Here’s a to-do list to reconnect with your job

Time for a reality check, people.

At work, many of you are not happy campers.

The latest surveys from the Conference Board and the Hudson Highland Group show sinking morale among American workers.

You feel pressured to produce more. Only one in three of you think you’re paid fairly, and most are increasingly critical of your employers’ bonus plans (if they still exist), promotion policies, health plans and retirement programs.

Overall, just half of Americans are happy with their jobs, a 9 percent drop from 1995, the Conference Board found.

And when it comes to the future, your confidence is pretty well shot. Last month, the Hudson Highland’s employee confidence index fell to its lowest point in 12 months. That means you are more worried than a year ago about losing your job, your personal finances and overall job security.

One in three of you feel chronically overworked, according to the Families and Work Institute’s survey of more than 1,000 workers. While this finding remains static from the last survey in 2001, the survey found that baby boomers were more likely to feel stressed, while younger workers did a better job of balancing their jobs with life outside work.

The survey found that 54 percent had felt overwhelmed at work in the previous month. “Ironically, the very same skills that are essential to survival and success in this fast-paced global economy, such as multitasking, have also become the triggers for feeling overworked,” said Ellen Galinsky, president of Families and Work Institute.

“Being interrupted frequently during work time and working during non-work times, such as while on vacation, are also contributing factors for feeling overworked.”

We could go on and on with this litany of depressing news, but let’s call a timeout.

The question arises: What can be done to reverse these findings?

For those of you who love your job, love your boss, love what you’re doing and think you are spending just enough time at work, do nothing but continue to enjoy life.

For those nodding your head in agreement to the findings above, don’t wait for your employer to finally see the light and make needed improvements. If you’re feeling overworked, underpaid and poorly treated, it’s time for you to take action to improve your lot at work.

Here are some suggestions:

* Strip your job down to the bare essentials. Write a job description. Then track how you spend time accomplishing that job. Pinpoint areas that are not primarily essential to what you are expected to accomplish. If you find you’re wasting time in too many unproductive meetings, find ways to get out of them. Work harder at accomplishing your essential goals. Leave the garbage for others.

* Balance your job with your life outside work. If your employer is slow to allow more flexible work arrangements and is pushing people to add face time at work, push back a little. As long as you continue to at least meet expectations, ask for more flexibility and leave work after working a full day.

* If you deserve it, get more pay. Measure your production and then make a case for getting a raise as your numbers rise. In this economic environment, you will have turned gray by the time your employer voluntarily offers a raise.

* Take full advantage of employee benefits. If young, begin contributing to the company’s 401(k) now; don’t wait for the government to hand you a bundle of money to invest in a personal Social Security account. If given vacation, take it – all of it. When you go on vacation, leave your laptop at work and shut off your e-mail. If health care costs are an issue, get a flexible health care spending account and use it wisely.

* Get on board with your boss. If you haven’t already, ask your boss to set aside specific times to clarify expectations and measure how you’re meeting them. Don’t wait for an annual review. If your job changes, immediately determine if you have sufficient resources and training to succeed. If your responsibility increases, so should your pay.

If you can’t make this work and you still feel miserable, perhaps it’s time for your own reality check – and a new job.

Write Eric Zoeckler at The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206 or e-mail mrscribe@aol.com.