AT WORK
Productivity, satisfaction go dark with burned-out light bulb

By Andrea Kay
Gannett News Service

Turns out workers aren't all that motivated by posters plastered in the halls that bid them to "Dare to Dream" and "Rise Above the Ordinary." They're just hoping for less lofty rewards — like seeing burned-out light bulbs replaced quickly.

Yes, they still want to be paid fairly and to take pride in their work.

But first, they'd like to be able to see what they're doing, by getting the company to change a light bulb in a timely manner. hey'd like to have a computer to work on in an office where they're not freezing. But getting some of those basic things done can mean wading through a bureaucratic chain of command that dilutes productivity and satisfaction, according to one recent study.

The study, commissioned by newScale, a management software firm, found it takes an average of 3.3 people to change a burned-out light bulb in a large company. One employee who put in a request for a light-bulb change at their company said it took six people six days to have the burned-out bulb fixed. It took someone to verify the outage, someone to put the work order in to order the bulb, someone to order the bulb, someone to receive the order, someone to install the bulb and someone to verify completion of the job.

Respondents also gave what's commonly known as "workplace support services" poor marks when it came to adjusting the temperature, giving computer and network access support, and accommodating employees who move offices.

One man in Columbus, Ohio, who started his new job six months ago is still waiting for his office. For now he's sharing space with another executive. One woman who got a promotion has been waiting only a month for her new office. But she spends hours every day shuffling back and forth to get to meetings in the building where she's supposed to be housed.

One worker from the survey said they sat around reading magazines while waiting three days to get a hard drive replaced. Another employee made three phone calls before anyone showed up. And then "within five minutes 11 people showed up to do a two-person job."

Fifty-five percent of surveyed workers estimate they lose less than one hour a month getting computer, phone, lighting or temperature-control problems fixed. Twenty percent said they lost one to two hours per month tangled in corporate red tape to get things done. Other areas they say companies could improve is in issuing ID badges or access keys and ordering kitchen supplies.

Economists all around us are saying worker productivity is at one of its highest levels. But it doesn't seem to have made its way into the corporate bureaucracy. Perhaps creating a less cumbersome system that involves just one person to change a light bulb would be a good place to start.

Reach Andrea Kay at 133, 2692 Madison Road, Cincinnati, OH 45208, or andrea@andreakay.com. Or see www.andreakay.com.