TGI Friday! Why Are So Many Workers Dissatisfied?

I think two other things are chiefly responsible for that attitude. Let's start with ownership.

Most employees don't have a stake in the company. It's a lot like renting a home. It isn't really yours, so you don't have an investment in it and you don't care about it beyond any repercussions that may bring the landlord's wrath upon you.

But that is nothing more than a "stick" approach toward compliance.

The other main factor is many people just don't want to be in the game. If you don't have a passion for it, then you won't really care. If you don't care you will just do what is minimally required to get what you want back from the company. Usually this is a mix of status and pay.

Contrast that to a successful business owner or CEOs. They will put out 150%, work harder, longer, and love playing the game with passion.

There is a cross between the traditional business model and company owner where employees have both a financial stake and a say in its operations. This is an employee owned business. If populated with the right people this model does very well with everyone pulling on the rope in the same direction.

However, it still requires individuals with a good attitude. It's like the old saying - do you live to work or work to live?

I never felt that way on Friday,....... probably because I used to come in on week ends also.............

But Now, I just love Fridays...... but most times I still look forward and at time somewhat excited about coming in..... but not like I was when I was younger..........

I think it all has to do with career choices.

Supply and demand.

In just about every field, there are more available workers than there are jobs, therefore, not only is it not necessary to be nice to them, but the people that are working, (managers in particular), are happy to cut the throats of the people around them, in order to protect their own jobs.

It makes for a very stressful workplace. Weekends are the only sliver of happiness for a lot of people.

I wonder how things will be or if they will change.

It was for the longest of time, that before anyone would hire more employee's the current employees would put in a lot of extra over time before extra people are hired.

I can only speculate that it depends on the business. I would be hard to believe that businesses would push the full time to part time to avoid health care costs....... this would probably be in the service sectors or low skilled jobs.

Not necessarily. We're talking about a LOT of money.

If I were a manufacturer, I would have my shop running 5 days a week, with all employees working 4 day weeks, by having some working Mon - Thurs, and others working Tues - Fri, with the bulk of the work being done on Tues - Thurs.

There will be companies that keep full time employees, but not if it's ultimately going to hurt the bottom line.

Things will change when the government forces employers to insure part time employees.

As both a business owner, and a superintendent for a large company, I always put my people first, and, after weeding out the bad ones, they always did me right.

The government is moving everyone into a situation where employers have to prioritize their very survival; especially small business.

It's not going to be a pretty scene. Everyone will lose.

A friend of mine came by the house yesterday, and told me that because of the cost to insure him and his wife, he just dropped out and will take his chances with no insurance. He's a self employed guy.

I just hope I die quick. As a proud conservative, I'll probably get my wish, because my paperwork will keep getting lost, and I'll never get treatment for whatever disease I end up with.

on small businesses, it's insurance that always held up people wanting to start a small business......... and usually the wife works and that is how the business owner is insured.

I do not know how this is going to happen with ObamaCare, it may help.

Yeah, I'm sure it will get much better with time.

That's my little team player ............ in the mean time......... can you spare a dime?......

How about the fact that wages have not risen as much as the cost of living for about 15 years. Result? Worse off as each year goes by.

I'd rather be independently wealthy and choose how I spend each hour of each day. Given that I have to have a job to maintain the standard of living I desire, I love my job. It is interesting, varied, and 99% of my co-workers at this location are great to work with. The pay is good, probably above average for the area with similar skills/experience. The benefits are good to fair, but declining with the marketplace in general. Corporate always seems to look for ways to increase shareholder value.

My boss doesn't micromanage, cares about all of us, and works hard to make sure everyone gets what they need to succeed (training, equipment, etc) within the limits of what he CAN do. We are treated with respect and not second-guessed or patronized.

There may be a lot more people like me, but you just don't hear about them.

It would be like, no news is good news.

The people that have good jobs, are scared to talk about it in public.

Everybody else will accuse them of rubbing it in their faces.

There's just no damned winning in this world.

There is probably a lot of truth to that. I don't spend much time talking about my job. My employer prefers it that way.

If I'm remembering your line of work correctly, I doubt you would make a lot of friends by talking bragging about it.

Some people live to work, other work to live.

Which of both we are talking about?

Well the good news is an all-time record fewer employees are 'dissatisfied', mainly because they've dropped out of the workforce entirely:

Yes, we are well on our way to 0% unemployment..........

Especially in the new wealth redistribution "promise" zones.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/us/politics/obama-announces-promise-zones-in-5-stricken-areas.html?_r=0

I'm sure a lot of thought went into this........ :/

Throw some cash at it, see what sticks..... To show, "We Care".

I don't like subsidies, period; but if there's any merit to this neat "new" theory, that giving tax breaks spurs business, lets just do it for every small business...all over the country.

Duh!!!

I've heard some really crazy people suggest, that lowering taxes puts more people to work, and with more people working, revenue increases. Nuts huh?

What I'm concerned about is that there's no thought about how it will help. This started over 13 months ago, and still no details.

I heard statistics from a major university study that was recently completed. It said that 86% of people who go to work are uninspired by their work. I believe that is probably true. There are many variables that lend itself to a "Scoreboard" like that. One is the work environment with their bosses being managers rather than leaders. Dynamics of relationships with co-workers.

I think the biggest factor for a statistic like that is that people aren't doing what they love. They are doing what they have to do. They are living a life of obligation rather than priority. If you I are spending the majority of our lives doing something that doesn't give us a sense of fulfillment of our purpose or mission, we will easily feel dissatisfied, disillusioned and discouraged.

Benjamin Franklin made the comment about 230+ years ago, "most men die at 25 and wait till 65 to be buried." Another statement goes like this; "most men live lives of quiet desperation."

I figure that is why they pay us to work.

Sometimes and some businesses make it more easy to have one big happy family but I think it is naive to think work must be enjoyable.

Regardless of the task that's being performed, or the wage that's being earned though, there are businesses, managers, and people, that make going to work something to look forward to...or at least, not suck.

It seems to be getting more rare though, and the businesses that aren't concerned about the employees being satisfied with their jobs, will lose in the end. It's not all about money.

Attitude plays a big part on how you view your work, it also reflects on you as a person .....

As a side note, I know of people that does not like what they do, but they don't show it, these are rare.

Too many of us were taught fantasized visions of the work environment. Clichés like "if you work hard you will be rewarded" or "get an education and the world is your oyster" or "build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door". When the real world kicks in we are disappointed. Some motivation is necessary, but hype hurts.

Still, some business practices foster unnecessary discouragement:

· Bosses who demonstrate they don't understand the task at hand.

· Bosses with psychopathic agendas.

· Veiled threats to job security if you don't conform.

· Assignment of additional work or duties without additional compensation.

· No raises despite posting record profits.

· Dismissing valid credentials or work experience.

· Replacing older employees with cheaper but less qualified employees.

· Reluctance to provide updated tools and training.

Companies that discourage employees are wasting their own resources. Even the most talented and driven employees get worn down and under-produce. We can't expect all work to be fun. But we can expect a decent working environment where we feel appreciated.