Challenges at Work
Results and insights from our learning preferences survey
Recently, we invited our audience to take a survey about the challenges they’re facing at work, and we received an overwhelming response with hundreds of submissions. Below is a summary of some of the results and insights.
GAUGING INTEREST
We asked which topics you’re most interested in learning about in content from The Wiseman Group. According to the survey, here are the topics you are most interested in:
- How to make work enjoyable for everyone despite heavy demands
- How to get better results at work without working longer hours
- How to foster a productive work environment
- How to avoid stifling others’ potential with my management style
- How to see challenges as opportunities rather than threats
UNDERSTANDING CHALLENGES
We asked you to tell us about the biggest challenge you are currently facing in your work, and we read through every single response. While everyone’s challenges are personal and the circumstances are unique to each individual, we did notice certain themes emerge that allowed us to roughly group responses into categories, as follows:
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24.9% — Unrelenting Demands 17.9% — Messy Problems 11.4% — Unforeseen Obstacles 9.6% — Encouraging Impact Player Behavior in Others 9.6% — Being a Multiplier |
7.6% — Unclear Roles 7.0% — Shifting Targets 6.1% — Diminishing Leaders 3.1% — Technical Aspects of Jobs/Other 2.8% — Motivating Self & Others |
THE VOCABULARY OF CHALLENGES
As we read through each survey response, we noticed patterns in the language you used to describe your current workplace challenges. In one more effort to look at the full set of responses as a whole, we analyzed the frequencies of each word used across all responses. We ruled out generic words (e.g., that, I, were, etc.) and grouped remaining words by root (e.g., focus, focusing, focused). As a result, below are 100 of the words used most frequently by our newsletter subscribers in describing their current work challenges; together, they create a mosaic that illustrates an aggregate workplace experience.
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adapt afraid ambiguous anxiety balance bandwidth boss breakdown burden burnout busy cannot change clarity communication community compensation compete complex constant covid creativity culture deadlines decision demanding develop diminisher disconnected discouraged disengaged distracted diversity
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drained ego energy equity exhausted expectations failure family fear feedback flexible focus grow health heavy hiring human hybrid impact inclusion inspire lead meetings morale motivate normal opportunity overload overwhelmed pace pandemic pressure priorities
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productivity promoted quit reality recruit relationships remote resources retention safety scale shortage silo staying stressed stretched struggling support survive sustainability time tired toxic transformation transition trust turnover understaffed unrealistic urgent value virtual vision wellbeing |