How Workplace Culture is Changing

When I consider how the workplace culture is changing from days gone by, it reminds me of the National Football League (NFL). NFL hall of fame old timers Earl “Dutch” Clark and Jim Thorpe followed the rules, understood their jobs, were accountable, and took the advice of their coaches and leaders. The NFL, when considering it as a workplace culture, is indeed not the same today, think National “Felon” League here. While this sounds odd, it’s really a good example of the way things used to be, including work ethics and accountability, compared to a few decades ago—well maybe like five decades ago!

Along with generational change, there has been a rise in no accountability, customer service issues, and even this annoying new standard, “it’s not my job.” A baby boomer myself, born in the late 1950s, as a business owner today, I’m always shocked at what employees and even teams will ask or do or deny to do at my workplace.

Because my career is seen from both sides of the coin, both employee and employer, I’m often surprised that when I began a career in the mid-1980s, I felt pride, was accountable for tasks I was assigned, and never refused to tackle a job if asked.

In these days of the vanishing workplace ethic and accountability, is it because of no pride, educational or training issues, or are business owners and employers changing?

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I wanted to really delve deep to answer the question how the workplace culture is changing, so I discussed the issue with three of my employees; a supervisor, a mid-level employee, and a newbie. These employees range in age from 22 to 48 years of age. Here are some of the insights they offered, which may surprise you. I posed the following questions:

• How do you like your job responsibilities?
• Do you feel you are being paid a fair wage for your job?
• Are you comfortable tackling any task?
• Do you feel trained for your position?
• Do you like the team you’re on?
• How do you feel about your co-workers?
• Tell me about your work/life balance?
• What would you like to see different?
• Do you feel you should be accountable for your job performance?

In the next sections, you’ll find a summary of their answers.

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As far as job responsibilities, only my supervisor and entry-level employee were comfortable and happy with their job responsibilities. They felt challenged in their work, liked the responsibilities assigned, but only the supervisor said that he would take initiative if he saw a problem in his department, but probably not in another department because that wasn’t his area of expertise.

The entry-level employee said he would ask for help or guidance but feared if he asked too many questions, he would appear incompetent. As far as the mid-level employee, she told me that she really didn’t feel she had true individual responsibilities at work and only did what she was told or assigned. Only the supervisor said he would try and help out if needed, but was resistant in offering cross-department help.

Only the supervisor said he was 100% happy with his wage level (he is paid a salary on a monthly bonus incentive plan). The mid-level employee felt she completed too many tasks for too many people and deserved a higher hourly rate, especially since overtime was discouraged. The newbie employee was pleased that he was paid $2 over the current minimum wage, but felt he deserved more.

Image Credit (Free Digital Photos)

Please click on Page 2 to read more of my employee's thoughts and how the workplace culture is changing.