Survey Says: What Are the Biggest Workplace Concerns?

What's on employees' minds these days? Mostly money, they say, since the economic recovery hasn't yet trickled down to the average worker's wallet. Those not sweating their finances are likely to be agonizing about their upcoming performance reviews -- apparently, something employees look forward to about as much as a root canal. Or perhaps they're busy primping, which might not be such a waste of time after all. Here's a closer look at some of the latest small-business surveys.

Money Worries Hurt Employee Productivity

The economic recovery may be happening on paper, but in reality, nearly half (49 percent) of employed U.S. adults are still struggling to meet their household expenses, according to PwC US's 2011 Financial Wellness Survey. That's an increase from 43 percent in 2010. And the concerns aren't confined to the lower echelons: Thirty-six percent of those earning $100,000 or more annually are also concerned about paying the bills.

This has affected people's stress levels: Sixty-one percent say dealing with their finances is stressful, and 56 percent report that their stress levels have increased in the past year. That stress is hurting employee productivity -- 29 percent of employees say their personal financial issues have distracted them at work, and 48 percent admit spending time on their personal finances during work hours. Surprisingly, the young (those ages 35 to 44) and wealthy (those earning $100,000 or more) were most likely to say personal finances were a distraction at work.

Even if you can't give your staff raises right now, think about other ways to help ease their stress, like flexible scheduling or extra time to handle personal issues during the workday.

Reviewing the Reviews

Are employee performance reviews broken? The results of the Globoforce Workforce Mood Tracker survey suggest so. According to the survey, 51 percent of the U.S. workforce says employee performance reviews aren't an accurate gauge of their work. And nearly 25 percent or workers dread their reviews more than anything else.

Luckily for them, they don't have to agonize about it too often: Only about 25 percent of those surveyed receive a review more than once a year, and 22 percent say they've never had a review.

In my experience, today's workers -- especially younger ones -- are eager for feedback all the time, not just once a year. While 7 percent of survey respondents said they get monthly reviews, I think informally giving regular, ongoing feedback is an even better approach.

Put Down the Lip Gloss

Employees trying to boost their performance reviews by spending more time primping should give it up -- in most cases. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, a study by two researchers at Elon University, found that women who spend a lot of time on personal grooming have lower average earnings. If a non-minority woman doubles her daily grooming time from 45 minutes to 90 minutes, for instance, her earnings decline by an average of 3.4 percent.

It's different for men, however. The amount of time spent on grooming doesn't affect non-minority men's earnings, but for minority men, doubling daily grooming from 40 to 80 minutes resulted in average earnings rising by nearly 4 percent.

What gives? According to the researchers, grooming signals social identity, and while this adversely affects women who devote too much time to grooming (remember the roomful of secretaries with big hair and too much makeup in Working Girl?), it can counteract negative stereotypes that might hurt minority men's earning power.

Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a content and consulting company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Follow Rieva at Twitter.com/Rieva and visit SmallBizDaily.com to sign up for her free TrendCast reports.