20 Signs of an Unhappy Workforce
Interesting post in the ASSIEM blog of 20 signs that signal unhappy workers. I wouldn’t take the list at face value (see my reply to that post below) but it sure is a good starting point for looking at your organization.
- Increase in conflict amongst team members
- Increase in conflict between manager and employees
- Rudeness or unruliness
- Lack of enthusiasm
- Lack of engagement
- De-motivation
- Avoidance of work and/or making decisions
- Emotional distress
- Disorganized work environment
- Decreased productivity
- Not reaching expected targets or project/task delays
- Customer complaints
- Manager morale is low
- Bullying (whether obvious or subtle) – between employees or manager to employee
- Complaints about boredom
- Constantly working through lunch or long hours in the office
- Gossip and grapevine discussions re: redundancy, reduced hours, lack of promotion/remuneration etc.
- Communication shut down towards the manager
- Negative attitude to new projects or any change required of them
- Increased staff turnover
Here was my reply to that post:
Thanks for a fine list of things to consider. But I do hope that your readers don’t assume that the presence of any of of these items signals unhappy workers. I am quite happy (I work for myself) but I am wildly disorganized and postpone some decisions. You could argue that I am not as organized as I would like, but I am happy and pretty productive. (i.e. in business since 1978, had a few books published, and clients still call me.) Nevertheless, I think the list is well worth our attention. Any one of the items could be the tip of a very big iceberg.
