, as people spend time in pulling each other down making it hard for recipients to work in an empowered and supportive environment.  

Individuals find it difficult to fully focus on their work and relationships sour, turning friends and acquaintances into foes.  Mateship, camaraderie, support and trust diminish whilst conflict and tension increase in turn.  Employee enjoyment of work is decreased and is viewed as burdensome.


Is there recourse?

Although it is important to note that there is no perfect organisation, this is the more reason why all companies have to implement the policy of continuous improvement.  By simply acknowledging that there is trouble in the workplace, creates awareness and awareness with action leads to resolution.  Of course there is the risk that staff could be dissatisfied about almost everything.  However, when the organisation and management make it safe to offer up concerns and provide means of redress, employees would feel that they are being heard, that action is being taken and that they are not left in the lurch but are part of a solution rather than part of the problem.  It may like everything take time.  However, by providing transparency and support and by building on trust and taking action, dissatisfaction becomes addressable and the workplace made happier and more productive.

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Aaron Adhikary, The Workplace Happiness Guru worked in diverse industries and ran his own therapy business. He noted that in many workplaces "misery came in both cheap and expensive suites" ©. Find out more at www.theworkplacehappinessguru.com.