What Employees Dislike Most in the Organizations?

[Vijay Kumar Shrotryia]

Herzberg did a work on motivating and maintenance factors and brought out interesting research outcomes in the 60s. I would like to know from the members of this network, what are those factors today which employees dislike most in the organizations. It could be Location, Supervision, Working Conditions, Work Environment, Task itself, Bosses, Subordinates, Co workers, Salary, Commutation, Stress, Traveling, Working Hours, Rules and Regulations, etc etc. Please make submissions and lets brainstorm on these factors. Wherever you think proper you could provide related links.
Looking forward.
Vijay

[Frode Heimen]

I think employees today prefer to participate in decisions. Employees need to feel appreciated. The next generation of employees are used to participate more at school as well, and have higher influence at home as well, as modern child care include their right to be heard. This is creating a generation of people that will be frustrated if they go to a workplace where their voice is mute and their ideas are unwanted. But I also do believe that the influence and attitude of the leader still has a great influence.
Just some thoughts from me.


Frode H.

[Vijay Kumar Shrotryia]

Hi Frode

Thanks for your views. As I understand, employees dislike being not given an ear and not being engaged (mute and unwanted). Do I understand clearly.

looking forward
vijay

[Terrence Seamon]

There was a bestseller by Leigh Branham a few years ago that addressed why employees leave an organization:

http://www.iaap-hq.org/ResearchTrends/Real_Reasons_Why_Employees_Le...

When you study the reasons that Branham brings up, you see a common thread: poor management/poor leadership.

Frode is right in saying that employees like to participate, feel appreciated, and have a voice. When management fails on these, you will have unhappy employees...who will be looking to leave.

Terry

[Vijay Kumar Shrotryia]

hi terry

Good to know about Branham's book which I did not know. About the reasons yes overall it boils down to poor mgt and Leadership, however within there are sub-variables which I am looking for and would like to further take up a study....

anyway thanx for the submission.

vijay

[Craig Althof]

Hi Vijay and all:

Probably the most important shift in addition to the leadership issue noted already is that it appears most people (and business and industry too) are creeping up the Maslow pyramid-away from the basic survival needs of paycheck and benefits, and more toward the top. Not quite up to actualization, but at least solidly in the middle.

Work / life balance is high on the list, as is the need for a more participatory role as Frode noted. People seen to grumble more about long hours and stress than anything. And then we take our blackberries home with us so we can constantly check our emails and not miss a single call Give it a rest, folks!

If you want a bunch of disgruntled campers, put them in a cube and give them mind-numbing routine work to do all day, every day. Thank goodness we are for the most part well beyond the Taylor model of busy hands doing busy, repetitive work. People want a challenge, they want to feel their talents are fully utilized and appreciated, and they want a chance to grow. Consider the opposites of those things, and you have some key attributes that people dislike about work.

Craig
In Pursuit of Excellence

[Vijay Kumar Shrotryia]

HI Craig
Thanks for your views. I quite agree on this. With the time and perceptual change Taylor and Fayol might sound relevant at some places, but they have been redefined and recasted. Truly so Work/Life balance to phase out the stress has become more important than the Work Motion studies and scientific management. The problem of Presenteeism as against Absenteeism is increasingly causing concern for the better health of the organizations.
Herzberg still sound relevant, human relation school of thought would still be around.

looking forward further.

vijay

[Doug Shaw]

My experience in managing change shows me that people don't like:

unfinished business, being told what (and how) to do, vagueness (a curse of big business in particular), and poor communication (tricky one that, what I like you may not etc, still it comes up a lot...)

My tendency towards optimism won't let me leave it there tho...

So, they kinda like the opposite:

Effective Communication
Meaningful Engagement with all levels of the business and beyond. For example, how can we say that change will benefit our customers without having consulted them to understand their needs?
A published plan to address the specific problems and opportunities
Regular reports on progress advertising key outcomes we have delivered

On asking people, "so what does good look like?", I am often told:

•Understanding the business benefits that employees and customers will enjoy from Change
•Honest (honesty builds trust)
•Senior management engagement & visibility, senior people encouraging people's ideas and suggestions
•People talking excitedly rather than cynically about change
•Include the voice of the customer
•Faster, clearer sign-off
•Personal involvement in change
•Evidence of success
•Recognition - of the "How"

[Vijay Kumar Shrotryia]

Hi Goug
I welcome your comments. Thanx for the posting.
I would further like you to express your experiences on what people dislike most in the org..

vijay

[Doug Shaw]

Ok of course - I did go a bit off topic, sorry. Well I notice a huge lack of trust in middle mgmt right now, and I'm not surprised. I've just left a large organisation and I'm afraid to say...or should that be sorry to say, that the culture of the company has evolved to the extent that middle mgmt have become adept at blocking news from the front line, and reflecting news from the top straight back up. They are made of sponge on one side and aluminium foil on the other.

I was regularly told "Listen to the people that do the job. They know how it should be done best of all." I'm inclined to agree yet when I tried to take that view forward, it was often shouted down. Less arrogance from the top please say the workers. Or "talk and listen to the people on the ground and not believe middle management spin."

I heard a lot of frustration around learning and development. It was all so narrowly focussed. People love to learn and I (and others ) think there's real value in organisations creating some freedom around this. Maybe not all the time but those who perform well should be given some freedom and flexibility to develop according to their needs as well as those of the business.

People often told me we overcomplicated things too.

[Muralidharan Chennai India]

Hi Vijay
As a practitioner of human resources, and healthy EE practices, I would attach 'communication' paramount importance. Every employee feels good when he is communicated to by the organization and its leadership. It is so critical to keep communicating day in and day out, at a formal and informal level. A chunk of the middle 70% of the team looks forward to being told what they ought to do and how. In fact, those who aspire to move up the performance continuum want to hear ways they can improve them and be told of specifics that they would ought to focus on.
I would say that every organization have in place a SoP for ongoing employee communication; in the case of large organizations, the internal communication team in sync with the leadership shall carry out the communication exercises.
Thanks
Muralidharan

[Vijay Kumar Shrotryia]

Hi Murali
First of all - Thanx for your comments!
I fully agree on the role "Communication' plays. I had put it as one most important word for EE when David had asked for. I had put it like giving Ear to employees. Which practically translates as you listen to them.
However, on this discussion forum when you put the importance of Communication, should I understand/learn that People in the organization dislike when they are not being COMMUNICATED. Please let me know this is what really you want to voice out.

looking forward
vijay

[MinhNH]

In our previous survey, with the question "What you dislike most in the organization?", most answers are:
- Not propper performance assessment, and its affecting to their career path.
- Not enough opportunities or wrong assignment, so they can not do what they are best at.