ZigOn Work

One of my favorite quips about work is this: Someone asked a worker how long he had been working for his company and he smilingly responded, "Ever since they threatened to fire me."

Today we read numerous articles about people complaining about the workload. However, USA Today reported in the April 7, 1998, issue that 52% of those who said they had "too much" work to do expressed satisfaction with their jobs. In all fairness, 65% of those who felt their workload was about right expressed satisfaction with their jobs.

However, only 45% of those who felt they had too little or much too little to do expressed satisfaction with their jobs. To me that certainly is an interesting bit of data because the common feeling is that we have many people who want to do as little as they can and yet get paid as much as possible. The latter part is undoubtedly true, but the survey shows that nearly half of workers without enough to do are not satisfied with their jobs. There is a certain amount of dissatisfaction that goes with knowing your time, talent and abilities are not being properly used.

There are very few things as satisfying as being able to say to yourself, "Today was a good day. I did my job and a little extra. I feel good about that and I feel good about myself."

Message: A productive employee who is kept busy working at his or her job is far more likely to be happy at that job and less likely to look for employment elsewhere. That's why it is so important that workers are gainfully employed while they're on the job. Being productive gives people a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that loafing never can.