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Warning for companies over unhappy workers

Amanda Cropp

A survey of Kiwi workers shows they value their workmates but not so much their managers.

Culture coach Shane Green doesn’t mince words on where New Zealand businesses are going wrong after his survey of 800 Kiwi workers found a worryingly high proportion were unhappy and had a low opinion of their managers.

He says the heavy reliance on migrant labour has made many Kiwi employers lazy about investing in their employees – they need to better recognise good workers and deal with those ‘‘who don’t give a damn’’.

Green’s survey, carried out in September, showed almost 40 per cent of workers were ‘‘disengaged’’, which by his reckoning meant our biggest private sector companies alone had more than 6500 employees talking poorly about them and underperforming.

American analytics company Gallup has estimated that disengaged workers cost their employers the equivalent of 18 per cent of their annual salary, and Green says the potential impact is huge when that figure is applied to the small businesses that make up the vast majority of New Zealand enterprises.

‘‘With up to four employees per company underperforming, this can seriously strain the ability of small businesses to be successful and even survive.

‘‘We have to think about the cost of someone who’s not happy: it’s mistakes, it’s lack of customers.’’

The pandemic brought Green and his family back to New Zealand after 20 years in the United States, where he had established a niche as a business and culture coach working with the likes of the National Basketball Association, BMW and United Airlines.

His book Culture Hacker describes how to improve employee engagement and retention by making small but important changes, and he is now creating a small business guide due for release next year.

The good news from the September survey covering a range of industries was that more than threequarters of Kiwi workers valued their colleagues and enjoyed being part of a team. But the verdict on the quality of managers was far less complimentary, with more than 70 per cent claiming their bosses lacked management skills.

Green says that indicates too many New Zealand companies fail to invest in developing people before promoting them to leadership positions.

‘‘There’s still that old school attitude where managers think their people work for them, not

the other way around where managers work for their people.’’

Pre-pandemic, the availability of migrant labour had made New Zealand a ‘‘seasonal work paradise’’ and as a result some employers had become lazy, says Green. ‘‘It means you’re used to turning people over, and not used to investing in their growth and development, not giving them feedback because they will leave you after six to nine months.’’

Young migrants here on shortterm visas were prepared to work hard because the pay-off was that they then got to tour New Zealand for six months, but that was not the case for domestic workers.

‘‘New Zealand workers are going, ‘Hey wait up, what’s the incentive for me, I don’t want to go into a place that turns and burns me’.’’

Green says a lot of companies mistakenly believe career development carries a hefty cost from sending staff on training courses, but that is not necessarily the case.

‘‘The number one thing an employee looks for is a manager who shares their expertise and experience. That costs the company nothing, yet many managers guard that expertise because they don’t want somebody taking over their job.’’

Cross-training on a variety of positions is another way to upskill staff, and it also means small businesses have someone to step in if another employee falls ill.

Green says recognising and rewarding high achievers is vital because it gives others an incentive to follow their example, but there must also be consequences for those doing a bad job.

The survey also revealed 40 per cent of workers did not trust the businesses that employed them because they were not transparent and honest about future plans and reasons for change.

Business

en-nz

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281900186494347

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