Employee value propositions don't seem to be cutting it

It seems we are fighting an uphill battle in improving workplace satisfaction. Americans increasingly hate their jobs, according to a report by the Conference Board. Even worse, the young aged under 25 years have the most negative views and those aged 45 to 54 are the second most dissatisfied groups. If you want to increase your chances of meeting someone who is happy in their work, start with the clergy and then move onto the helping professions (not including doctors, who it was recently reported in the UK seem to regret becoming members of this formerly esteemed profession).

I wonder if there is an inverse correlation between the extensive efforts being put into defining 'employee value propositions' and the rate at which satisfaction declines? It is certainly a buzz phrase at the moment, but seems in danger of falling into the trap of many of the old quality management and culture change programs of the past - lots of good words, but not much to back them up.

Surely, at a time when the demographics mean that the supply of well qualified, highly talented young people is declining and that young people's expectations from the work environment and their careers are changing, more substantial effort needs to be made by companies to bridge the gap between words and deeds. Starting with the CEO may not be a bad idea, given the power and influence they can exert - one survey indicated that only 2% of people found them to be 'very trustworthy'!

A better understanding of the trade-offs people make when they come to work - with the kind of detailed segmentation that political analysts and marketing professionals do to understand voting and consumer spending patterns - might not be a bad place to start.

If you're looking for a book that attempts to address this issue, try Firms of Endearment