Over the last several years, your employer may have downsized, restructured, rightsized, transformed, teamed, and refocused itself. This may mean different things to you. You’ve been asked to do more with less. Your friends have been fired. You’re working longer hours. Your bosses are making stupid decisions. You’re getting paid less per hour than last year and even three years ago. You’re having trouble balancing life and family commitments. You may be disappointed or feel betrayed. You lost your pension. You’ve been Dilbertized!
Messages are inconsistent or simply the wrong messages are being sent to people. Reinforcers don’t match the messages. More of us are disappointed and feel betrayed. The basic assumptions that attracted you to the company and encouraged loyalty are now gone. There’s now a whole new set of work rules and expected behaviors that often aren’t understood and not properly communicated. The frustration in your workplace may now be palpable – the workplace is toxic, more work is being asked of you, hours are longer, job security is lost, and loyalty doesn’t count. And, there’s more… Your employer or that amorphous customer may want even more from you.
Good management is difficult to define. However, the question of identifying bad management is much easier. W. Edwards Deming, the great quality innovator, said that 85% of an organization’s problems are management derived. Bad management is often a personal issue as well. When you hear of people complaining about their jobs, some supervisor or manager pops up into the conversation. When you look at your life and missed opportunities, a supervisory individual may have caused your dissatisfaction. This person stifled your ideas, hindered advancement, or was overly negative.
Life Lesson Earned: Management is a personal issue. If it’s good, we work harder. If it’s lousy, we want out. What major changes are occurring in your workplace? And how are you responding?