July 30, 2010

Chicago Sun-Times

Worried About Unhappy Workers

Workers aren’t happy, and that has hiring managers worried. Employee morale and maintaining employee productivity are hiring managers’ top concerns, according to a survey by Chicago-based ComPsych Corp. Thirty-one percent of hiring managers who responded to the survey identified those as their top concerns, 17 percent cited finding qualified candidates and 13 percent said retaining top talent.

“Given what’s going on in the economy – companies are not hiring aggressively, they’re asking employees to do more and that’s starting to burn out some of the employees,” said Richard Chaifetz, CEO of ComPsych, which provides employee assistance programs and other work/life services. If employees are unhappy, productivity will suffer, and when the economy improves, companies run the risk of losing their best and brightest who will have more options, Chaifetz warned.

Providing “psychic rewards” are important and can include recognizing staff when they do a good job. Reminding workers of employee assistance programs and other work-life company benefits is also key, he said.