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A comment on Employee happiness and business success are linked.

Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by ben_jones on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @06:58PM (#20570088)
People are joking in this thread but I think the REALLY BIG problem is that a lot of American workers are increasingly internalizing their compensation needs above other needs like health, happiness, or social well being. When we should be concentrating on a lot of our personal issues, we kick the ball down the road saying "oh when I have more money" or "oh when my career progresses" when we would be much better served by acting on them immediately and with highest priority.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by bsanr2 on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @07:14PM (#20570188)
Perhaps because so many Americans are financially insecure, and long-term health, happiness, and social concerns take a backseat to simply surviving the next month?
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by mjparrott on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @09:10PM (#20570849)
Getting out of the hole of "surviving to the next month" requires a few years of developing and investing in yourself to build a valued skillset. It's very hard to do when you don't have a clue about what that path can be. I took a lot longer to get to my current spot because I didn't know this path existed when I was younger because no one around me even knew this industry existed.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by tuxxy on Wednesday July 31, 2019 @04:44AM (#20572640)
Come on, it's incredibly disingenuous to suggest that all folks living paycheck-to-paycheck don't have a valuable skill set. It's also incredibly offensive and elitist, too.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by mjparrott on Thursday August 01, 2019 @04:27PM (#20587988)
I didn't mean it that way. I meant to say that if you are asking yourself "what can I do to improve my situation" sometimes the answer is to invest in yourself! It isn't meant to be judgemental or to suggest there aren't other factors that influence what financial position you find yourself in. How about offering other suggestions as to what people can do to move away from 'paycheck to paycheck' situatins instead of calling other people names?
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by ndiscussion on Wednesday July 31, 2019 @12:29PM (#20575764)
If it's so valuable, why are they living paycheck-to-paycheck?

I'd say that their skillset is defacto not valuable enough for their wellbeing.

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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by mjparrott on Thursday August 01, 2019 @04:30PM (#20588025)
Financial positions are not exclusively a function of your skillset. Your accreditations also matter (e.g. degrees or certifications). Wealth also begets wealth so if you have connections you can actually get a job without any skillset (not saying its right, but it is a reality). The real question is "what can people do to improve their current financial situation". I'd love to see a discussion on that.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by bsanr2 on Thursday August 01, 2019 @01:15AM (#20581228)
Because workers, including creative and knowledge workers, have very little leverage until they are essentially one-of-a-kind holders of a high-level skill set. Which isn't to say that their skills aren't valuable, just not unique. The remedies are government intervention or collective bargaining, not everyone clamoring for one of the limited seats at the "subject matter expert" table.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by mtberatwork on Wednesday July 31, 2019 @12:48PM (#20575962)
Not even all STEM jobs pay 6 figure salaries.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by aiisjustanif on Wednesday July 31, 2019 @04:34PM (#20578225)
Idk why are some HVAC techs are working paycheck to paycheck in Las Vegas.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by klyrs on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @07:32PM (#20570295)
It's not just workers. I've repeatedly asked for reduced hours, or more vacation, in lieu of a raise. Every time, my employer's response has been some form of "we can't do that for unspecified technical reasons" or "if you get that, everybody would want it." Honestly I don't get it. The big irony is that several people in the upper strata who are ostensibly making these decisions only work part-time and have at least 2 C-suite jobs
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by ChuckNorris89 on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @08:11PM (#20570529)
I think their answers are pretty representative. Your requests wouldn't hurt the business per se but if they would bend over to accommodate everyone's small requests, the company would loose the illusion of control they have over their slav... err ...workforce and they can't have that.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by RhodesianHunter on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @08:17PM (#20570557)
Who has two C-Suite jobs? The people at that level are frequently the ones working the longest hours.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by jmalicki on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @08:36PM (#20570677)
Elon Musk has 3 (SpaceX, Tesla, the Boring Company).

Jack Dorsey has 2 (Square, Twitter).

Steve Jobs was CEO of both Apple and Pixar.

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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by RhodesianHunter on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @09:10PM (#20570845)
So the three celebrity status CEOs out of a C-Suite population in what... the high five figures?
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by klyrs on Wednesday July 31, 2019 @01:05AM (#20571820)
At least 2, at my unnamed company. Three mentioned celebrities who are easily verified. And you're still incredulous. I don't know what to tell you, this isn't that uncommon.

It's not that they don't work too much for their own good, and pay themselves as much as they can get away with. It's that they don't see the need to show up at my company every day, but somehow think that highly creative employees perform better at a grindstone.

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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by cultus on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @09:11PM (#20570852)
I'd sure hope so, since they're getting paid hundreds of times more.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by rhizome on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @07:16PM (#20570197)
It is a LONG standing dominant philosophy in US business that "morale" is pretty much the last thing to be concerned with. Someone not working well? Get rid of them and replace them with someone better. This has been going on for generations, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's taught all day long, every day, in every business school in the nation.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by drawkbox on Wednesday July 31, 2019 @02:31AM (#20572125)
"Put that coffee down!! Coffee's for closers only."
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by rhizome on Wednesday July 31, 2019 @04:34PM (#20578228)
For all the ways Office Space is dated, I think its meditation on morale won't be for a long time.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by RhodesianHunter on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @08:16PM (#20570553)
It's not.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by rhizome on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @08:49PM (#20570729)
Conventional wisdom? Or "common sense?" It's too common to be sauna talk.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by RhodesianHunter on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @09:11PM (#20570851)
It is not something taught at any reputable business school.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by cyphar on Wednesday July 31, 2019 @01:01AM (#20571808)
Then it's one of the many things you "learn on the job". Just because there isn't a course in "Crushing your Employee's Souls 101" doesn't mean sacrificing morale for short-term profits isn't an insanely common practice.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by rhizome on Wednesday July 31, 2019 @04:37PM (#20578269)
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, are you claiming my assertion is entirely fictional? Harvard and Wharton aren't reputable?
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by Sonnol53 on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @07:23PM (#20570234)
Compensation is easily measurable and comparable than something like 'happiness' and wellness. I'm definitely not on the company's side for neglecting company happiness, but it so so subjective and it's probably easier for them to set this standard and have people find happiness and balance in their lives.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by H8crilA on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @07:49PM (#20570413)
You can start with true working hours per week. Simple honest rules - checking email at home counts, being paged counts double (because I can happen anytime, so you need to be alert), eating lunch does not. Transit time counts. Divide by 5 - that's your average daily load due to work. You get more than 9 - that's too much, I hope your compensation is superb (i.e. well above average).
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by chronic84920 on Tuesday July 30, 2019 @08:45PM (#20570710)
> You get more than 9 - that's too much, I hope your compensation is superb (i.e. well above average).

At FAANG, the number is most definitely less than 9. Combine this with the freakishly high compensation, and this looks like the best deal one could predicably get on Earth.

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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by H8crilA on Wednesday July 31, 2019 @06:57AM (#20573238)
I kind of think it is a great deal. Perhaps not the greatest, but a great one.
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Re:Employee happiness and business success are linked by mighty_bander on Wednesday July 31, 2019 @12:53PM (#20576016)
Amen to that. It's easy to trade away free time and benefits when you're 25. Once that means not seeing your kids as much, money doesn't seem so important. As my ex's dad used to say: "Not a lot of people lie on their deathbed wishing they had spent more time in the office."
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