Employ, Trust and Prosper

27th January, 2010

So according to the latest Employee Outlook survey commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), only a third of us trust our senior managers.  The report is an interesting read, especially if statistics and emerging trends interest you like they do me.

The headline also grabbed my attention as yesterday at 4.30pm we were amused by overhearing an employee of a neighbouring company who was asking a colleague to “put down 5.30 for me?”  They went on to berate the cheekiness of an external manager who sometimes calls after 5pm as if to check to see if they were still there…  Evidently lack of trust is two way!

The CIPD survey shows that job satisfaction has dropped again and consistently less than half of the workforce feel fully or fairly well informed about what is happening in their organisations. Over 40% feel under excessive pressure and one in five think it is likely or very likely that they could lose their job as a result of the recession.  The report goes on to say that nearly a third of respondents (30%) report their organisation has made redundancies, a very slight increase from the previous quarter’s figure (29%). The proportion of employees saying their organisation is planning to make redundancies has edged up to 15% from 14% for the previous quarter.

The report coincides with the announcement that Britain is technically out of recession.  As far as confidence in the workforce goes this can only be good news.  As an employer I try to be as open as possible with my staff.  They know the road ahead is not paved with gold though continued hard work and prudence can lead us there.  However, I appreciate the fact that many employers will be keeping cards close to their chest not wanting to throw stones of doubt in front of the wheels, so long as the wheels are at least still turning.

The report concludes with recommendations to employers to support managers with building relationships.  With many organisations implementing pay freezes and standards of living falling, employers are encouraged to think about ways to support employees, such as providing financial advice.

We have always enjoyed running employee surveys, for their insight into professional (or not professional!) relationships, organisational dynamics and their contribution to social comment.  As with any survey, the devil is in the detail and so you can read the CIPD report in full here: http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/general/_employee_outlook.htm