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From the article: "Surprisingly, the study indicates that a heavy workload has no effect on whether or not employees become depressed. Instead, it is the work

by tareqak 13y ago

From the article: "Surprisingly, the study indicates that a heavy workload has no effect on whether or not employees become depressed. Instead, it is the work environment and the feeling of being treated unfairly by the management that has the greatest effect on an employee’s mood." I guess there are many ways to improve the work environment (and many ways not to), but how do you improve fairness. Isn't it too late the moment you recognize unfairness?

vladimirralev 13y ago
I am repeating myself a lot saying this, but it's about respect. As manager you take an implied responsibility to be fair, nobody is going to tell you what to do, it's on you. If you recognize unfairness you go ahead and take responsibility, take the losses and compensate the victim. Unfairness is not hard to detect. Just put yourself in the other person's shoes and see if you would like to be treated this way. Corporate and business ethics are well established with tons of case studies and guidelines, mostly common sense. If only there was somebody to read them.
- walshemj 13y ago
  And if the company institutes stack ranking or corruptly fiddles the APR process and tells all the mangers to go along with it or else - what then.
- Iftheshoefits 13y ago
  That's all fine and dandy if the manager is actually fair-minded. If he's more interested in playing politics and executing vendettas then he's part of the problem. And I've found the latter holds true more often than not.
johnminter 13y ago
I think it is about a boss showing respect for his/her employees, active listening to and consideration for their ideas, and valuing their work. Saying "thank you" goes a long way and costs nothing. Occasionally stopping in the workplace and showing interest in the work helps. They used to call this "management by walking around." Showing value of the group's success at the expense of their own short term gain is a major plus. Let me illustrate with an example from the best Division director I ever had. He came to us from NIST and valued analytical work, which made him a perfect fit for our materials characterization division. On numerous occasions when we would raise concerns over decisions our client divisions made that we felt hurt the company. He would go (or go with us) to have uncomfortable discussions with clients. On three occasions he made decisions that that adversely affected me and each time I went to him, he listened to my case and changed his decision. He was not afraid to say "no" if one couldn't build a case. The all time winner came when we needed to buy an expensive piece of equipment. At the time, capital would frequently become available near the end of the year because other divisions overestimated their needs. We then had the opportunity to purchase the instrument. This was the first year when management bonuses were tied to budget performance. Signing the order meant forfeiting his bonus. He signed it. That showed me that he valued long term organizational well being over his own short term profit. He made his share of questionable decisions - as all human beings do, but always retained my respect and loyalty.
JulianMorrison 13y ago
I suspect that what they call unfairness, I'd call abusive behaviour. Unreasonable, unpredictable, unapproachable, blaming, personalizing, forcing agreement and then holding you ransom to what you agreed, applying a double standard to their own advantage, ignoring, controlling, and snooping.
- joshlegs 13y ago
  You get 10 points for describing my last managing editor. he was the most incompetent worker i've ever met. The news editor was second most.
HarryHirsch 13y ago
And this, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why HR is so hot on a positive outlook on life in candidates. Cynicism leads to burnout, burnout leads to turnover, turnover leads to lost profits, and lost profits means suffering. The cult of cheerful actually has a purpose. No need to improve working conditions when you can choose those candidates from the pool that will put up with the workplace as it is. Improving conditions is more difficult - it's the supervisors that set the tone, and changing entrenched habits is a hard task.
- skylan_q 13y ago
  No need to improve working conditions when you can choose those candidates from the pool that will put up with the workplace as it is. This is why HR is evil.
  - awakeasleep 13y ago
    Now now. HR is the externalized evil of the corporate system. Inefficient laws and the decisions of executives are the substance behind the mask.
fit2rule 13y ago
How do you improve fairness in the workplace? You give people more responsibility. You give them more control over their workplace, somehow. And, most important of all - you listen.
- greenyoda 13y ago
  Unfortunately, it's very common to give someone more responsibility without giving them more control, and that can make the person's life much worse than it was before. For example, if you make me a project leader and give me responsibility for the output of an entire team but you don't give me hire/fire authority or a budget to buy the equipment I need, then the only way I can ensure that we make our deadlines is to work ridiculous hours to tie up everyone else's loose ends.
  - fit2rule 13y ago
    True that, competent management requires attention to the balance of these components in a way that makes people both productive, and happy to be doing their jobs.
scrabble 13y ago
For me the unfairness that matters is how much I'm being paid. If I'm making significantly less than others who produce the same amount and quality of output that I do, or making less by people who produce less, then I raise it as a point with management. If nothing is changed when review time rolls around then it's on me to take action and look for another job. If I decide to stay somewhere that I'm unhappy, that's on me too. As an adult, I'm not going to stand around and whine about unfair conditions. If I perceive a problem, I create a change in my life.
- HarryHirsch 13y ago
  As an adult, I'm not going to stand around and whine about unfair conditions. If I perceive a problem, I create a change in my life. Last time I checked the recession was still ongoing, and the latest labour survey showed voluntary separations still to be uncommonly low. I'm aware that computing is quite shielded, but the Danish study isn't about you. It includes everyone else, too, and most are in a worse position.
- w0rd-driven 13y ago
  I have a problem with this too. People being paid more in most positions I've been aware of play what seems a confidence lottery. Its not that they're better skilled, they're just better negotiators. What should differentiate a group of developers with the same job title of say Agile Developer, where there is no junior-mid-senior? A set base pay with bonuses based on performance, or the wild west where 50 yr old Bob who is stuck in 80s programming practices makes more than 24 yr old Jack makes considerably less yet has to be corrected much less? It's disheartening as hell to realize the person who brings almost no value makes x-5k where x is your salary, with no bonus structure. Developer culture is stupid hard to convince to non developers. In our world, a meritocracy is highly favored. Based on talent not negotiating skills from talentless hacks.

by tareqak 13y ago

vladimirralev 13y ago

I am repeating myself a lot saying this, but it's about respect. As manager you take an implied responsibility to be fair, nobody is going to tell you what to do, it's on you. If you recognize unfairness you go ahead and take responsibility, take the losses and compensate the victim. Unfairness is not hard to detect. Just put yourself in the other person's shoes and see if you would like to be treated this way. Corporate and business ethics are well established with tons of case studies and guidelines, mostly common sense. If only there was somebody to read them.

walshemj 13y ago
And if the company institutes stack ranking or corruptly fiddles the APR process and tells all the mangers to go along with it or else - what then.
Iftheshoefits 13y ago
That's all fine and dandy if the manager is actually fair-minded. If he's more interested in playing politics and executing vendettas then he's part of the problem. And I've found the latter holds true more often than not.

johnminter 13y ago

I think it is about a boss showing respect for his/her employees, active listening to and consideration for their ideas, and valuing their work. Saying "thank you" goes a long way and costs nothing. Occasionally stopping in the workplace and showing interest in the work helps. They used to call this "management by walking around." Showing value of the group's success at the expense of their own short term gain is a major plus. Let me illustrate with an example from the best Division director I ever had. He came to us from NIST and valued analytical work, which made him a perfect fit for our materials characterization division. On numerous occasions when we would raise concerns over decisions our client divisions made that we felt hurt the company. He would go (or go with us) to have uncomfortable discussions with clients. On three occasions he made decisions that that adversely affected me and each time I went to him, he listened to my case and changed his decision. He was not afraid to say "no" if one couldn't build a case. The all time winner came when we needed to buy an expensive piece of equipment. At the time, capital would frequently become available near the end of the year because other divisions overestimated their needs. We then had the opportunity to purchase the instrument. This was the first year when management bonuses were tied to budget performance. Signing the order meant forfeiting his bonus. He signed it. That showed me that he valued long term organizational well being over his own short term profit. He made his share of questionable decisions - as all human beings do, but always retained my respect and loyalty.

JulianMorrison 13y ago

I suspect that what they call unfairness, I'd call abusive behaviour. Unreasonable, unpredictable, unapproachable, blaming, personalizing, forcing agreement and then holding you ransom to what you agreed, applying a double standard to their own advantage, ignoring, controlling, and snooping.

joshlegs 13y ago
You get 10 points for describing my last managing editor. he was the most incompetent worker i've ever met. The news editor was second most.

HarryHirsch 13y ago

And this, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why HR is so hot on a positive outlook on life in candidates. Cynicism leads to burnout, burnout leads to turnover, turnover leads to lost profits, and lost profits means suffering. The cult of cheerful actually has a purpose. No need to improve working conditions when you can choose those candidates from the pool that will put up with the workplace as it is. Improving conditions is more difficult - it's the supervisors that set the tone, and changing entrenched habits is a hard task.

skylan_q 13y ago
No need to improve working conditions when you can choose those candidates from the pool that will put up with the workplace as it is. This is why HR is evil.
- awakeasleep 13y ago
  Now now. HR is the externalized evil of the corporate system. Inefficient laws and the decisions of executives are the substance behind the mask.

fit2rule 13y ago

How do you improve fairness in the workplace? You give people more responsibility. You give them more control over their workplace, somehow. And, most important of all - you listen.

greenyoda 13y ago
Unfortunately, it's very common to give someone more responsibility without giving them more control, and that can make the person's life much worse than it was before. For example, if you make me a project leader and give me responsibility for the output of an entire team but you don't give me hire/fire authority or a budget to buy the equipment I need, then the only way I can ensure that we make our deadlines is to work ridiculous hours to tie up everyone else's loose ends.
- fit2rule 13y ago
  True that, competent management requires attention to the balance of these components in a way that makes people both productive, and happy to be doing their jobs.

scrabble 13y ago

For me the unfairness that matters is how much I'm being paid. If I'm making significantly less than others who produce the same amount and quality of output that I do, or making less by people who produce less, then I raise it as a point with management. If nothing is changed when review time rolls around then it's on me to take action and look for another job. If I decide to stay somewhere that I'm unhappy, that's on me too. As an adult, I'm not going to stand around and whine about unfair conditions. If I perceive a problem, I create a change in my life.

HarryHirsch 13y ago
As an adult, I'm not going to stand around and whine about unfair conditions. If I perceive a problem, I create a change in my life. Last time I checked the recession was still ongoing, and the latest labour survey showed voluntary separations still to be uncommonly low. I'm aware that computing is quite shielded, but the Danish study isn't about you. It includes everyone else, too, and most are in a worse position.
w0rd-driven 13y ago
I have a problem with this too. People being paid more in most positions I've been aware of play what seems a confidence lottery. Its not that they're better skilled, they're just better negotiators. What should differentiate a group of developers with the same job title of say Agile Developer, where there is no junior-mid-senior? A set base pay with bonuses based on performance, or the wild west where 50 yr old Bob who is stuck in 80s programming practices makes more than 24 yr old Jack makes considerably less yet has to be corrected much less? It's disheartening as hell to realize the person who brings almost no value makes x-5k where x is your salary, with no bonus structure. Developer culture is stupid hard to convince to non developers. In our world, a meritocracy is highly favored. Based on talent not negotiating skills from talentless hacks.