Low employee morale in US

As per a survey by online job portal careerbuilder.com the challenges that the employees have come through in tiding over the economic recession last year have taken a toll on workplace morale.

“Workers have navigated increased workloads, longer hours and strained resources during this recession. Some of these challenges have taken their toll on workplace morale,” the survey said.

It also revealed that nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of the employees surveyed, rate their organisation’s current employee morale as low.
The online survey was conducted within the  United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of careerbuilder.com among 2,924 hiring managers and human resource professionals and among 4,285 workers.

It found that two out of every five (or 40 per cent) workers said they have had difficulty staying motivated at work in the last year.
“Low morale levels are an unfortunate side effect of this recession,” CareerBuilder Vice-President (Corporate Marketing) Jason Ferrara said.
Further, one in every four employees do not feel loyal to their current employer, the survey noted.

“Employers are taking measures to help address negative workplace sentiment and motivate their employees. Whether it is through stepping up communication, offering more employee recognition programmes or providing flexible work opportunities, organisations are doing what they can to pro-actively manage low morale,” Ferrara said.

The survey found that nearly two-in-five workers said they felt there was departmental favouritism at work, which also played a part in low morale levels.
When asked which department was given preferential treatment at work, the survey found that sales topped the list with 15 per cent responding in affirmative.
Sales was followed by human resources (11 per cent) and accounting or finance (6 per cent) as departments being given preferential treatment at work.
The survey was conducted between August 20 and September 9, 2009.