If only the pharaohs of Egypt had provided some encouragement to their slaves, the pyramids would have been built a bit faster. A recent study by Towers Perrin found that a company’s financial productivity is dependant on its employee’s feelings of being appreciated and happy at work. It turns out slave driving is no longer a successful method of managing employees.
Today’s employees are looking for a boss quite the opposite from Steve Carrell’s character on The Office. Pencil pushers want bosses that recognize their progress and reward them on their successes. The study shows that employee engagement and productivity is very much the responsibility of bosses and managers. It’s time to blame the boss for pitiful production!
Many workers worldwide complain that they are treated as ‘numbers’ within their organizations, with no compliments to be found. Talk about positive reinforcement! Surprisingly, a lot of employees really want to work hard, but feel no motivation to do so when there is no notice of their efforts.
When all of this pent-up worker enthusiasm is released, the results can be impressive. High employee morale has resulted in huge profits for companies globally and corporations are jumping on the bliss bandwagon like no tomorrow. Some companies organize workplace happiness workshops in order to pump-up the office morale (because fun at work is such a foreign concept!), while others organize retreats with games and activities. Some even resort to good ol’ fashion respect and positive feedback to motivate their staff.
Just pray that your company doesn’t go overboard and organize a “warm fuzzy” day or force all workers to wear smiley face t-shirts. Those pharaohs will whip crackin' in their graves with all of the worker satisfaction.
