The receptionist behind the glassed enclosure doesn’t even turn around to look at the resident standing on the other side.  She knows who it is.  It’s Joe.  He’s lonely and comes to the office every Tuesday for a little conversation and company.  He makes her life miserable.  She wishes he would just go away.

The lawn maintenance worker has only been there a couple of months.  Betty, one of the friendly, gregarious residents waves and speaks to him every week.  He never looks up.  She wonders why he’s so miserable.

Sal, the owner of a large, successful management company, can’t wait to retire.  He is so sick and tired of putting up with people -- employees that don’t work, complaining residents, and vendors who don’t show up.  He’s just miserable.

What makes these people so unhappy?  Why are they miserable?  What makes them get up every morning?  Why should anyone who has a good job be miserable?

Patrick Lencioni, author of Three Signs of a Miserable Job, says the statistics are staggering for how many Americans are unhappy at work.  Polls show it to be true.  Observation proves it to be true.  Just notice the sad faces, slumped shoulders, lifeless eyes, and heavy sighs of the workers serving you at the local hardware store or restaurant.  Watch your own employees as they go about their duties in your community.  With little effort, you’ll be able to tell if they got up this morning with the attitude “I get to go to work,” or “I have to go to work.”

Look at the statistics:

With these statistics, you could safely presume you have some unhappy employees.  Maybe you are one of them.

Mr. Lencioni identifies three factors that will make anyone miserable in their job no matter how glamorous, influential, or lucrative it is.  The three killer factors cited by Mr. Lencioni are anonymity, irrelevance, and immeasurement.

Anonymity
Employees who aren’t known and individually appreciated by their managers will not be fulfilled on their jobs.  It’s hard to separate the personal-you (your interests, talents, and passions) from the employee-you.  When managers take even the slightest personal interest in their employees as people, it reduces job misery.

Irrelevance
Employees who don’t know how their work impacts the lives of others will not be fulfilled in their jobs.  They have to know their work makes a difference in someone else’s life.  Once they know “how” their job makes a difference and for “whom” then it becomes measurable.   Irrelevance is directly related to immeasurement.  When managers help their employees identify the difference their work makes in someone else’s life, it reduces job misery.

Immeasurement
Employees who can’t measure the relevance of their work and its impact on someone else’s life will not be fulfilled in their jobs.  They need objective evidence that tells them they made a difference for someone today. Even exciting jobs get old when there is no way of measuring progress.  This measurement must be on a daily or weekly basis, it can’t wait until the year-end financials. It must be something over which they have control.  When managers help employees assess or measure their contribution or performance, it reduces job misery.

Terri Kabachnick, CEO of The Kabachnick Group, author of I Quit But Forgot to Tell You, The Disengaged Worker, puts it another way.  She found mental absence to be the first sign of job misery.  Some symptoms she says are increased absenteeism, disinterest, little initiative, longer lunches and breaks, and less communication.  As mental absence grows, managers will notice depression, missed deadlines, anger, and no talk of the future.  Some of the culprits, she says, are:

• No recognition

• Lack of pride in the job

• Little or no control over work patterns

These are similar to the three factors identified by Mr. Lencioni, and can be applied to your administrative assistant.  Her responsibilities include scheduling appointments, communicating with residents, other employees, vendors, and you.  She spends much of her energy protecting you and your time.  Her gatekeeper duties have left her feeling underappreciated.  Saying “no” to so many people makes her feel bad and leaves her miserable.  She has already figured out there is no career path for her in a community association unless she wants to become a licensed manager and manage her own community.

Anonymity or no recognition is probably not a huge problem for her because everyone knows her.  But she doesn’t believe you know her or want to know anything about her outside of work.  You could help in this area by asking her about her weekend.  Do you know what she does for fun?  You don’t have to be invasive or fake.  Just be empathetic and curious.

Irrelevance or lack of pride in her job could be a problem.  She needs to know how much you value the fact that she protects you and brings order to your life.  Tell her how much you appreciate her putting out fires so you can concentrate on other important but less urgent matters.  With budget workshops coming up, you need the time she saves you to renegotiate contracts with attorneys, accountants, and lawn maintenance companies, not to mention obtain estimates for rising insurance premiums and heating fuel costs.

Immeasurement or little or no control over work patterns could be a source of job misery.  She needs to be able to measure the relevance of what she does for you.  How much time can she save for you so you can plan, go to meetings, return telephone calls, do research, or take a vacation?  How much time can she save you by strategically piggybacking your appointments out of the office so it is the most efficient use of your time and gasoline?

To put all this into practice, ask yourself these questions.

• Do I really know my people?  Their interests?  Personal goals?  What they do in their spare time?

• Do they know who their work impacts and how?

• Do they know how to assess their own progress or success on a daily or weekly basis?

Apply the cure.  Beat the curse of job misery.  Help your employees be known, understand their worth to you and the community they serve, and know they have had a successful day at work.