I thought it was only a
phenomenon that happened where I worked, but it appears to be a rampant issue
across all types of businesses. It may
be a South Florida thing, so if you read this and it is happening in your neck
of the woods reach out, and tell me.
The typical workday for an office
is 9 am to 5 pm. People usually come in
and it takes about an hour before everyone settles down to work because there
is chit chat, breakfast ordering or preparation, then obviously eating, which many
do at their desks, but this isn’t even the problem.
The problem arises when it’s time
to do actual work. People seem to have
this mentality of “this is not what I was told I was going to do when I was
hired”, or “these are not part of my job duties”. This non-teamwork mentality is
counterproductive, yet it runs rampant in today’s businesses. It is a general lack of motivation to do a
bit more. It is what I call the “rule of
the least effort”. Which is something
like, if I can get paid to put forth minimal effort, and no one complains. I still get whatever bonuses and benefits
everyone else gets, then why should I ever go that extra mile? Why should I stay 15 minutes more? Why should I notice something that needs to
be done, and do it? Let someone else
take care of it, and if it doesn’t get done, then too bad.
I’ve met so many people with this
attitude that it is disturbing. I hear
friends that own businesses, are in management or in HR, and they all complain
about the same issue. So I’ve tried to
figure out why this is happening. Some
of the ideas I came up with are the following:
a. Social media and technology. Technology keeps us connected to the point
where it is an addiction. People are
constantly on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and anything else they can get
on. It is incredible. When I go home, and go on Facebook I look at
my feed, and people that I know are employed full time are constantly posting
one thing or another. I can understand
taking your lunch break, and doing that, but all day long? There is a time
stamp on everything and they literally post hourly. When does any work get done? Some companies have blocked access to social
media or even the internet from their computers, but everyone has a cell phone.
b. The second problem is a factor that has become
more prevalent in these weird economic times we are experiencing. Work is a means to an end. There is no
thought of being anywhere too long. Jobs
are as disposable, and temporary as relationships and car leases. Today you are
an administrative assistant, tomorrow you are selling real estate, or taking
care of babies at home. There is zero
job stability or the expectation of it.
c. Another issue is that employers are not giving
raises, bonuses have declined, and we’ve even lost some Federal holiday days
off. Many employers do not pay for benefits at
100% such as health insurance, few offer retirement plans or pensions. The decline of what is seen as the
appreciation of the employee has had catastrophic effects on the quality of
work product being put out, and any additional effort. Many employers have reduced their staff or
workers, and expect the ones left to pick up the slack at the same pay.
It is somewhat
similar as to what communist countries such as Cuba experienced with their
workers. In Cuba, for example most people
get paid similar salaries. The salary was
enough to survive. You were not
permitted to buy 50 underwear if you wanted to because everything was
rationed. So the Cuban worker lost
interest in excelling in their field of work because there was no point or
benefit to it.
Whichever way
you look at it, just with these three things you have a bad recipe.
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