The Pursuit of Workplace Happiness

The Pursuit of Workplace HappinessWorkplace HappinessThe Pursuit of Workplace HappinessWhat makes for a happy workplace? If you look at the results of recent surveys, you wont come away with a clear answer. But one thing is clear The happier you are at work, the more likely you wont be looking for another job. And it appears that the higher your salary, the more likely youre planning to stick around.A survey of 2,000 U.S. workers by workforce services provider Hudson and independent research firm Rasmussen Reports found that about 5 of every 7 employees (72%) would recommend their companies as good places to work, up 10% from a previous survey in 2005. But tucked under that bit of good nachrichten for employers are unterstellung warning shotsThe less a person earns, the less happy he or she is with the company. Most of the survey respondents said their companies value them as employees, and make conscious efforts to keep them happy so they dont leave. But those who earn less than $40 ,000 a year are more likely to answer otherwise.Less happiness = more likely to be looking elsewhere. Employees who are actively seeking new jobs are less likely to be happy with their current employers and more likely to answer that their employers arent bending over backwards to keep the hired help happy.Retention strategy? Whats that?? The first baby boomer just applied for a Social Security pension. Expect a lot more of that, which will make it tougher on companies to fill job roles as these new retirees begin their long, slow fade into the sunset. But 75% of managers surveyed said theyre not aware of formal employee retention strategies at their companies. If these companies havent begun to think about how to hang onto their hired help and the experience and institutional memory they provide, they need to, by looking at the things that can keep their workers happy. That ranges from compensation and benefits to management climate, work culture, opportunities for advancement, and work-life balance, which is a much higher priority among employees than employers, according to a recent survey by recruiting and staffing company Spherion.

8 stupid workplace rules that make everyone miserable

8 stupid workplace rules that make everyone miserable8 stupid workplace rules that make everyone miserableCompanies need to have rules - thats a given - but they dont have to be shortsighted and lazy attempts at creating order.I understand the temptation. As my company has grown, so has our difficulty maintaining standards. There have been many instances where someone crossed a line, and we were tempted to respond with a new rule that applied to everyone.But thats where fruchtwein companies blow it.In just about every instance, upon closer inspection, we realized that establishing a new rule would be a passive and morale-killing way to address the problem. The vast majority of the time, the problem needs to be handled one-on-one by the employees manager.When companies create ridiculous and demoralizing rules to halt the outlandish behavior of a few individuals, its a management problem. Theres no sense in alienating your entire workforce because you dont know how to manage performa nce. It makes a bad situation that much worse.Here are some of the worst rules that companies create when they fall into this trap.1. Bell curves and forced rankings of performanceSome individual talents follow a natural bell-shaped curve, but job performance does not. When you force employees to fit into a pre-determined ranking system, you do three things 1) incorrectly evaluate peoples performance, 2) make everyone feel like a number, and 3) create insecurity and dissatisfaction when performing employees fear that theyll be fired due to the forced system.This is yet another example of a lazy policy that avoids the hard and necessary work of evaluating each individual objectively, based on his or her merits.2. Ridiculous requirements for attendance, leave, and time offPeople are salaried for the work they do, not the specific hours they sit at their desks. When you ding salaried employees for showing up five minutes late even though they routinely stay late and put in time on the weekend, you send the homilie that policies take precedence over performance. It reeks of distrust, and you should never put someone on salary that you dont trust.When companies are unnecessarily strict in requiring documentation for bereavement and medical leave, it leaves a sour taste in the mouths of employees who deserve better. After all, if you have employees who will fake a death to miss a days work, what does that say about your company?3. Restricting Internet useThere are certain sites that no one should be visiting at work, and Im not talking about Facebook. But once you block pornography and the other obvious stuff, its a difficult and arbitrary process deciding where to draw the line.Most companies draw it in the wrong place. People should be able to kill time on the Internet during breaks. When companies unnecessarily restrict peoples Internet activity, it does more than demoralize those that cant check Facebook it limits peoples ability to do their jobs.Many companies restrict Internet activity so heavily that it makes it difficult for people to do online research. The most obvious example? Checking the Facebook profile of someone you just interviewed.4. Banning mobile phonesIf I ban mobile phones in the office, no one will waste time texting and talking to family and friends, right? Ya, right. Organizations need to do the difficult work of hiring people who are trustworthy and who wont take advantage of things.They also need to train managers to deal effectively with employees who underperform and/or violate expectations (such as spending too much time on their phones). This is also hard work, but its worth it.The easy, knee-jerk alternative (banning phones) demoralizes good employees who need to check their phones periodically due to pressing family or health issues or as an appropriate break from work.5. Draconian e-mail policiesThis is a newer one thats already moving down a slippery slope. Some companies are getting so restrictive with e-mai l use that employees must select from a list of pre-approved topics before the e-mail software will allow them to send a katechese. Again, its about trust.If you dont trust your people to use e-mail properly, why did you hire them in the first place? In trying to rein in the bad guys, you make everyone miserable every time they send an e-mail. And guess what? The bad guys are the ones who will find ways to get around any system you put in place.6. Stealing employees frequent-flyer milesIf theres one thing that road-weary traveling employees earn, its their frequent flier miles. When employers dont let people keep their miles for personal use, its a greedy move that fuels resentment with every flight.Work travel is a major sacrifice of time, energy, and sanity. Taking employees miles sends the message that you dont appreciate their sacrifice and that youll hold on to every last dollar at their expense.7. Pathetic attempts at political correctnessMaintaining high standards for how peo ple treat each other is a wonderful thing as we live in a world thats rife with animosity and discrimination. Still employers have to know where to draw the line.Going on a witch-hunt because someone says Bless you to another employee that sneezed (real example) creates an environment of paranoia and stifled self-expression, without improving how people treat each other.8. Shutting down self-expression (personal items and dress code)Many organizations control what people can have at their desks. A life-size poster of a shirtless Fabio? I get it thats a problem. But employers dictate how many photographs people can display, whether or not they can use a water bottle, and how many items theyre allowed to place on their desks. Once again, its the ol If I could just hire robots I wouldnt have this problem approach.Same goes for dress codes. They work well in private high schools, but theyre unnecessary at work. Hire professionals and theyll dress professionally. When someone crosses the line, their manager needs to have the skill to address the issue directly.Otherwise, youre making everyone wish they worked somewhere else because management is too inept to handle touchy subjects effectively.Bringing it all togetherIf companies can rethink their policies and remove or alter those that are unnecessary or demoralizing, well all have a more enjoyable and productive time at work.Travis Bradberry is the coauthor of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and the cofounder of TalentSmart.This article originally appeared onLinkedIn.

This shocking number of people have nothing saved for an emergency

This shocking number of people have nothing saved for an emergencyThis shocking number of people have nothing saved for an emergencyWith unstable schedules, fluctuating paychecks, and difficulty getting on the schedule often enough, hourly workers are hard-pressed to save anything, even for an emergency. A new report by Branch, a mobile platform for hourly workers, found that 40% of all respondents said they had nothing saved up for an emergency, while 75% of respondents reported having less than $500 saved for their emergency fund.close dialog Advertisementclose dialog/* effects for .bx-campaign-1012257 *//* custom css .bx-campaign-1012257 */.bx-custom.bx-campaign-1012257.bx-type-agilityzone .bx-close z-index 2-ms-keyframes bx-anim-1012257-spin from -ms-transform rotate(0deg) to -ms-transform rotate(360deg) -moz-keyframes bx-anim-1012257-spin from -moz-transform rotate(0deg) to -mo z-transform rotate(360deg) -webkit-keyframes bx-anim-1012257-spin from -webkit-transform rotate(0deg) to -webkit-transform rotate(360deg) keyframes bx-anim-1012257-spin from transform rotate(0deg) to transform rotate(360deg) bx-close-inside-1012257 top 0 right 0 /* KD - Remove padding from video wrapper and set height to 100% */.bx-custom.bx-campaign-1012257 .bx-row-video .bx-video-wrapper padding-top 0important height 100%.bx-custombx-campaign-1012257 bx-creative-1012257 .bx-wrap height auto/* KD - Change positioning to static as that was not necesaary and here you can adjust the height of the video element */.bx-custom.bx-campaign-1012257 .bx-row-video .bx-video-wrapper video position static/* rendered styles .bx-campaign-1012257 */.bxc.bx-campaign-1012257.bx-active-step-1 .bx-creative *first-child width 100%.bxc.bx-campaign-1012257.bx-active-step-1 .bx -creative background-color transparentborder-style nonemax-width 900px.bxc.bx-campaign-1012257.bx-active-step-1 .bx-close stroke whitebackground-color blackborder-style solidborder-color whiteborder-width 1px.bxc.bx-campaign-1012257 .bx-group-1012257-AFvXBOB padding 10pxdisplay blockwidth auto.bxc.bx-campaign-1012257 .bx-element-1012257-J0EiS8Y width auto.bxc.bx-campaign-1012257 .bx-element-1012257-J0EiS8Y *first-child padding 2px 4pxfont-size 10pxcolor rgb(255, 255, 255)text-transform uppercasebackground-color rgb(0, 0, 0)background-color rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.34)The report surveyed 3,000 hourly workers in the food service, retail, and healthcare industries.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreOne factor that contributes to the inability to save was erratic scheduling nearly 80% of the hourly workers surveyed experience some degree of pay variance from week to week, meaning they cant co unt on getting paid a similar amount each pay period. Over half (57%) of hourly workers said a stable and predictable schedule is very important to them.Its also difficult for an hourly worker to work as much as they want to. Only about half (50%) said they were scheduled for the number of hours they would like to work. Over 40% of workers said theyd like to work more hours.Because earnings are directly tied to the number of hours worked, unstable, unpredictable hours can undermine financial security for workers of all ages, said Dr. Susan Lambert, Associate Professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago.Basic living costs such as rent/mortgage (58%) utilities (47%) and groceries (42%) were their main financial concerns.As for housing arrangements, over a quarter (27%) lived with family and friends for free, while 16.5% contributed to a mortgage. The rest paid rent.Still, the workers surveyed were loyal to their companies they were twice as in terested in using their experience to get a promotion at their current employer (32%) instead of switching jobs (16%).