Ways to combat growing workplace malaise

One Foot Out the Door: How to Combat the Psychological Recession That's Alienating Employees and Hurting American Business
by Judith M. Bardwick
AMACOM, $24.95

A Dilbert comic strip struck a nerve in the 1990s when the evil boss proclaimed that employees were no longer the company's most valuable asset, but instead ranked ninth, behind money at No. 1 and carbon paper at No. 8.

Following massive layoffs and job exports, such sentiments don't seem that far-fetched, but a new book by Judith Bardwick, author of the best-selling "Danger in the Comfort Zone," says corporate America must do something about the "psychological recession" that is plaguing both business and workers.

Employees have picked up on management's attitude that they are liabilities to be reduced, Bardwick writes in "One Foot Out the Door."

As a result, workers are either looking for new positions or just going through the motions at present jobs.

A management consultant and clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California-San Diego, Bardwick points out that it's expensive to replace employees who leave on their own initiative. There's also the danger that workers who survive job cuts become apathetic and resentful, which can lead to dire consequences.

"Management practices that make employees feel insignificant and of little value bring predictable results," she writes, "including lost productivity, an increase in avoidable accidents, high turnover, absenteeism, and low levels of commitment to the organization and its customers."

Such conditions are an unfortunate side effect of the shrinking corporate "comfort zone," a subject Bardwick covered in her earlier book.

With little overseas competition, big US companies in the postwar era essentially provided lifetime job security, Bardwick writes. "The workers became the primary stakeholders of the organization."

That was before the emergence of foreign rivals, the rise of the corporate raider and private equity firm, the dot-com collapse, and the shift of many jobs to countries with lower labor costs.

Now many Americans just don't care about their companies. Bardwick cites research showing that in most organizations, 60 percent of the workers do just enough to keep their jobs, and another 20 percent would hurt their employers if they could.

Such apathy and pessimism are hurting businesses, she says, and it's going to take more than corporate America to solve the problem. She proposes a modern safety net, fashioned with education, healthcare, and other reforms, to reduce workers' fears of displacement while avoiding a return of entitlement attitudes.

Bardwick also calls on executives to foster trust in employees and to instill them with a sense of commitment to their company and its values. She devotes a chapter to an interview with retired Eaton Corp. chief executive Stephen Hardis, who describes how the diversified manufacturer's team-oriented approach led to new levels of productivity.

Employee engagement also means better returns for investors, Bardwick writes, since research shows that shares of Fortune's "100 best companies to work for" consistently beat the market.