As part of its 2007 Work Force Study, Aviation Week in February surveyed readers and users of AVIATION WEEK online products by e-mail to identify what’s most important to them in terms of the workplace and careers. The responses came from workers representing 161 companies and 14 countries.
The survey results were generally optimistic, possibly because just over 40% of those who responded had less than 10 years in the industry. The gap generation – most affected by layoffs in the past decade – represented 27% of the respondents. One-third of the survey respondents were from California, Texas or Washington state. Half were from large manufacturing companies; half from companies with fewer than 1,000 employees.
The generally positive outlook contradicts many of the letters received by editors over the past four to five years, which focused on the fact that people were being assigned excessive work loads due to continuous cost cutting, decisions are delayed and often based only on cost, and innovation is not held in high regard.
Employees responding to our survey portrayed a different picture: they believe they are generally listened to, their ideas are considered, and they have the tools needed to contribute to major efforts.
Respondents did indicate concern that industry leaders may be more committed to financial reports than to long-term innovation and technology. This is troublesome in that the same respondents rank technological/intellectual challenge among their top considerations when it comes to work environment.
Career growth -- the combination of additional academic degrees, leadership education, internal education/development programs and paid/unpaid sabbaticals – claimed 26.8% of the first place votes, placing it on par with technological challenge and compensation.
One trend to watch is how respondents ranked “location” as an employment factor; 11% of respondents say it is their number one consideration. This contrasts with prior years when location didn’t make the list of top 10 job consideration issues. Two factors play into this. Over the past 10-15 years, companies have dramatically changed relocation policies; most have gotten out of the business of buying homes to move employees. In addition, most cultural surveys indicate younger workers are less likely to uproot their lives or families for their career.
Other key findings in the reader survey included:
- 50% feel motivated by their work
- 77% agree/strongly agree that they work for a great organization
- 81% agree/strongly agree the organization’s leaders are honest and ethical
- leaders providing a clear mission is less favorable – 74% agree but 17% are neutral
- 12% strongly agree that leaders are sensibly outsourcing to remain competitive, while 35% are uncertain.
This is inconsistent with anecdotal information provided that points to lack of leadership, unclear mission, and criticism of leaders who have used Lean and Six Sigma to rip innovation and creativity from organizations.
Without question, respondents believe they contribute to their company’s success. They feel valued as part of the team with 83% agreeing/strongly agreeing that their ideas are heard and/or acted upon.
Professional Development
There is no industry sector where learning is considered more important than in aerospace and defense. The budget cuts that eliminated manufacturing plant libraries, forced senior level managers to share publications and reduced attendance at seminars and conferences appears to have been a shift as resources were put into internal course offerings, reimbursement for degrees and other learning initiatives.
Another aspect of the 21st century workplace project, which is a subset of this report, found that mentorships are critical to retaining and developing all talented individuals, but it is particularly relative for employees who are in the minority in the work population (due to age, gender, education, or ethnicity). Despite this commonly accepted tactic to keeping and growing people, respondents to the survey indicated formal mentor relationships are not yet widespread; 74% reported not being in a mentor situation. |
