For further information: Frank Tortorici, (212) 339-0231, [email protected]
For Immediate Release Release #4438A
JUST IN TIME FOR LABOR DAY, THE CONFERENCE BOARD
MAGAZINE EXAMINES LOVING AND HATING YOUR JOB
While many Americans hate their jobs and are badly in need of career consulting, an almost equal number of individuals eagerly look forward to going to work every day, according to an article in Across The Board, The Conference Board magazine.
The article presents a two-pronged view of American attitudes toward work.
Bob Rosner, author of Working Wounded: Advice That Adds Insight to Injury (Warner), profiles people who are convinced their work and/or their bosses cause their daily pain. Rosner obtained fodder for these portrayals from his nationally-syndicated "Working Wounded" column and from his Website at www.working wounded.com. He claims the majority of Americans are miserable at their jobs and offers tactical strategies to alleviate their anguish.
"For far too many people, the workplace is a miserable experience," Rosner says. "Work doesn't seem to be working for the majority of people, and there are plenty of good reasons to be miserable. . . I think of myself as a kind of 'Ed Sullivan Show' for working people: Every time I encounter a tough problem, I try to bring 'on stage' the best resource to address the situation. Then I provide the best answer with my own attitude and style."
Holding an opposite view is Martha Finney, co-author (with Deborah Dasch) of Find Your Calling, Love Your Life: Paths To Your Truest Self in Life and Work (Simon & Schuster). She finds that most Americans feel energized and productive at work. Finney, whose Website is at www.heartlandatwork.com, traces the lives of an organic herb gardener, a police officer, and others who feel truly "called" to their jobs. Finney was motivated to conduct her research watching the dedicated rescue workers who aided victims of the Oklahoma City bombing.
"There's a societal myth that work is hell," Finney says. "But happy workers really use their imaginations and keep an open mind about what they could be doing." She implies that the key to happiness in one's professional life is to be willing to search for occupations that are pleasing to you, rather than to sit around waiting for a savior to make your situation better.
The Across The Board article, "From Working Wounded to Working Joyfully," is by Tom Brown, who publishes the Management General online newsletter. Brown gives both Rosner and Finney the opportunity to explain their research and to offer views about today's laborers and the places in which they work.
Brown says: "The combined result of (the two books) is a much sharper picture of what makes people love or hate their work. There are key lessons for managing people in the future in the research of both writers."
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Source: "From Working Wounded to Working Joyfully" September 1998 Across The Board The Conference Board
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