Jennifer Goudreau wrote an interesting article in the May 31, 2012 issue of Forbes Magazine about the effects of boredom and productivity.  The article, Bored In The Office: Is It The New Productivity Killer?, cites several studies that link boredom on the job to lower productivity.

She cites the need for an open line of communication between employee and employer, suggesting that boredom on the job can be expected to be commonplace and ought to be an open and safe topic of dialog.

We agree.  Gallup shows that over 70% of the American workforce suffers from boredom on the job.

In Doom Loop terms, she is talking about employees – lower level workers as well as highly placed executives who are in Q3.  Rather than open a constructive conversation about the problem – fearing that such a conversation would have negative consequences – they “suffer in silence.”

Such employees are suffering from either “Doomed Before Capstone,” “Happy Below Capstone But Doomed,” or “Doomed at Capstone” – career crises described in this blog.

The remedies, again in Doom Loop terms, involve moving an employees from Q3 to somewhere in Q2 or into a combination of Q1/Q2.  Such moves are inexpensive and, in fact, can be quite easy for an employer to enrich employees’ jobs through increased responsibilities or even cutting back on the time they have to perform traditional tasks.

The rewards for employers can be huge – both in terms of increased employee productivity and reducing the costs of hiring replacements for those important employees whose boredom and/or frustration causes them to leave the organization.

~ CCJ