Let us speak of work.  Little in the way of explanations or definitions needs to be made here since most of us are forced to participate in the practice for survival. The point to be made, however, is that surveys reveal large numbers of people who are dissatisfied with their positions.  For example, one survey finds that:

“Job satisfaction has declined across all income brackets in the last nine years. While 55 percent of workers earning more than $50,000 are satisfied with their jobs, only 14 percent claim they are very satisfied. At the other end of the pay scale (workers earning less than $15,000), about 45 percent of workers are satisfied, but only 17 percent express a strong level of satisfaction.”

Now, in the midst of a nation filled and surrounded with so many other issues and crises, why discuss whether or not there are happy, smiley people at work?  Well, the point here is to address a problem that affects half of the US population and, in turn, impacts our country’s productivity, morale, and creativity.  Confronting some of the causes of this widespread workplace dissatisfaction and exploring potential solutions (however harsh some of them may seem) could be the beginning of vocational bliss for more Americans.

Is it money?  In casual conversation, this seems to be the root of all evil workplaces… “They aren’t paying me enough!”  The aforementioned statistics would argue against this, though.  In general half of all workers find their positions to be ‘satisfactory’ or worse regardless of income.  As a matter of fact, when looking at the specifics, you’ll find more people who are ‘very satisfied’ in the lower end of the pay scale. 

While geography, age, pay, work hours, co-workers, and work loads play a part in overall satisfaction levels, these are not the key items that need addressed.  The survey stated that “employees are least satisfied with their companies’ bonus plans, promotion policies, health plans, and pensions” as well as dissatisfied with  educational and job training opportunities. 

The deeper issue behind the phrases ‘bonus plans’ and ‘promotion policies’ is most often a policy of nepotism – favoring friends and family over others who are as qualified and experienced or more so.  Having experienced this myself in more than one work environment, I too can testify that it is a major obstacle for any motivation, hope, or happiness to overcome.

Let’s pause for a moment to tackle the despotic practice of nepotism in the workplace first.  We all know the usefulness of practicing the old adage ‘If you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.’  Instituting this with friends and family in the career world makes employers feel that they are doing favors for people they know and therefore are building a work population of people who are loyal and faithful.  While this may be true, it does not mean that they are building a work force of productive and competent people.  In fact, the more likely scenario is that employers who are favoring friends and family are missing out on better and more qualified candidates and are thereby doing damage to their company’s productivity, their employees’ morale, and their reputation with the public.  Even when companies have done an honest job of hiring qualified candidates, they sometimes miss out on improvements and breakthroughs because they promote people who “deserve” a favor: ‘Well, we know that Alec is a fantastic employee, but Burt has been here 20 years, so we are going to promote him.’  Moves like this lead companies into the spiral of slow deterioration, the symptoms of which include the Peter Principle, empty suits, hollow bunnies, and fearless leaders.  What we need are braver, bolder, more courageous and risk-taking employers who are willing to set aside personal preferences and friendship/family ties in order to take up the challenge of creating a workplace where honest competition-reward policies thrive, competent people are seen rising up, and people whose competence is already stretched to the max are encouraged remain faithful in their current position or move on regardless of their relationship to the employer or duration of employment.

Dissatisfaction in regard to health plans and pensions are a more complex issue to tackle, but a lack of education concerning these topics is usually the beginning of the problem for many.  Improvements could start being made if employers simply began educating their employees more fully on these subjects and challenging them to act on that knowledge rather than welcoming them to their first day of work and wishing them the best of luck as they fill out all of the initial paperwork.  For instance, if more employers educated their employees on HSA’s and then offered an incentive program for those that signed up for that healthcare plan as opposed to the normal low deductible/high premium/no accumulation plans that are out there, then that workplace could see some benefit over time.  Total premium amounts would eventually be lower, employees would be building up health savings accounts that they were in charge of instead of an impersonal third party that decided whether or not the health need was valid and within the network, and there could potentially be less abuse of the healthcare system because employees would be writing the checks for their healthcare costs and seeing that there isn’t an endless supply of funds available for going to the doctor every time a blister appears.  (On a side note, this sort of system could also be useful for government programs.  Hoosier Healthwise takes care of low income families, single mothers, and infants in Indiana, which is a good thing.  The bad part is that many people on the plan abuse it by going to the doctor every time they - or their child- wake up and feel less than 100%.  This leaves Indiana taxpayers carrying an unnecessarily large financial load when some more responsibility could be placed elsewhere.  What if these families were taught about HSA’s and were given a limited amount of money available to them in a health savings account?  If they didn’t use it all every year, it would build in value.  If they needed more than the given amount, could they not apply for more funds or be recommended to a non-profit agency or church?  The government is meant to protect and assist people, not to carry folks through life.) 

I am not asserting that the HSA is the say-all end-all solution to healthcare woes.  What I am stating is that educating people on areas of dissatisfaction and challenging them to become more involved in those areas is often the first step to productive and creative solutions that make both sides more content.  Similarly, if employees were educated more on their pension options and challenged to engage in the process through incentives like company matching programs, then the employee would feel involved, rewarded, and able to act rather than trapped, punished, and impotent.

This is but the beginning of a conversation on how to turn the rigid workplace grind into a fluid, creative dance that enriches those who are involved in a way that will be seen in rising company profits, an increase in employees’ extracurricular successes (healthier families, more volunteer work, or other creative uses of time as opposed to large amounts of TV and sleep), and a change for the better in the nation’s overall workplace satisfaction level.