When employees get bored and lose interest in their work, they become rusty, leading to a decline in work quality and potential loss of talented employees. This can be prevented by engaging employees with challenging tasks and matching them with the right jobs. Cross-training and soliciting ideas from employees can also improve working conditions.
When someone gets rusty, it means they get bored at work, eventually becoming depressed and apathetic. As a general rule, once someone starts to rust, the quality of the work deteriorates, as the employee loses interest, finding the job unsatisfying. While this phenomenon is the opposite of burnout, the end result is typically the same and can cost a company a talented, once passionate employee. For this reason, employers tend to keep an eye out for it.
This term appears to have originated in the 1980s, although undoubtedly the rust was occurring much earlier. It is common in older employees in middle management, as they stabilize and find themselves unable to advance. Young and talented employees with strong qualifications can also rust if they are placed in positions that do not allow them to use their skills, as these positions can cause them to become bored and restless.
When someone starts to rust, they lose interest in their jobs and colleagues. The sharp decline in work quality tends to bring management’s attention to the problem, but when the employee’s work begins to suffer, it may be too late. He may also be restless, depressed or unhappy, expressing discontent to colleagues and friends. Often, someone gets rusty when they feel no progress is being made.
There are several ways to prevent rust in the workplace. Keeping employees engaged with interesting and challenging tasks is a great way to prevent this, as it encourages them to use their minds while promoting the idea that they are valued in the company. Matching employees with the right jobs is also important; talented people shouldn’t be shoved into the corners of the office for menial jobs, for example, unless it’s clear there’s a chance for advancement.
Some workplaces are simply boring by nature, due to the type of work involved, and in these situations it can be important for a business to recognize the risk of rust and take steps to make the workplace more attractive. Cross-training employees for multiple tasks in the office, for example, is a good idea, as is soliciting ideas directly from employees to improve working conditions. Sometimes small changes make a big difference.
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