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Psychological letter
April, 1997
Sociologists
refer to a period of economic prosperity and occupational commitment
among workers that began between the end of World War II and the end
of Korean Conflict.
This
period of vocational investment created a perception of careers,
employment and the nature of the workforce that maintained an idealism
and work ethic within America that spanned >20 years.
This idealism implied to the American worker that:
-
the
employee was seen by the employer as a family member
-
the
employer could financially afford, and would, protect the
employee's job despite any economic downturns
-
the
employer would maintain ownership, display pride of ownership of
the company, and that sale of the company was improbable if not
inconceivable
-
employee's
retirement benefits were unassailable and assured
-
the
employee's health and safety would be a primary concern for which
the employer accepted complete responsibility
From
that idealism of American business and industry arose the workers'
concepts of what truly constituted work. It also defined notions
of financial expectancy, concepts of entitlement, investment in
employer trust, reassurance of job longevity and ultimately job
contentment.
The
Intrusion of Reality
The
period of idealism eroded when acquisitions and mergers of companies
became commonplace, when economic competition from abroad created
seemingly irrevocable downtrends in the financial structure of
businesses, and where downsizing became the buzzword even for
employees who were within few short years of retirement.
Jobs
held for decades were made obsolete by new technologies, competition
for fewer jobs demanded more from existing employees, and buyouts,
early retirement and late-life unemployment became commonplace.
The employer was no longer seen as a source of comfort and nurturance
but a distant, aloof, off-times threatening, and seemingly detached,
entity.
Business
as Usual
Illness
and injury among employees was no longer managed informally.
Management of personal illness and work-related injury was assigned to
specific process and protocol both in reporting and in treatment.
The employee had now limited selection from confined panels of
healthcare providers, and the providers participating in that managed
care marketplace now had less time with patients and less continuity
of care with the same patients.
Impact
Upon Disability
The
willingness to return work following an illness and injury, the
capacity to endure residual symptoms and complaints, and the tolerance
of discomfort and/or limitations, cannot be explained solely in terms
of the workers' objective physical findings.
While
we accept that drive, ambition and determination influence the prowess
and success of athletes, we are less likely to examine the impact of
motivational factors upon the speed of recovery and the workers'
perception that rapid mobilization is something currently praised and
rewarded.
Motivational
factors including the emotional urgency to return to work, the need
for achievement, the sense of commitment to the job, wane when the
worker feels that the nature of the job has changed. The factors that
impact the rapidity of return to work also include:
-
the
aftermath of illness and injury (how employer and coworkers
responded)
-
the
nature of the job to which the worker must return (whether it is
in a state of transition)
the current constituency and anticipated change in
ownership/management of the business
-
what
the employee perceives will be ultimately the gains accrued from
returning to this employer
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