This Labour Day, nearly half of employed workers said their jobs are stagnant, according to DDI’s 2009 Pulse of the Workforce survey.

 

What makes their jobs stagnant? When compared to those who don’t think their jobs are stagnant those who answered “yes” to this question are twice as likely to say they:

And companies trying to grow again will feel the impact of this dissatisfaction. “The economy has forced organizations to focus on profits and the bottom-line, but this data tells us forgotten about the importance of also focusing on their people—putting their organizations at risk for high turnover, poor performance and low engagement,” said Bruce Court, Business Development Manager for DDI in Canada.

 

Development Dimensions International (DDI) conducted the Pulse of the Workforce survey with 260 employed workers across industries and throughout Canada in August 2009.

 

Flight risk
Workers who don’t feel they’re being used to their full potential and have no place to go are more likely to leave—the only thing stopping them now is the economy (22% of those who said their jobs are stagnant vs. 4% who said they aren’t). Half of those who said their jobs are stagnant plan to look for another job when the economy improves and are more than twice as likely to move to another company if given the opportunity (73% vs. 33%).

 

“Companies that have taken their eye off of the ball when it comes to their employees will lose good people to other organizations and even competitors,” Court said. In fact, 14% of stagnant workers will only wait another month before they make a change and 1 in 4 said they’ll wait no more than 90 days.

 

In a slump
The slumping economy has resulted in labour lethargy. They’re less interested in what they do and 36% of workers who said their jobs are stagnant were twice as likely to “just do their job and go home” (versus 14% of those who don’t feel stagnant). Workers who said their careers aren’t stagnant were five times as likely to say they’re excited to go to work.

 

Many of today’s workers are mentally checked-out of their jobs—their workloads are increasing, but they aren’t getting interesting challenges or opportunities to learn new skills. “This mentality is putting stress on the organization now, but will be even worse as the economy improves and as companies start to bring new employees in through the front door, their current employees will be walking out of the back door,” Court said.

 

A place to grow
More than half of workers did not feel stretched outside of their comfort zone with their development or job opportunities—two areas where companies could be providing their workforce with experiences to keep them engaged. This is proven by the fact that 32% of people who are being asked to take on new challenges that stretch them are also more excited to go to work.

 

People who said their career is stagnant also were half as likely to be recognized for their efforts (54% of those who feel stagnant are getting no recognition vs. 22% of those who don’t feel stagnant). “For most people, the paycheck isn’t enough. They need to feel valued and challenged,” Court said.

 

Summer slacking
So what are people doing pass the time at the office? Workers were just as likely to check their Facebook page during work hours (22% everyday) as they were to help a co-worker meet a deadline (12% everyday) and more likely than they were to ask for or take on an extra assignment (7% everyday).

And many chose to skip the office trip altogether, as 1 out of every 6 workers played hooky (called in sick when they weren't) up to six times this summer.

 

“Look at the people who sit around you in the office—one has probably called in sick, skipping the water cooler to go to the pool instead, another is more likely to update their Facebook status than take on a new assignment,” Court said. “People are just trying to get by in their jobs and companies aren’t taking measures to re-engage their workers and improve productivity.”