|
By David Batstone
Three conflicting trends appear to be taking root in today's corporate work
environment:
- Most people are feeling more confident about keeping their job.
- A significant slice of workers believe they have no chance of job
advancement in their current workplace.
- A vast majority of those currently employed believe it would be difficult
for an out-of-work employee to find a comparably paying job.
In short, workers are going to hold on tight to their lousy jobs until the
job market opens up.
That's my conclusion, not necessarily one shared by Right Management who
conducted a survey of 1000 full-time corporate workers in 2004. Right
Management applies a "Career Confidence Index," which measures the
perception of job security among full-time workers across management levels
and incomes. Positive thinking in the workplace seems to have boosted
considerably.
But nearly half of those surveyed share that they have dim prospects of
expanding their career in their current job (with a strong 29% see "no
possibility" of advancement).
This data resonates with my own anecdotal observations advising inside
American corporations. Firms are still very much in the cost-cutting mode,
and one of the first things sliced from the budget are training budgets.
Specifically, middle managers at all levels are left to their own wiles.
Though it often goes unsaid, senior executives are confident that they can
hire to their middle management needs rather than expending resources to
nurture those talents in-house.
At times, I do believe that firms are wise to search outside the company for
a manager with the right experience base to take on a key middle management
role. But I must quickly add that worker inspiration and productivity suffer
once the message becomes clear that a job is a cul-de-sac on the career
path. If leaders are not emerging on a consistent basis from the lower ranks
of the company, than that speaks volumes more about the corporate culture
than it does about the quality of the workers.
It's a good sign for the economy that workers feel more secure in their
jobs. They aren't confident enough to leave their job in search of
something else, on the other hand. Given the survey, it is likely that we
will see a rash of resumes crossing the transom once the economy improves.
There's a lot of disenfranchised middle managers out there who are looking
for a little more dignity. |
