How raises by firms can trigger job malaise at other companies

When Starbucks and JPMorgan Chase last month separately revealed plans to raise worker pay, they were the most recent in a steady barrage of high-profile announcements of companies’ human resources strategies.

News releases and social media posts trumpeting generous parental leave policies, unlimited vacation time, flexible work arrangements and revamped performance-management systems have become as reliable as earnings statements, reflecting a scramble to retain and attract talent in a tightening labor market.

[...] while using HR as PR may burnish a company’s image — and help the cause for better working conditions generally when competitors jump on board — that public relations push could be causing job malaise among workers at employers without such a loud bullhorn.

A recent report from CEB found that workers’ discretionary effort — defined as “the willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty, such as helping people with heavy workloads, volunteering for additional duties and looking for ways to perform the job more efficiently” — is at a four-year low.

Jason Guggisberg, regional vice president of Adecco Staffing USA, said he is seeing a grass-is-greener syndrome among employees, who often are attracted by a workplace’s culture.

“With many well-known companies promoting flexible work hours, their upscale, in-office lounges and putt-putt courses — or even perks like free massages — people take note and think it must be better over there and opt to leave their company for one with more of those alternative perks,” Guggisberg said.

Kropp, of CEB, attributes that to uncertainty about the U.S. economy, driven in part by the presidential election and risk aversion that lingers since the Great Recession.

Employees itching for the free office snack carts and massages on the other side of the fence should invest time talking to workers at the desired firm before taking the leap.