( 5 reviews )
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Posted: Aug 15 2007
This is the best business book I have read in a long time. The authors do an excellent job in providing a comprehensive picture of the state of the workplace in the US today. One conclusion the authors draw is that satisfying work is a basic human need that establishes individual identity and self-respect and lends order to life. Many important questions will be asked throughout the book. For example, if the United States wishes to continue to be the world's leading economic power, what workplace practices and public policies are required to ensure that it succeeds? The solution to this and other questions must serve both the well-being of employees and the effectiveness of their employing organizations in the belief that doing one without the other is not viable in the long run. What follows are notes I took of this essential book: Good work satisfies all three of the following fundamental needs (p. 8): 1. The need for the basic economic resources and security essential to lead good lives. 2. The need to do meaningful work and the opportunity to grow and develop as a person. 3. The need for supportive relationships. Jobs satisfying the requirements of one, or even two, of the above needs may not satisfy them all. For example, a job may pay well but, at the same time, be dull and unfulfilling. A truly fascinating job may pay poorly, and a well-paying, interesting job may be overseen by an abusive supervisor. All three needs must be satisfied before most people will say they have a good job. Research shows that satisfying the needs of Americans for good jobs is important, if not essential, for the prosperity, health and social well-being of the nation. The costs of an insufficient supply of good work include a declining standard of living, a lower quality of life, increased social conflict, and the loss of America's unique standing in the world as the leading economic power. Researchers found the following key themes in US companies (p. 14-18): 1. The US is suffering from insufficient creation of new 'good jobs.' 2. Workers today face a wider array of choices than ever before, choices concerning what career to pursue, how much and what form of education to obtain, where to work, when to change jobs and careers, and when, or if, to retire. 3. Today, most companies put the needs of shareholders above the needs of workers. 4. There in now increased tension between work and family life. Among lower-paid workers, the cause of this tension is that two parents increasingly need to work long hours to make ends meet. 5. The primary and secondary educational system in the United States is failing to provide the skills millions of workers need to escape minimum-wage and dead-end employment. 6. In terms of real wages, executives and technically skilled workers have fared spectacularly in recent years, and college graduates, in general, have fared well relative to the rest of the labor force. At the same time, the relative wages of blue-collar workers have lagged significantly behind their better-educated and white-collar peers, and low-skilled workers have fared disastrously relative to other Americans. 7. Almost all young, educated people today expect to work for multiple employers, to move back and forth between work and education and between work and family responsibilities, and, perhaps, never to retire. 8. The high and growing costs of health insurance are driving countless business decisions, causing companies and industries to be unprofitable, putting American exporters at competitive disadvantages in world markets, discouraging the creation of jobs and leading to the export of others. 9. Current workplace practices, such as the use of contingent and part-time workers, preferences for younger over older workers, underfunding of training, growing gaps between the salaries and benefits of executives and average employees, and a 24/7 working environment, appear to be having negative effects on worker turnover, motivation, loyalty and job satisfaction. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, most U.S. manufacturing companies--and many service providers, as well--adopted or experimented with self-managing work teams to cut payroll costs and/or to enrich jobs. In most cases, such efforts led to increased employee motivation and to lower levels of turnover, absenteeism and stress-related illness. When managers give workers authority over their work and then reward them for doing the right thing, they address basic human needs for recognition, control and belonging, needs that are more important determinants of employee morale and performance than are the physical conditions of work. Particularly when people work together--as opposed to being separate cogs in a machine--social bonds are formed that lead to cooperation and a desire to help each other succeed (p. 46-47). Recent studies show that the leading causes of absenteeism in the United States today are family-related, and that one out of six people who fail to show up for work offer stress as the reason. Studies show that social support can moderate elevated blood pressure, and that socially supportive workplaces tend to be the healthiest for most workers. Since the 1970s, there has been a major increase in employee stock ownership. Employee-owners are more inclined to exhibit positive behavior on the job, to stay with a company as a result of their equity interest, and to pay more attention to its financial performance, all of which are positive behaviors from a company's point of view (p. 119). The plus side of employee-ownership of stock is that it often increases the likelihood that workers can influence how their company operates. On the negative side, their jobs depend on the continuing success of their employing company (p. 120). The workplace always has been where people meet, converse, connect, and form friendships. Indeed, relationships at work are the most meaningful ones for most adult Americans outside their families (p. 133). All managers and business owners should read this book.
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Posted: Mar 29 2007
In 1974, Louis 'Studs' Terkel interviewed 130 working men and women about the realities of employment in America. His book, entitled "Working," was based on a study authored by O'Toole and Lawler, called "Work in America." This long-awaited follow-up to both popular works chronicles the multitude of workplace changes during the past 30 years. Touching on compensation, training and work/life balance, among others, these authors examine future workplace scenarios for workers and companies. It's an academic yet fairly comprehensive approach to a subject that every businesswoman should understand. So, while not for everyone, I found this book to be extremely informative.
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( 1 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jan 13 2007
In 1972-73, a survey was conducted to examine working conditions throughout the United States. THE NEW AMERICAN WORKPLACE brings that survey to the 21st century, examining all aspects of work and the American worker in today's global economy. In many industries, we were the international leader in the 1970s and 1980s, whereas now there is serious competition from many European and Asian countries. In the era of human capital, employee involvement, along with self-managing work teams, employee stock ownership, high worker-satisfaction levels and job enrichment are concepts that now drive many American businesses. "Americans today feel that they have more freedom and opportunities to learn on the job, and to do more meaningful work than they did in the 1970's." The work Americans do now tends to be more "enriched, challenging, and controlled by employees." Broken into five parts --- the introduction, Changes in the American Workplace, Consequences for the American Worker, Choices and Future Directions, and Conclusions --- THE NEW AMERICAN WORKPLACE examines the cultural, economic and global attitudes in America's work environment today. Employee benefit costs have risen to a staggering 42% of payroll costs. The costs of jobs held by employees versus contract workers, independent contractors, outsourced and temporary workers must be a factor in the cost of a company's product or service. New employment contracts and performance-based compensation with the growth-in-knowledge work equals skill-based pay. Careers, work/life balance, employment-based legislation (such as the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993), workplace health and safety, and stress are examined in detail, as well as job and life satisfaction. Performance pressures sometimes lead to ethical dilemmas at work. "Given the changes in the nature of organizations, work, and reward systems...it is hardly surprising that Americans feel they have to work harder and faster." Union membership fell to 12% in the American workforce, as team environments and total quality initiatives gave workers more freedom, autonomy and voice in the work they do. "If unions improve their products and more effectively address the real concerns of workers in the future, they might be able to regain some of their lost membership and the strength of their voice, but to do so they will need to rethink their positions and roles relating to such issues as education and training the individualization of work relationships, and, especially, cooperation, with regards to improving business performance." Other areas of concern include worker training as it relates to transferable skills, the lack of equity between large corporation CEOs and their minimum-wage workers, average executive compensation versus the performance and profit of the company, a sense of community in the workplace, the movement to understand and communicate ethics in the workplace, the economic impact of employee behavior on organizational performance, and public policy. This is an extremely thorough sociological study of the American worker within the construct of the American workplace and the pressures to excel globally, balanced against the American economy. I urge anyone with a managerial role in business today not only to read this important book but to live its message. --- Reviewed by Marge Fletcher
