September 11 and the workplace.

• Author: Simon, Virginia
• Position: Business & Finance - Comparative analysis of survey results before and after terrorist attacks on United States

SEPT. 11, 2001, represents a watershed moment in U.S. history. The lives of every American changed in an instant, never to return to the way things used to be. Yet, in the end, while the tragedy will remain etched in the minds of the world, the date will also be remembered for bringing out the best in people, making heroes out of "ordinary" individuals, and causing us all to take another look at our daily lives--at home and in the workplace.

On Sept. 3, 2001, Genesee Survey Services, Inc., Rochester, N.Y., distributed its annual National Work Opinion Survey, a questionnaire that measures critical issues that face today's workforce. Each year, the survey is utilized by some of the nation's most-prestigious organizations to help them better understand their employees' attitudes towards their jobs and the workplace. The national norms derived from the research become a yardstick for companies to measure progress on the human side of their enterprises.

Of the 15,000 questionnaires, 1,810 usable responses--about 16% of the eligible respondents--were returned. Those received on Sept. 10, 11, and 12 were considered to have been completed before Sept. 11, and those received Sept. 13 and later were considered to have been completed after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

The 2001 survey accomplished more than the benchmarking goal. Because of the timing, we took another look at the responses to learn if employees' attitudes had, in fact, been altered by these events. As we suspected, attitudes did change, significantly and across demographic criteria.

Philosopher-educator John Dewey once observed that humans differ from other animals because they are able to preserve and learn from their experience. As Sept. 11 gradually recedes, this is a good time to ask: What have we learned from the experience? In this spirit, let us first present the research finding from the National Work Opinion Survey, then explore the management lessons that can be learned from this tragedy and the aftermath.

"Across all respondents" notes Larry Eldridge, vice president of consulting for Genesee Survey Services, "the events of 9/11 seemed to encourage increased cooperation and energy devoted to helping the organization as a whole. One can speculate that the selfless efforts that were demonstrated on 9/11 and afterwards stimulated additional cooperation in all walks of life--including the workplace."

For instance, after Sept. 11, 54% said they could share their opinions openly with their management before that date, while 59% expressed that opinion after Sept. 11. There was an increase of nearly 10% relating to employee assistance programs that are "designed to help people cope with both work and personal problems," and which is a subcategory of the benefits category that showed an increase of four percentage points.

Over all, the results demonstrated a particularly strong increase in teamwork, specifically in the public sector. For example, after Sept. 11, 47% of those in the public sector said "people help each other" compared to 36% prior. Similarly, 66% said that people "work together as a team" after 9/11, vs. 44% previously.

Just one item of the 145 questions asked declined after Sept. 11. It requested that people rate their performance compared to others doing...