by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

A majority of small business workers love their jobs, according to a recent survey. iContact, a company that provides email and survey services for small businesses, reached out to 1,124 men and women employed by small companies and found that 75% said they would rate their jobs an 8, 9, or 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. Less than 3% rated their job a 3 or below.

Compare those numbers to general job satisfaction survey results, which say that upwards of 50% of workers are actively dissatisfied at work.

What’s so great about working for a small business? While researching my book, I talked to several people who left the corporate ladder to take on roles at small companies and start-ups. Most were attracted by the opportunity to play a more active role in building a business they believed in. Many also cited fringe benefits like greater work/life balance, freedom from bureaucracy, and better relationships with managers and co-workers.

Most importantly, all of the people that I spoke with were having a blast. They were passionate about their work. Of course, it didn’t hurt that many of them worked at cool companies like Kidrobot and Word World.

Working for a small company certainly isn’t for everyone. Salaries tend to be lower than those offered in Corporate America, though small companies often try to compensate with ownership stakes and other benefits. Small companies also offer less structure and support. There aren’t a lot of extra budget dollars for administrative support, company cars, and team-building retreats.

And there are plenty of mismanaged and misconceived small companies out there, so it’s important to do your due diligence. During the dot com bust, many of us learned firsthand what can happen when incompetent and/or clinically insane CEOs get millions in venture capital to throw around.

What do you think? Would you rather work for a start-up or a big corporation? Why do more small business employees love their jobs?

Popularity: 7%

by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

A new study from the UK found that chronically stressed female workers were 73% more likely to become obese than their coworkers — even with similar eating and exercise habits.

The study authors, as quoted in Glamour magazine, explained that this could be because long-term stress increases your levels of cortisol, a hormone that can encourage storage of fat in the gut area. I guess that’s a big part of why bare midriffs are against the dress code in your office.

Apparently, staying in a job that you hate can cause you to pack on the pounds even if you manage to eat right. And we all know that stressful jobs make it much harder to squeeze in trips to the gym and time for planning and preparing healthy meals. Now, it seems that the stress itself can lead to weight gain. Still no word on whether stress about the weight gain will lead to additional weight gain.

If you’re feeling the effects of corporate corpulence, it may be time to start shopping around for a less stressful job. At the very least, make a little time for relaxation and exercise in your schedule this week. And if anybody makes a crack about your spare tire, just blame it on your boss.

Popularity: 7%

by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

When office life is getting you down, block out your boss’s yammering and the tortured noises from the next cubicle with the sweet sounds from your iPod. Here are some song picks to add to your rotation.

Songs for Wallowing in Your Misery

Songs for Daydreaming About Leaving

Popularity: 9%

by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

Thanks to the US housing slump, we’ve seen 87,962 job cuts in the financial services sector so far this year. According to consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, that’s 75% more job cuts than the sector reported in all of 2006. In the last week alone, more than 8,600 mortgage-related job cuts were announced.

This depressing news is just another reminder that mass layoffs are now business as usual. That doesn’t make it any easier for those who received their walking papers. Speaking as someone who has been through plenty of downsizings, my sympathies go out to those who lost their jobs.

Once the shock has passed and the severance checks have cleared, though, things will start to look a little brighter. Just think of all of the B.S. work projects that they will never have to worry about again.

Getting laid off sucks, but it’s not the end of the world. Everybody that I know has been laid off at least once and most of them went on to find jobs that they liked better than their old ones. Sometimes it takes a layoff to motivate someone to make a move to a more fulfilling career or a better company.

Popularity: 5%

by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

As part of my research for my upcoming book, I conducted an unscientific online survey regarding employees’ attitudes toward working in Corporate America today. So far, 140 people have filled out the survey (in addition to the 70+ people that I have interviewed one on one) and the results have been very interesting. Just to give you a taste of the big picture…

What are the best things about working in Corporate America?

• Salary — 70.2%

• Health insurance — 64.9%

• Sense of job stability — 29.8%

What are the worst things about working in Corporate America?

• Too much bureaucracy and/or office politics — 53.1%

• Difficult and/or incompetent bosses and/or coworkers — 42.3%

• Lack of work/life balance — 40.8%

The top 3 "best thing" answers don’t surprise me, though it is a shame that things like "interesting work" and "meaningful work" didn’t make much of a showing. Then again, we all have to put food on the table and most of us didn’t get into corporate work for the thrills.

In terms of the "worst things," I think it’s pretty interesting that bureaucracy and annoying bosses/coworkers seem to bug people more than seemingly more serious issues like overwork and lack of work/life balance. I think a lot of people underestimate how frustrating a bureaucratic environment can be. Bureaucracy can seem funny and harmless in Dilbert cartoons, but it can also slowly but surely drive you insane in real life. I’ve actually been conducting a lot of research on bureaucracy and its insidious effect on corporate innovation and culture (this research is actually a lot more interesting than it probably sounds).

I will post more results from the survey in the future — including some interesting job satisfaction stats and info about those who escaped from Corporate America and why/how they went about it. In the meantime, if you’re interested in voicing your opinions on corporate life, you can still check out the Escape from Corporate America survey.

Popularity: 7%

by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

A recent survey of executives found that many corporate managers are still clinging to the outmoded idea that the employees who put in the most face time are the ones that should be promoted. 78% of managers agreed that those working remotely were just as productive as other employees (if not more so), but 61% said that telecommuters were less likely to advance in their careers than those working in a traditional office setting. Read more about the survey.

Are older managers just having a hard time letting go of the old rule book or is there a legitimate reason that telecommuters don’t get the respect they deserve? Maybe it’s that horrible name, telecommuters. It’s a term that sounds like it was coined by futurists in the early 1980s. Maybe it’s just me.

So why is face time still so important in the corporate world? For old-school executives, managing telecommuters can be a challenge. Micromanagers probably hate the idea of telecommuting on principle. When managing telecommuters, there is more pressure on the boss to hire the right people and be clear about job responsibilities and expectations. If you want telecommuters to be productive, you have to actually manage effectively. Radical concept.

As telecommuting becomes more and more common, executives will have to step up and get comfortable with different management styles. Interestingly, 48% of the executives that responded to the survey said that they would personally consider taking a job that involved telecommuting on a regular basis.

Of course, there is also something to be said for the "out of sight, out of mind" concept. It’s easier to form real bonds with people that you actually see face-to-face on a regular basis. Telecommuters that want to be promoted need to understand that and compensate for it.

Tips for Telecommuters that Get No Respect

• Try to visit the office on a regular basis and to be there for key meetings and social events.

• When you do stop by the cube farm, make the most out of it. Take the boss to lunch and make a point of visiting colleagues in person. Get as much team bonding out of your limited face time as you can.

• When you’re working remotely, make a point of staying visible through email, IM, and phone. You’ll find plenty of opportunities for virtual team bonding.

• Make sure you promote yourself and your accomplishments so everybody knows that you’re not just sitting around watching paternity tests on daytime TV.

Popularity: 8%

by Pamela Skillings      Send to a friend

Did you know that the average cubicle has been getting smaller? The typical cube has shrunk from a "spacious" 250 square feet in 2000 to 190 square feet today. For years, companies have been trying to pack as many of us in as possible.

The good news is that some firms have realized that tiny gray boxes may not be the best environments for productivity. According to research by office furniture manufacturer Steelcase, cubicles are starting to evolve.

“Stuffing people into little boxes without any reflection of the different tasks or needs they have is over,” says Paul Siebert, director of Workspace Futures at Steelcase. Companies are experimenting with more fluid work spaces to support the different ways that people work. Read more Steelcase research on "The State of the Cubicle."

Popularity: 13%