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We’ve all heard the news – employees hate their jobs, their companies, their work.  In fact, according to a recent survey by The Conference Board (which was highlighted in this CNN piece), 55% of workers are unsatisfied with their jobs.  And, 25% said they don’t plan to be at their current jobs a year from now. 

If you’re an employer, this should obviously cause you some concern – and if you’re smart, you’ll adopt some strategies designed to re-engage your workforce.  Because we all know (or at least, hope) that someday soon, this recession will end and new job opportunities will start to emerge.  And then, employees will have choices again about where they want to work. 

That said, this doesn’t mean you should totally discount your employees’ enthusiasm for your business or their desire to help make things better.

Case in point: I recently had a chance to work with a client that has not just survived, but actually thrived in the economic downturn.  But, the road hasn’t been easy – there’s been a fair amount of change and uncertainty.  As a result, the company’s leadership decided to create a new internal brand in an effort to excite and inspire employees and also to give them a shared sense of purpose – a clearly outlined destination for the company. 

As part of the rollout, we held a meeting with what I’ll call “everyday employees” – the ones who see customers and sell products.  These folks are relatively removed from the proverbial “table” and don’t have a ton of authority in terms of the company’s destination. Here’s what happened when presented with the concept: everyone got excited.  They told us how motivating it was and said they couldn’t wait to learn more.   What we heard was that they had been looking for this sort of rally cry to get behind and were ready to hit the ground running. 

This was a bit of an unexpected outcome. Collectively, we had worried that employees wouldn’t willingly adopt this new internal brand or believe in its ability to help unite the company.  Some of the more senior executives were worried they couldn’t credibly talk about this destination because it was aspirational – it didn’t reflect the current reality. 

If I had to guess, I’d wager that this sort of debate is happening all across corporate America.  Executives are worried that employees are frustrated, upset or burned out.  And that very well might be true.  But, what I learned is that while the inclination might be to just go radio silent for a while (out of a feeling that you’ve lost the “permission to speak”), often what employees are craving is something that reignites their spark and reinvigorates their work. 

Our client was willing to keep charging forward and engaging with their employees, and they’ve now they’ve given their workforce the morale boost they were craving. 

So, give your team a little credit. At the end of the day, many employees WANT to be engaged, they WANT to be a part of something and they WANT to make a difference.  Sometimes they just need you to help them see how.

Recently I had a conversation with a very close friend and colleague about life, how we prioritize work and personal time, and the tightrope we walk in trying to keep it all in balance. It was a heartfelt conversation and it moved me, as this subject always does, to think more deeply about it. That night, I went online and placed an order for Louis Upkins, Jr.’s book, Treat Me Like a Customer, that provokes a simple question: Why do we fail at times to treat our families and loved ones with the same attention, respect and devotion that we may shower on a customer or client? I gave a copy to my colleague and kept one for myself. It’s a quick read and it will stir your thoughts.

I wish I had a nickel for every time someone told me they have given up a weekend, a holiday, a cherished family event, or a longed-for vacation for a work commitment. I truly value the commitment we make to our company and clients. We go the extra mile, and I am proud of this ethic. Yet we need to learn when to accelerate to meet the demands of our work, and when to say no to requests that threaten to overwhelm the boundaries of our personal lives.

I still remember the time a few years ago when I made a personal commitment to be home when my daughter was honored at her high school. As luck would have it, I was delayed in New York by aircraft problems. I struggled emotionally with every delay that afternoon and early evening. When I finally arrived at the stadium hours later, the game had ended and my wife and daughter were walking across the field. I was crushed because I had missed one of those moments in life that we should never miss.

Tonight is my eleventh anniversary with our company. I sit in an airport, as I have so many nights before, waiting for another flight, another evening away, another meeting in the morning. I love my work, our company and my colleagues. As I grow older, however, I’ve learned the lesson that a manufacturing supervisor with 30 years of service reminded me of recently when he said: “My job is not my life. I have a life outside of this place.”

The lesson for me — for all of us — is to keep the balance. As Al Golin has said,  “We’re more interesting when we do more in life than work.” Our families certainly would agree.

William Bridges, a well-known workplace consultant, has said that we live in our expectations, not in our experiences. I was reminded last week of my expectations and how they shape my beliefs about a “brand experience” when my preferred airline seemingly reversed course on a new practice for its most frequent travelers.

It was the fall of 2009 when the airline decided to unveil a new program offering wine, beer and mixed beverages, along with premium snacks, at no charge to its elite frequent fliers traveling in coach. Chalk up another benefit to being a high mileage customer, I marveled at the time. The flight attendants even went the extra mile to fuss over me and a seat mate, recognizing us both by name and announcing loudly that we would be treated royally. Others nearby surely wondered why.

On a recent flight out west, it all came crashing down. In Seat 10C, I faded into the grey decor of the cabin and warranted no more than a club soda with ice and a lemon wedge. What happened to my red wine and premium nuts? Sometimes a great notion fades without mention, which apparently happened here. Or did it?

As they came back through the cabin serving another round of beverages, I stopped the attendants and asked if the aforementioned affinity program had been abandoned without notice. “I don’t know,” said one of the attendants. “They’re not always good in communicating with us, so we don’t know,” said the other in referring to the airline’s management. They offered to get me a complimentary wine and nuts anyway, and I thanked them both and said no. They never came back to tell me what happened to the program.

The major airlines have been battered by the economy, a drop in business travel, poor performance and bad service in recent years. They struggle to win new customers, to claw back others who’ve abandoned them, and to seize new footholds in on-time reliability and customer satisfaction. Would it make good sense to show consistency in delivering the benefits of a simple program created to reward the patience and patronage of a loyal high-milage customer? Absolutely. Roughly 86 percent of 200 top airline managers asked which priorities are most important to an airline’s business picked customer loyalty and retention as having a positive impact, according to a survey by Sabre Airline Solutions. But it all starts with clear direction and consistent communication on programs designed to show travelers that they care about their business. We’ve had it drummed into us that business travelers are critical to the airlines. So my expectations — of an upgraded seat when possible and some extra attention when I’m captive for four or more hours — are high. I want consistent programs, and I want the people in the cabin watching over our safety and serving us to know the details.

We do, in fact live in our expectations. Companies who get this thrive because they reward people like me who spend money with them. It’s simple. Help the people who deliver on the promise of the brand to understand what is expected of them.

You may have seen Fortune’s recent listing of the “Ten Best Companies to Work For.” Personally, I love lists and find the “Ten Best” to be among my favorite kind. It’s always interesting to me what qualifies something as one of the ten best out of all the options out there. Of course, working in internal communications, this particular list really piqued my interest.

This year, the number one company on the list was SAS, a company that has often made the list but is enjoying its first year at the top. The story lists a number of reasons why SAS employees are so happy: discounted massages, on-site gym, you name it. Other companies on Fortune’s list include investment advisor Edward Jones (who hasn’t had a layoff in 94 years, despite even this terrible economy), Dreamworks, a number of grocery chains and, of course, Google.

I’m sure that by now we’ve all heard that Google is the “Heaven of the workplaces.” Breakfast, lunch and dinner available to employees free of charge, free massages on-site and a million other perks. I recently had a friend start at Google and, from what I hear, it’s all true folks.

So all this got me to thinking: what really makes the perfect job, “perfect?” I have to say that free massages and catered meals would be pretty nice, and I’m guessing most of us would not turn those down. However, to me, those things mean more than just free grub and smaller spa bills – they say that the employer truly values and respects their employees. That’s something I would say should be on the top of every employees’ “workplace heaven” shortlist. 

As I read over the article about the amazing things that some companies are doing for their employees, I found my passion for lists merging with my passion that employees should be treated like one of your company’s most valuable possessions. At the end of the list of the “Ten Best” is a quote from SAS John Goodnight, “My chief assets drive out the gate every day. My job is to make sure they come back.” Now that is some number one thinking.

I had the occasion recently to go into the field for client work. In the process of completing my orientation and the paperwork required for vendors, I was told that facial hair was not permitted at this facility. As a result, I couldn’t complete my badging process until I shaved my goatee. So I shaved it.

In the hours and days that followed, a number of people remarked about this experience as they heard about it. Some were annoyed by it. Some found it humorous. Some thought it lame that I agreed to do it. I listened and remained non-plussed, as I did the day I lathered up and shaved. You see, I know something that others don’t. One, I can grow it back quickly; it’s only hair. More important, this experience was very much like a lab experiment that helped me to understand the culture, rules and processes for this facility as we do our work.

As I was looking in the mirror last week while shaving, the voice of a former client, Jerry Calhoun of Boeing, came into my head. “Just remember one thing,” he said, “when you’re out here. Your work is not in the corporate office, it’s in the field where we build airplanes and on the front lines where people do real work.”

Every company and every location has a distinctive culture. And rules exist for a reason: They tell us that there is a system, how it operates, and what is expected of us.

Last week, I attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Besides being an impressive, inspiring showcase of new and emerging technologies, it was a Mecca for complete sensory overload. The major tech companies were touting everything from 3D television to game-changing mobile apps, augmented reality, advanced videoconferencing, mobile DTV and green technologies. The audible buzzing alone made my head spin.

Though a lot of what I saw were new products, most were just tweaks to existing technologies. And many will have far-reaching implications for employee communications. Exhibit A: eReaders. They’ve been around for years, but souped-up versions seemed to be everywhere on the show floor at CES. Imagine a Kindle on steroids, used as an enterprise tool to replace hard copy documents in the office. One eReader version I saw had dual screens: one was an black-and-grey screen made for easy-on-the-eyes reading, the other a full color touch screen laptop. Say goodbye to the print agenda when it can be wirelessly sent in the conference room, edited in real-time and pleasing to read.

Regardless of what new technologies take off in the workplace, I’m reminded that no amount of tech buzz can replace the need for effective, well-written content that engages audiences through informative data, interesting stories and thoughtful, targeted messages.

As social media continues to become more and more a part of our lives, the laws surrounding these new technologies continue to evolve as well. Courtney Love is being sued by a fashion designer for allegedly making libelous claims on Twitter (read the article on CNN.com). Countless bloggers have been accused of similar actions. There have also been a host of employment law issues related to intellectual property, privacy and hiring and termination practices.

As the law continues to unfold, it’s crucial for companies to keep a close eye on the impacts of the use of social media by employees. And, importantly, we, as communicators, have to take the added responsibility of educating employees about what’s acceptable and what’s not. Whether it’s an internal forum or an external site, we have to ensure employees understand what they can and cannot say online. We have to think through the implications of our digital strategy and partner with our colleagues in HR and Legal to define appropriate policies to govern these tools.

When thinking about the internal side, check out Bill Ives’ list of 10 things to consider when developing an internal social software policy. This is a good list to review regardless if you already have a policy in place or if you are just beginning to explore these types of tools. And, remember to revisit your guidelines from time to time as the legal environment continues to evolve.

In the end, a lot of this comes down to common sense. The age old rule of “think before you speak” still applies. However, we have a role to play in helping employees adapt to the new digital world of corporate communications.

It recently hit me that it’s been almost two years since I moved to Chicago, and I have yet to become actively involved in any sort of community outreach. The excuse of still being new to the city no longer holds true. But what got me started down this path of philanthropy in the first place? Well, one of our clients recently announced their sponsorship of a global safe, clean drinking water initiative, and we’re working with them to get their employees involved. It’s heartening to see that within less than two weeks of announcing the sponsorship, close to 300 employees have already signed up to help plan and execute programs to promote safe, clean drinking water.

Engaging in community outreach and corporate philanthropy is always important and necessary, even when times are tough. Unfortunately, as described in this Web edition of The Nonprofit Quarterly, many companies have dramatically cut back on their corporate giving budgets in these recessionary times. However, it’s important for organizations and corporations to cash in on the non-monetary expenditure of employee volunteerism. In his article, “Employees in the Community – A Global Force for Good,” David Logan explains:

 “Employee community involvement…allows employees to become the ambassadors of the company all around the world. Company resources are matched by employee enthusiasm and above all, employees bring to the community the special skills and problem-solving abilities of the for-profit sector. While money and in-kind resources remain a vital part of the corporatize contribution around the world, the growing deployment of employees in the community is a majorly unexplored development.”

So while companies should stop making the excuse of not having the money to give back to communities, I need to stop making more excuses for not signing up to help out in my neighborhood!

Lately it seems like I’m hearing a lot in the news about cutbacks and perceived takeaways within many companies.  Increases to the cost of benefits.  Cutbacks to training programs.  Salary freezes.  Layoffs.  You name it, the headlines are a cornucopia of bad news.  And the facts seem to back it up – specifically on the issue of training, a survey of 177 companies late last year by Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc. found that 23% of respondent had recently cut training programs and another 18% planned to so over the course of this year.  Ouch.

And now come the commentators that, if they are to be believed, claim as soon as the economy turns around and the job market opens up that countless of your employees will immediately run from you into the arms of another employer.  If this is true, you may be facing quite the predicament if your people are one of your biggest assets.

So what on earth do you do?

I say it’s time to think creatively about what you can do with the resources at-hand and to challenge your teams to think about meaningful yet inexpensive ways to show your employees you’re still invested in them.

Training is a good start – it’s often an area where employers invest a great deal of money, but when times are tough, I think there are some frugal solutions that not only help educate your employees, but also empower them.

I first began thinking about this a few weeks ago when I had my team in my office and we participated in an all-Insidedge training session led by one of our own people.  That very same week I was having discussions with a client about using their thought leaders to bridge the training gap in response to cuts in their more formalized training budget.  Look around – who do you have in your organization that has valuable knowledge to share?  This approach has two benefits.  The first is obvious – it gives you a way to continue to provide training without hiring external experts or investing in travel. But it’s also great way to highlight the skills of your employees and give them some recognition for their expertise – which makes them feel valued and trusted.

Beyond training, I think it’s essential for employers to look at small ways they can support and recognize their employees. After layoffs and hiring freezes, we’re left with fewer employees doing more with less.  If you can’t hire more people or give raises or promotions, what’s left to signal to your teams that you appreciate what they’re doing? 

It’s about thinking smaller – sometimes it’s true that it’s the thought that counts. Let me give you an example.  At our organization we just got handed a win-win for everyone in the form of Fresh Direct’s new vending machine meals. This service stocks a vending machine fresh daily with meals created by many of the famous chefs and restaurants from throughout Manhattan.  These little babies are easy to get, quick to heat, tasty and healthy.  We pay nothing for the service, and the benefits are great.  Healthy meals.  A quick go-to on those late nights in the office or when you’re clearly not getting out for lunch.  It’s nice.  And the buzz among my coworkers is significant.  Try putting out some fresh fruit.  Or, as timely as it is, what’s the ROI to offering flu shots to your employees?  At least in the consulting business this could be seen as one of the wisest people investments to come along.

So in the end, even in facing one of the worst economic situations in the history of the U.S., there are options.  We just have to get a little bit more creative than we have in the past.  At least for now.

Working smart versus working hard. 

Work time versus family time. 

Work as an end versus work as a means.
 
Work-life balance continues to be a hot topic, but it’s hardly a novel one.  After all, perhaps the most famous of all of Aristotle’s ideas is the “Golden Mean” – the idea that virtue is found in balancing two opposite vices. 

But if we’ve been talking about it for so long, why does it remain so elusive?  Is there really magic to be found in this idea that balance makes us not only happier, but smarter, more creative and more efficient?  And if that’s true, does it benefit employers and not just employees? 

I’ll confess that I’m part of Generation Y, a segment of the workforce that has been a bit scorned for being high-maintenance and maybe a bit entitled.  This generation has challenged this notion of work-life balance far more than those before, because they actually value things like flexible work schedules and creativity over salaries and titles. 

So, what does this mean for employers?  In the last month, I’ve read three separate articles that argued why time off and working “smart” is something that employers should actually encourage and not just grudgingly accept. 

Citing a four-year study conducted by the Harvard Business Review, an article in the Wall Street Journal shares some surprising findings.   When members of twelve different teams at a consulting company were forced to take a block of “predictable” time off each week, productivity actually improved.  Beyond that, teams became better communicators, were viewed more favorably by their clients and streamlined their work processes. 

In an article titled “Hard Work’s Overrated, Maybe Detrimental,” Fast Company  asserted that if you’re a company that wants your employees to be creative and innovative, then time off is not only nice, it’s necessary.  As the author says, “Have you ever had a great idea at your desk?  But how often does that bulb go off in the shower, or in bed?”  Using neuroscience to back up the claims, the argument suggests that allowing time for employees minds to wander and encouraging them to engage in unstructured conversations actually leads to better solutions and ideas than they’d come up with just sitting at their desks. 

Now, it all sounds great in theory, but more difficult in practice, right?  There won’t be any one-size-fits-all solution, but there are a variety of ways that company’s can incorporate this idea. 

1. Encourage your employees to take their vacation days – and for them to actually be on vacation.  How many of us go on vacation but spend a good portion on our Blackberries?   There’s value in really unplugging from the grid. 
2. Schedule “unscheduled” time – sure, it’s a bit of a contradiction, but set aside some time when teams are encouraged to get together and just free-flow ideas.  From the outside, the topics of the discussion may seem unfocused and unproductive, but that’s the point. 
3. Create an office atmosphere where people can work in places other than at their desks – often a change in scenery sparks new ideas and encourages better creativity.  Be flexible. 
4. Consider instituting a sabbatical program – the topic of another Fast Company article, many argue that longer periods of time off not only make employees happy, but they also allow them to step away, see the bigger picture and come back with a new perspective.  There can certainly be structure to the sabbatical, however.  Maybe the employee wants to go teach in another country, for example. 

There are a multitude of ways that employers can create an atmosphere that fosters creativity and helps employees achieve the “Golden Mean.” What are your company’s policies for encouraging work-life balance and helping keep employees engaged and innovative?