Career development helps workers grow their potential, gives them the opportunity to be involved when organizations change, and makes them happier and work more productively. It is show than ever before today's high school graduates need more education and highly technical skills for blue-collar jobs such as welding, manufacturing and fixing cars. In the economy of the 21st century, this is essential.
More importantly, all workers, including blue-collar ones, want to be valued. Recognition for good performance is one of the most important motivators for high performance and morale in general. It is a lack of this recognition that decreases the desire most workers have to perform. To gain recognition for personal achievements is one of the most basic of human needs and needs to be fulfilled. For example, it is being increasingly recognized how important it is to have participatory management opportunities for blue-collar workers. People want to be part of the company strategy development and establishing the mission and vision of the company. They are part of the process of how the company develops and grows. Respect is very important, because workers want to believe that their skills and abilities are acknowledged by colleagues, managers and the outside world in general.
Sirota, Meltzer and Mischkind, in their book Enthusiastic Employee: How Companies Profit by Giving Workers What They Want, summarize what is noted above in regard to job satisfaction. They find three factors to be the most important. They are:
Equity. To be treated fairly in relation to the employment conditions. or, they become upset when, in their perspective, basic considerations of fairness are totally lost by the organization's pursuit of its short-term business interests. They also want to be treated like knowledgeable adults, but many workers -- primarily in factories -- are, as they see it, treated...
To take pride in personal accomplishments by completing work that matters and doing it well and in the organization's accomplishments. The human need to feel proud of the accomplishments oneself and the organization is then increases job satisfaction and performance. Pride comes both from the worker's own concept of accomplishment and from the acknowledgement from others; and 3) Camaraderie. All people are social beings, where positive communication with others is not only gratifying, but critical for mental health. Organizations often forget that they are not only a place to work but that they also serve as a community that satisfies its workers' social and emotional needs.
Thus, regardless of they type of work a blue-collar worker does, he or she needs to receive the amount of pay that will meet his essential needs. But beyond that, the workers need to know that there is the opportunity for growth, that the company values their work, there is the ability for accomplishments and the company's employees are working together as a united organization, or community.
References
Leibowitz, Z.B., Kaye, B.L., & Farren, C. (1992). "Multiple career paths," Training and Development, 46(10), 31-35.
Loscocco, K.A. (1990) Reactions to blue-collar work. Work & Occupations 17(2):
McDonald, K., Hite, L., and Gilbreath, B. Nonsalaried U.S. employees' careers: An exploratory study (2002). Development International. 7(6/7): 398-406
Ridings, C.M., and Eder, L.B., (1999). An analysis of technical career paths and job satisfaction. Computer Pesonnel 20(2): 7-26.
Sirota, D., Meltzer, M.I., and Mischkind, L. (2005). What workers want -- the big picture. Philadelphia: Wharton School Publishing.
