The Conference Board reported that between 1987 and 2009 four key indicators of job satisfaction declined dramatically; (a) interest in their work, down 18.9 percent; (b) job security, down 16.5 percent; (c) Interest in co-workers, down 11.6 percent; and (d) Satisfaction with their supervisors, down 9.5 percent. (Reported in HR Magazine, February 2010, p. 13.). I would point out that in 2009 a substantial number of employees were paying more for their health insurance, if they even had insurance.

1. Using the Internet, search for at least three current research articles or reports on "what employees want from their jobs" or the "current state of employee morale."
2. Why do the perceptions of employees vary?
3. Briefly identify the factors that account for the differences.
4. Assume that you are Bob Felker, the Subway Systems, area supervisor. What three tips would you give each of your seven site managers to help their associates be even better at what they do?

Section Two: Nedra "the Negativist"

Read the following statement from Fred Roberts, operations supervisor at Barry Automotive's Dublin plant:

The most challenging person I work with is Nedra. She has so many redeeming features. For one, she is a workaholic and has a passion for quality work. But she is a pessimist and sees only the worst in every situation. Recently, there was a quality discrepancy reported by a customer, and we were asked to solve the problem. As a member of the quality-improvement team, instead of working with us to figure out ways to improve the production process, Nedra claimed the production operators do not know how to use their brains to do the work right. In a whining and complaining tone, I can still hear her say, "It's such a simple procedure, and we have to deal with their inability to read the spec sheets. It's just not right! Those people in personnel can never find us any good employees".

Everyone is fair game for Nedra's complaints. About a month ago, the company experienced a major machine down-time due to a mechanical failure. I can hear Nedra now: "It's either the lousy people, the old equipment, or the incompetent maintenance supervisor." She stores mistakes from the past and can't let go of them. For example, two years ago Lee Kim, a good employee in the maintenance department, made a serious setup error that resulted in over $50,000 of product being run with the wrong specs. We ended up with two bins of scrap. Lots of people could have caught the mistake in a timely fashion, but no one did. Kim was suspended without pay for two weeks, and we used the mistake to illustrate why we need to follow our in-process controls. But Nedra won't let up. It's been over two years, and she is still obsessed with "Kim's mistake."

I've tried to deal with Nedra by developing a positive attitude and smiling. But that doesn't seem to work. Nedra's negativity is destroying the team's spirit.

Yesterday was the last straw. Three months ago I was chosen to head a project team to develop a new database to improve our customer tracking. Initially, Nedra suggested that we strive for the "optimal" solution rather than a "satisficing" one.

The team worked diligently despite Nedra's negativity. I did everything I knew to try to et her off the bench and into the game. She was not open to any of our ideas and was unwilling to make any suggestions of her own. Her only contribution was to develop the worst-case scenarios of every suggestion we came up with. I made some notes on the words Nedra used during the past week in team meeting: "We can't do it!" Our people aren't intelligent enough to do anything that sophisticated." The machines will break down." "It's not possible." "We don't have enough money to do the job right." I came very close to losing it.

I've never known anyone with such a bad outlook on life. Nowhere in my college or professional training did I have anything to prepare me for this. What should I do?

1. Using the internet, find at least three sources for how to work with negative people. Carefully review each site for suggestions on how to cope with this type of behavior and write your research findings.
2. Based on the findings, make a list of the three best options for Fred Roberts.