Archive for the ‘enthusiasm’ Category
Enthusiastic Employee: Considering What They Wants
“A large part of what a good boss does is expedite things for employees – that is, help them get their jobs done by removing obstacles. This is not at all the same as ‘making sure’ they get their jobs done by raising the anxiety level. Most people are anxious enough already.” -David Sirota, head of Sirota Survey Intelligence, a research firm headquartered in Purchase, N.Y., that has surveyed millions of employees in Fortune 500 companies since its founding in 1972.
3 goals at work: fairness, achievement and camaraderie
In his book, “The Enthusiastic Employee: How Companies Profit by Giving Workers What They Want” (Wharton School Publishing), Sirota conclude from researches that people in general have 3 goals at work: fairness, achievement and camaraderie. If these 3 goals are met, you have enthusiastic employees.
What he means by fairness is employee wants to feel that they are being recognized and rewarded fairly. Achievement means that employee wants to be proud of the organization and their place in it. Camaraderie means employee wants good working relations and a sense of belonging to a team.
The trouble is that, morale among new hires is high and by about 6 month has dropped sharply. Management has destroyed it. One thing bad bosses do is to deliberately make people feel insecure about their jobs. Another is treat employees like children or criminals instead of like responsible adults.
Sign of Bad Boss
A sign of a really bad boss is micromanaging, which Sirota define as devoting punitive amount of attention to minute. Employee has to raise his hand if they want to go to restroom. Another sign is no positive feedback.
All of this behavior of bad boss derived from a combination of an over positive self concept with theory X which see others always negative.
Why should companies care whether employees are enthusiastic or not, as long as the work gets done?
Many research evident show a direct link between employee morale and the overall performance of the firm, including stock price. The correlation is a result of how employees treated is reflected to how employees treat customers.
Since most bosses, including the bad one, always think they are doing the right thing thus management should always 360-degree evaluation to have constructive critics and an open dialogue to make sure people giving an honest feedback.
