Why should Managers and Executives pay attention to non-engaged employees and the psychological recession?

What people do is largely determined by how they feel. Too many people are being affected by the widespread Psychological Recession, which is the depressed and anxious feeling that the present is no good and the future will be even more catastrophic. Making it worse, people feel like they're hanging off a limb in a cold wind and no one, not their government or their employer cares. To a large extent, these feelings stem from employees' feelings that they are no longer stakeholders in the companies they work for, with the predictable result that anxiety and stress dominate the workplace and people leave even if their body shows up.

The American Management Association conducted a survey of companies that had reduced payroll, and reported that only 45 percent of those companies had profited from those actions even within the first year. In sharp contrast, the share price of organizations in which employees feel their employer really cares about them, and employees reciprocate with a powerful desire to do their best, are two to three times higher than those of a comparison group and profits are higher by 30 percent. This is really common sense: it’s What goes around comes around, and the Golden Rule, Treat others as you would want to be treated. When we respect and like our boss and feel we’re respected and liked in return, we work harder and smarter. Then, the odds are really good that the company is a success.

In other words, except when red ink is really flowing, which is most of the time, drastic cuts in jobs, benefits, training and pensions are a fool’s game. It is, in fact, cutting off your nose to spite your face. How dumb is that?!

This is just the beginning of an open forum for ideas, thoughts, questions and much more. I hope we'll create a really interesting and worthwhile dialogue with lots of people participating.