Workers Doubt That Employers Are Living Up To New Obligations

The relationship between employer and employee used to be based largely on an exchange of security for loyalty.

But no less an authority than the global management consulting firm of Towers Perrin declares that, in today’s workplace, security and loyalty are “extinct.”

They have been replaced by a “new deal.”

Under the new deal, as defined by Towers Perrin, human resource specialists, “Employees are responsible for taking the initiative to develop and enhance skills and actively seek ways to help sustain and grow the business.

“Employers are responsible for providing meaningful rewards, relevant support for skill development, honest communication about mutual objectives, and reasonable flexibility in the work environment.”

Unfortunately for employers, Towers Perrin has developed a new annual survey and index of worker attitudes which indicates an appalling lack of employee confidence and trust in their employers.

The consultants surveyed a randomly selected sample of nearly 4,000 workers spanning a wide range of midsized to large companies.

And what they found is a high level of self assurance among employees. Most feel confident that they are living up to the new deal.

But they have serious doubts about their employers.

“Perhaps the most significant finding of the Towers Perrin Workplace Index,” say the analysts, “is that employees have already bought into the new deal in many ways.

“As we have seen throughout this report, they are taking responsibility. They have a strong outward view. They see their fate bound up with their employer’s financial success. They understand they have to perform - and perform well.

“Significantly, though, they are less confident about how well their employers can (or will) deliver on their side of the bargain,” the consultants report.

A chronic complaint is that managers too often play favorites.

“Fair and consistent administration of work force policies is a critical element of the deal,” the analysts report.

And “employers are not getting high marks” on this.

Indeed, only four of 10 employees think their employer handles policies consistently and fairly.

“Conventional wisdom has long held that what employees want from management is good pay, good benefits and a pleasant working environment,” say analysts for the management consulting firm. “Indeed, that was the essence of the old deal: A fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.

“But today employees see managers as having a broader set of responsibilities - including strong leadership, communication, and the ability to deal effectively with poor performers.”

In that regard, the report continues, “Employees also question employers’ fairness vis-a-vis the perennial issue of pay. Less than half of the total group, for instance, agree that their company pays for performance.”

Quite the contrary, most employees don’t see a strong connection between pay and performance in their company.

Scarcely half think the company fills openings with the best qualified persons.

“Over time,” warns Steve Bookbinder, chief of organizational research consulting for Towers Perrin, “if employees feel that pay is not aligned with the level of performance demanded and provided, they will see this as a deal-breaker.”

In short, everyone - owners and management, too, not just frontline workers - must demonstrate ability and accountability. Or the deal is off.

On the other hand, Bookbinder reports, overall index scores “indicate employees are far more ‘in tune’ with their employers’ needs and concerns than is widely believed.

“Indeed, our findings suggest that companies have a vast reserve of excellent raw material in the form of a willing and able work force.” Managers are simply misusing the available human resources at their disposal.

“For employers then,” advises the management consultants, “the challenge takes shape on a familiar battlefield: How to tap into employees’ resilience and energy and build commitment on a consistent meaningful basis.”

As to whether the new employment deal is a raw deal for employees, the report suggests, “Mostly, it seems to depend on how well employers can or will hold up their end of the changing relationship.”

In other words, most employees feel ready, willing, and up to the task. Are employers?

, DataTimes MEMO: Associate Editor Frank Bartel’s column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Frank Bartel The Spokesman-Review