One Foot Out the Door: How to Combat the Psychological Recession That's Alienating Employees and Hurting American Business

241 Pages·2007·1 MB·English

by  Judith M. Bardwick

ONE FOOT OUT THE DOOR
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ONE FOOT
OUT THE
DOOR
HOW TO COMBAT
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL RECESSION
THAT’S ALIENATING EMPLOYEES
AND HURTING AMERICAN BUSINESS
Judith M. Bardwick, Ph.D.
American Management Association
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bardwick, Judith M., 1933–
One foot out the door : how to combat the psychological recession that’s
alienating employees and hurting American business / Judith M. Bardwick.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-8144-8058-8
1. Psychology, Industrial—United States. 2. Employees—United States—
Attitudes. 3. Employee morale—United States. 4. Management—Psychological
aspects. 5. Quality of work life—United States. I. Title. II. Title:
Psychological recession that’s alienating employees and hurting American
business. III. Title: Recession that’s alienating employees and hurting
American business.
HF5548.8.B2435 2007
658.3′14—dc22
2007020973
© 2008 Judith M. Bardwick
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, record-
ing, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of AMACOM, a division of American
Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.
Printing number
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is for
Captain Allen E. Armstrong, USCG, Retired
to the man and his life
in loving memory
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C O N T E N T S
Acknowledgments xiii
(cid:2) CHAPTER 1
TOPSY-TURVY: THE SKY IS FALLING! 1
The World Turned Upside Down 2
The Crazy 1990s 4
Collapse 6
The Special Case of the Best and Brightest 6
Recovery and Productivity 9
(cid:2) CHAPTER 2
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL RECESSION 13
How to Recognize a Psychological Recession 14
A Psychological Recession Is Self-Fulfilling 16
Perception versus Reality 17
vii
viii Contents
Who Is Affected? 19
Why It Matters 21
(cid:2) CHAPTER 3
FEELINGS MATTER—“SOFT” IS “HARD” 25
Heart Trumps Head 27
People Are Not Commodities 31
Commitment Is Not Kindness 32
(cid:2) CHAPTER 4
BAD MANAGEMENT IS
(REALLY) EXPENSIVE 35
Many Employees Feel Negatively about Work 36
The Number of Unhappy Employees Continues to Increase 37
Many Employees Feel Resentful 37
Low Rates of Employee Commitment and Loyalty Are
Very Expensive 37
Downsizing Leads to Resentment, Which Leads to Terrible
Customer Service 38
Many Employees Want to Move to a New Job 39
Unhappy Employees Are Unproductive Employees 39
Like Employee Loyalty, Customer Loyalty Cannot Be Taken
for Granted 39
The Gallup Surveys of Engagement 40
Engagement and Productivity: The New Century
Example 42
What All These Data Mean 43
(cid:2) CHAPTER 5
GOOD MANAGEMENT
(REALLY) MAKES MONEY 45
It’s the Interaction Between Employees and Customers 46
Contents ix
Good Management Is Profitable 50
Motivated Employees and Profitablity 50
Costco versus Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club 51
SAS Institute 52
Best Companies to Work for 53
Commitment Can Take Many Forms 56
Establish Family-Friendly Policies 56
Invest in Training 58
Communicate Honestly 59
Let Them Own a Piece of the Company 59
Act with Integrity 60
Widening the Road to Success 60
(cid:2) CHAPTER 6
COMMITMENT AND ENGAGEMENT—
NOTMORALE OR SATISFACTION 63
Nurturing Commitment and Engagement 66
Ask the Right Questions 66
Hire the Right People 67
Measure the Right Attributes 69
Morale and Satisfaction Don’t Count 71
Getting It Wrong 72
Getting It Right 75
(cid:2) CHAPTER 7
CREATE SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS
BETWEEN BOSSES AND SUBORDINATES 77
Employee–Boss Relationships 78
The Special Importance of Trust 80
Trust and Communication 81
Relationships at Work 83
Out of Touch with Subordinates 84
Leadership and “Average” People 87
Leaders for the Twenty-First Century 89