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&lt;!--StartFragment--&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;&gt;The recession workplace is &quot;broken&quot; and needs somefixing, post-haste.&#160; That&#39;s not really a new hypothesis; these pages haveincluded such sentiments before.&#160;Melanie Haniph, in Advertising Age recently, explicitly diagrammed thesituation as the result of three factors: a damaged &quot;psychologicalcontract&quot; between manager and employee, heightened competition that hasput pressure on the environment, and a lack of engagement by both employers andworkers.&#160; But uncertainty -- how long will this last? What else can we doto pare expenses? How can we tell where we&#39;re going when the landscape isshifting before our eyes? -- is the driver.&#160; This economic cycle is harsher than anything we&#39;ve seen indecades, and it&#39;s putting a definitive stamp on life at the office.&#160;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;&gt;Execs are handed a battle plan and when that is branded afailure by the board or upper level VPs, the battle plan changes track.&#160; That happens all the time, of course,but now it&#39;s happening at a quicker pace, and with a greater degree of coursecorrection.&#160; Real planning goes outthe window.&#160; Some top managers areeither thrown into self-doubt about their abilities, or burn out whileextinguishing a series of operational fires. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;&gt;And perhaps for the first time, upper management is just asexpendable as the underlings.&#160; (Actually, there haven&#39;t been as manyreplacements this year as last -- planned, forced and voluntary CEO turnover islagging that of 2008, when almost 1,500 chief execs moved on, according to ChallengerGray &amp;amp; Christmas.)&#160; And they&#39;recertainly more likely to suffer increased scrutiny and/or public flogging bythe media.&#160; Remember all those discussions about executive bonuses?&#160; A change at the top isn&#39;t just for thoseunlucky souls who sit at the head table at a financial firm; CEOs resigned orwere forced out at companies like DuPont, Tyson Foods and Yahoo! as well(though turnover at this level for financial firms is running at 18%, wellabove the customary 11%).&#160; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;&gt;All this uncertainty has begun to unravel thesocial/organizational structure at companies of all types.&#160; Some places have thrived on the newopenness that these times demand.&#160;At those companies department heads are sharing some details aboutfinances, staffing and goals that were never spoken of before.&#160; Managers are compensating for salarycaps and cuts with small perks.&#160; Inthe interest of efficiency, barriers between the decision makers and workerbees are being broken down, even if the organizations themselves aren&#39;t gettingflatter.&#160;&#160; Any or all of theseactions can be continued once business fortunes improve. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot;&gt;But in the long run, will we use anything we learned fromthe past two years to benefit the team?&#160;It&#39;s not likely; the collective conscious has a short memory and isstubbornly resistant to significant change.&#160; But the managers and companies that do should bounce backquicker (and better) than their &quot;back to the status quo&quot;-mindedcounterparts.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;!--EndFragment--&gt;

Todd Obolsky

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Let’s Break up and Make up

The recession workplace is "broken" and needs some fixing, post-haste.  That's not really a new hypothesis; these pages have included such sentiments before.  Melanie Haniph, in Advertising Age recently, explicitly diagrammed the situation as the result of three factors: a damaged "psychological contract" between manager and employee, heightened competition that has put pressure on the environment, and a lack of engagement by both employers and workers.

The recession workplace is "broken" and needs some fixing, post-haste. That's not really a new hypothesis; these pages have included such sentiments before. Melanie Haniph, in Advertising Age recently, explicitly diagrammed the situation as the result of three factors: a damaged "psychological contract" between manager and employee, heightened competition that has put pressure on the environment, and a lack of engagement by both employers and workers.

Let’s Break up and Make up | Career Advice - Vault

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