The cliche goes that we need a job to pay for our lives, our cars, our kids, and our rent, and that in the end what it is we actually do at work – or what it is the company we work for actually produces – is a secondary concern for most in the blinding light of the need for that paycheck. As Judge Smails says in CADDYSHACK, “The world needs ditch-diggers, too.” That said, it’s pleasing to report that four-fifths of the anonymous employee responses we got to the question, “Are you proud of your company’s product/offering?” said they they were indeed glad to helping put those products out in the world.
The information comes from the latest reading of a ongoing study by Comparably. More than 1,000 employees responded to the question.
Male and female responses were nearly identical. 21% of women and 22% of men said they were not proud of their company’s product/offering.
African-American responses were significantly below the overall average seen above. The implication is that either those workers are less eager to praise their employees, or those workers are more often stuck in jobs that are harder to take pride in. Hispanic/Latino respondents also came in below the average. Asian/Pacific Islanders, Caucasians, and respondents from the “other” designation are reported numbers in line with the overall averages for all employees.
Executives and HR, who most often seem to make more positive statements about their organizations, came in well above average on the question of pride in a company’s product. Some of those executives may even have been involved in the genesis of the product to begin with. Legal and Marketing were also very positive. Down at the other end are the Design and Product department themselves – surprising, as both would have been intimately involved in the product/offerings their company issues.
Pride in a company’s product seems to be pretty consistent with age, as the graph above illustrates. This implies that an interest in feeling good about what you’re involved in producing or what services you’re involved in offering does not wane much as one becomes more inured to the ups and downs of a working life.
Employees in San Francisco, Boston, and Atlanta tend to be quite proud of their company’s product. Workers in Seattle and Minneapolis, notably less so. Since both San Francisco and Seattle are major tech cities, it’s hard to conclude that more forward-thinking tech companies inspire pride than older, entrenched U.S. companies.
Latest reading as of December 9..
