Employees are becoming more vocal - Part 2


ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE OPTIMIST ON JULY 25, 2023

Series – Work your way to happiness – part 2

Three-quarters of employees are unhappy. Absenteeism figures are higher than ever. And this while we need everyone with good spirits to realize the transition. We looked for answers and found Dr. Kim Cramer, co-founder of BR-ND People that builds brands and uses a scientific method to make employees and organizations flourish. Facts, experiences, tips straight from practice.

BY: GIJS DE SWARTE

Kim Cramer: 'We once worked for the municipal transport company of Amsterdam, now known as an excellent employer. I am convinced that this also has to do with the arrival of the first female director who brought diversity to the top and engaged in dialogue from empathy. But back then it was, to put it mildly, not the happiest company in the Netherlands. I can well remember that we went a bit deeper into the work pleasure of the drivers. There was a big difference between the captains of the ferries, who saw wide water and felt freedom, and the metro drivers who looked into a black hole, walked across the platform to the other side of the metro and hop, through that tunnel again. They experienced it as if they were in the waste pit of the organization. You can count on your fingers that you're not going to encounter much motivation in an organization that accepts that feeling as an acceptable norm.'

Toxic working conditions

'What we've been seeing lately is that toxic working conditions in all shapes and sizes are making the media more often. In politics, business, sports, film, TV, theater, music, you name it. What plays a role in this is that employees in general are becoming more vocal and abuses are much easier to share on social media. The increased attention to working conditions also has to do with Millennials and Gen Z-ers who set higher demands in terms of meaning and satisfaction in their work. The Net Positive Employee Barometer from former Unilever CEO Paul Polman, which I also mentioned earlier, shows that more than half of all employees are considering resignation because their own values don't match those of the company. Behind this is the growing need to add something to society, and to make the world better. You see companies responding to these developments. They try to be greener, more inclusive, more diverse, more transparent, and so on.'

Most important criterion

'What strikes me strongly is that this is mainly argued by how beneficial satisfying working conditions are for revenue. That's true by the way, and I'll come back to that. But it's also strange; when did we all decide that profit is the most important criterion? And that it's hardly an issue whether people in companies are happy or not with what they do. It may sound naive but it seems fairly logical to me that there would be a lot fewer problems in the world if we would just give that top priority. In fact, the transition simply won't succeed with all unhappy people. What it comes down to is that you can accomplish all sorts of things when you're resilient and you feel good, and a lot less comes out of your hands when that's not the case. We probably all have some experience with that. I personally certainly do.'