WHEN it comes to job satisfaction, nearly a third of Asian employees feel frustrated about their work, reveals a new study by Hay Group Insight.
Even those who are highly motivated do not necessarily turn in high performance.
The frustration faced by Asian workers seems to stem from various management failures, said Hay Group Insight, the employee and customer research division of global management consultancy Hay Group.
Issues identified include ineffective work structures and procedures, poor leadership styles and unproductive work environments.
In general, Asian workers feel a lack of empowerment and professional development, despite being well-engaged by their bosses, said the study.
The study - conducted in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand - found that 29 per cent of Asian workers feel frustrated about their jobs.
Only 16 per cent believe that they are effective in their work.
This is in contrast to a similar Hay Group Insight study conducted in Britain, where only 21 per cent of British employees report feeling frustrated and 39 per cent consider themselves effective workers.
Dr Stephen Choo, regional director for South-east Asia at Hay Group Insight, said that Asian employees do find their skills and abilities relatively well-utilised.
'However, because of the lack of empowerment to make decisions and the constant need to refer upwards for permission, it is not surprising that a significant proportion of employees feel frustrated, disengaged and ineffective,' he said.
Dr Choo added that frustrated workers pose a major risk to business and significant missed opportunities for the company, even though they may be highly enthusiastic about making a difference and are aligned with the organisation's direction and goals.
The problem, he said, is that these employees are often held back by jobs that do not suit them or by work environments that get in their way.
'With fierce competition for the most talented employees, companies' efforts to engage their people will be wasted if they are not backed with supportive environments that enable employees to do their jobs,' he said.
The study also shows that having highly-motivated employees is no guarantee of high performance.
The study found that most workers desire a challenging job and sufficient resources to accomplish it.
They also want unhelpful managers to get out of the way.
Therefore, companies that invest heavily in team-bonding sessions, corporate retreats or development programmes should not be surprised to find that the enthusiasm generated by these sessions does not last long. They could do better by providing corporate structures and policies that encourage effective work behaviour instead.
Said Dr Choo: 'A manager's responsibility should include removing procedural barriers and providing employees with the tools, technology, information, support and other resources they need to do their jobs well.
'Unfortunately, leaders in Asia tend to practise a more authoritarian leadership style, characterised by a heavy top-down directing of company decisions, where the leaders believe that they know what is best for everyone.'
In times of economic uncertainty, organisations can ill afford to frustrate their workers - particularly the high performers - with unnecessary bureaucracy, said Dr Choo.
