Why Are They Blaming Us?

According to a recent survey I found, the average American has plenty of people/things to blame if they have financial problems.


Take a look at this survey. You may be surprised (or not) that "themselves" is way down the list.

http://tinyurl.com/yjhpjj5

After Wall Street, Congress, and the President, employers (right or wrong), make the survey. So if 3 of 10 Americans think that employers are responsible for their economic misfortune, isn't it likely that they are not putting as much effort into their work as their happier co-workers?

Here are my thoughts on five things that employers can do to make sure their employees understand they are acting in the worker's best interest, and that the blame should be focused elsewhere:

1) Perhaps your organization has had fuloughs, wage reducations, or layoffs---but if the company can still do something small to show employees their appreciation, (catered lunch, small company outing) that small investment of $500-$1000 may go a long way to lift spirits.

2) Lets say you have a forced financial choice between cutting 401k benefits and slashing salaries. By fully explaining the difficult choice to employees, they won't feel blindsided by this unfortunate event.

3) As organizations begin to recover from a lousy 2009, communicating the state of the organization on a regular basis (no less that quarterly) will ensure employees are kept in the know.

4) If forced to cut pay or benefits, try to make the most of a poor situation by making the reduction across the board. With everyone sharing the burden, employees know that nobody is playing favorites.

5) Lastly, please keep in mind that certain employees may wish to be communicated to differently depending on their generation. A Baby Boomer may prefer a sit down meeting, while a Gen Xer may be fine with just an email explaining what's going on.