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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, December 15, 2003

Work benefits shrink while economy grows

By Anita Bruzzese
Gannett News Service

When the government issued statistics last month showing that American productivity was higher than it had been for the past decade, the typical worker might have thought more perks on the job would follow.

After all, if companies are producing more than ever before, and the economy is showing signs of strengthening, why wouldn't the employees of this country see some benefit?

In one word: Fuhgeddaboutit.

According to the people who track the pulse of employers, things aren't necessarily going to be better on the job in the coming year. The Society for Human Resource Management found in its benefits survey that the number of companies offering casual dress, sports team sponsorships, cafeteria services, concierge services and other perks are dropping.

They're not huge declines, but enough to signal to the American worker that top brass may have other things in mind in the coming year besides the happiness and well-being of employees.

Also, Americans average about 12 days of paid vacation a year, which many never even use, compared with the average paid holiday of 37 days for Italians and 25 days in the United Kingdom, and news of cutting a flextime program may get on the American worker's last nerve.

It's enough to make workplace experts such as Beverly Kaye heave a disgusted sigh.

"For heaven's sake," Kaye says. "Is no one looking at the flip side of this? Like the fact that taking away health club memberships means employees won't be as physically fit, and therefore they will get sick and won't come to work?"

Kaye is author of the wildly successful book "Love 'Em or Lose 'Em," which sounded the drum that employers had to treat valuable workers better or they'd walk out the door and take all their intellectual capital with them. Despite research quoted in the book by Kaye and co-author Sharon Jordan-Evans showing how critical it is that valuable employees be treated well, it appears some managers aren't listening anymore.

Kaye says the storm clouds are gathering. "We're calling it the 'perfect storm,' " she says. "Every single survey says workers aren't happy, and all those arrogant, short-sighted human resource managers are out there taking away benefits. They are going to pay, believe me."

Kaye says the time is coming when the economy and job market will improve enough so that those employees who are fed up with poor treatment at work will walk out the door. "If you've got nothing to hold people to you besides a paycheck, then they're going to leave. And, man, as the economy gets better, you're going to need them."

She says that while many managers may pooh-pooh the impact of taking away things like health club memberships, the typical worker isn't going to take such news lightly. "It's something concrete that a person can look at and see how it says a lot about the culture of a company and how it treats its people, and how much they are valued," Kaye says.

That's why a new book by Kaye may offer some insight into employees weighing the decision of whether to stay or leave. "Love It, Don't Leave It" (Berrett-Koehler, $17.95) offers 26 tips on how employees can get what they want from work, be more satisfied with a job and achieve career goals.

"Employees are being more savvy," Kaye says. "As the economy rebounds, they're going to be looking at employers who are always taking away and never giving back any nourishment. They may consider that it's just too much, and walk out."