The following two articles are for those on this list who are particularly interested in the changing attitudes to work. (The first one concerns the Tesco supermarket chain, the UK equivalent to WalMart.)

For the purposes of my book project, what interests me in these articles is that many employees seem content with what they already have by way of consumer goods but are seeking more flexibility, community and freedom in their lives -- and, significantly, they are seeking these at work, as well as in their leisure time. This has more of the smack of the hunter-gatherer life about it and less to do with consumer-industrial man of the last 150 years, or agricultural man before that.

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RELENTLESS RISE OF THE PLEASURE SEEKERS

Sarah Butcher

What does a company do when it finds out that a large and increasing proportion of its workforce consists of hedonists?

This was the conundrum that faced Tesco, the supermarket chain, after it carried out research into the composition of its workforce. The study showed that Tesco staff were increasingly likely to be single and motivated largely by the urge to fund overseas travel and leisure pursuits. The results also suggested that these so-called "pleasure seekers" were unlikely to take much pride in their work, would lack commitment and would have little hesitation about going to work elsewhere if the pay were better.

Lynda Gratton, associate professor of organisational behaviour at London Business School, details this and other revelations of Tesco's people insight unit in her forthcoming book, The Democratic Enterprise. Tesco realised, Prof Gratton says, that the aspirations of its workforce were changing and that understanding its staff would help it respond to those changes. The source of the supermarket group's insight is simple the supermarket employs the techniques it uses for customer research to help it to understand its own employees.

The exercise dates back to 2000, when an employee survey revealed that 82 per cent of employees felt Tesco was "first for customers", but only 64 per cent felt valued by the company. David Richardson, director of the people insight unit, said the company knew a lot about its customers but much less about the 200,000 people it employed "It's easy for big employers to lose touch with the fact that different types of people have different values and are looking for different things out of work."

In a move reminiscent of Sears, the US department store chain that helped to define the link between customer and employee satisfaction in the mid-1990s, Tesco set about asking its staff what motivated them. Sears surveyed 80,000 employees and reached the conclusion that if it was to be an engaging place to shop, it also needed to be an attractive place to work.

Tesco took the research process one step further as well as looking at employee data, it interviewed the population at large, particularly people from groups it hoped to employ more of in future. These included young graduates, ethnic minorities and non-working mothers. "Pleasure seekers" were not the only expanding category. The company's research also revealed increasing numbers of what it called "work/life balance", and "want it all" types.

"Work/life balance" people were predominantly older women who wanted flexible hours and stimulating work but had little interest in being promoted. "Want it alls" were ambitious young graduates, often working in head office, who wanted a challenging, well paid career plus the freedom to pursue personal interests and family life.

Tesco's findings relate to demographic changes. Carolyn Martin of Rainmaker Thinking, a US company specialising in the effects of population change on the workplace, says Generation Y (born between 1979 and 1994) is the highest-maintenance workforce to date. She says they have high expectations that work will be challenging and creative and that they will have the freedom to work in their own way. In this sense, they are similar to the "want it all" types. Conversely, Tesco found that two traditional employee groups, "live to work" and "work to live" -- comprising workaholic types and female employees looking for a top-up income and the convenience of working close to home -- were likely to wane.

Armed with these insights, Tesco has devised working practices better suited to its eclectic range of employees. Clare Chapman, Tesco's human resources director, says the company offers career breaks of up to eight months, enabling "pleasure seekers" to go off and climb Kilimanjaro, for example. Meanwhile, "work to live" employees can benefit from reductions on family holidays, short breaks, driving lessons and magazine subscriptions. "We haven't introduced specific things for specific groups. It's more a question of being mindful of the needs of all staff instead of catering for one or two types of attitude," Ms Chapman says.

She stresses that the employee groups are not totally separate and represent concepts rather than real people "It's all about attitudes to work. I've never found one person who was entirely one thing. People tend to shift between groups at different stages of their life." A former "pleasure seeker" with a mortgage and school fees to pay could turn into a "live to work" type until financial commitments have been met, at which point they may opt for greater work/life balance.

However, Ms Chapman says that no matter where they sit on the attitude continuum, employees have one thing in common they want interesting, involving jobs. With this in mind, Tesco has being trying to eliminate some of the more mundane tasks, she says. "We're trying to take the routine out of the workplace, and build in more interest." For example, it is already on the way to eliminating the monotonous task of unloading soft drinks thanks to merchandising units that can be wheeled into the supermarket ready for use.

The employee data have been available for three years and Ms Chapman says there are already signs that improved employee understanding is making a difference. Staff satisfaction is up 10 per cent. Tesco's hedonists may be multiplying but at least they seem to be getting happier.

Financial Times; Jul 07, 2003

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AGE OF LOYALTY TO THE COMPANY GIVES WAY TO THE SEARCH FOR A BETTER LIFE

The idea of the job for life may be dead and buried but many employers may be surprised to see just how disengaged many of their staff have become from their employer's goals, according to two reports published today. A third of employees say they begin looking for another job on their first day with a new company, according to Itchy Feet, a survey by the careers consultancy Penna, Sanders & Sidney.

Forty per cent say they do not expect still to be with their current employer in 12 months' time, while just 26 per cent say they do. A company's loyalty to its staff, the report suggests, may also be on the wane 40 per cent of respondents say their employer shows no interest in their careers.

The findings come from more than 1,000 interviews conducted with employees in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh. The second survey, by the brand consultancy Enterprise IG, which questioned 55,000 people, finds that only 29 per cent understand and support their employer's goals. Not surprisingly, this group is much more likely to feel loyal to their employer than the remainder. Peter Bell of Enterprise IG says "Most worryingly, two-thirds of employees are either knowingly or unknowingly sabotaging the organisation's business and its brand and have little or no emotional commitment to it."

Respondents in both surveys were drawn from the private and public sectors, across a range of industries and at all levels of seniority, from junior staff to board level. Asked what they looked for from their employer, 46 per cent of respondents to the Penna survey stressed internal promotion, while better training and development were cited by 41 per cent and 36 per cent sought a greater recognition of their contribution to the company. The relatively simple initiative of regular progress reviews were cited by 27 per cent. High levels of employment have been an important factor in the decline of employee loyalty -- 66 per cent of those asked sympathised with the expression "I feel I am in control of my career", while only 10 per cent disagreed.

"This shows how staff regard themselves as providers of a service to the company rather than adopting the traditional boss/ employee relationship," says Bill McCarthy of Penna. A long hours culture and anxieties over pensions have caused employees to put greater emphasis than ever on what they see as proper financial rewards.

Financial Times; Jul 07, 2003

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