This legend that happy workers are productive employees has been a part of our organizational thinking for so long that many just take for granted that it has to be true. It started with managers beginning their efforts of making their employees happier by engaging in practices such as laissez-faire leadership, granting and expanding employee benefits, improving working conditions, and adding events such as company picnics, seniority based award events, and other gatherings.
Motivation in the Workplace
These were paternalistic practices and they were based on findings that hadn’t withstood the tests of time. Productive workers do seem to be happier though so perhaps that is where the confusion is coming from. Simply put, this means that productivity leads to satisfaction and happiness, not the other way around. People who do a good job tend to feel intrinsically good about it.
Productive employees tend to get more recognition for a job well done, more pay raises, and more opportunities for promotion and career development. They might look for another job to earn more to meet their financial needs but that money does not make them happy on the job.
The Key to Workplace Success
Since retaining key talent is an important part of this goal, organizations have to recognize that managers have the most direct influence on employee satisfaction. People tend to join a company but leave their supervisor. This isn't about assigning blame because firing the manager won't necessarily fix the problem. Organizations need to support their managers in their efforts to keep the troops fully engaged. It’s that engagement that provides the venues for achievement and recognition.
How does a company measure a manager's performance? Are they evaluated as individual contributors or as managers? Instead of just measuring the day-to-day outputs of the job, are their managerial skills evaluated as well? Areas to examine for each manager are turnover rate, team productivity, and morale in the department. Is the manager’s area a hot bed of employee relations issues? How many people try to transfer out of this group?
If organizations include these concerns as part of a manager's performance review they communicate to managers that using and developing these skills is important. If managers are not making the grade in some of these areas the company must step in. Letting managers know that people skills are part of the job is only half the battle; the other half is supporting them in doing their jobs well.
This is not about sending them off to a three-day seminar where they leave with a three-ring binder that sits on a desk to collect dust. Organizational change has to come from the top. Senior managers must be held to the same standard. Only then will a constructive culture emerge.
The Solution to These Workplace Challenges
Instead of hiring an employee relations expert to act as a link between managers and employees, invest that money instead in developing managers. This is the best way to ensure that employees stay engaged and stay with the organization. It is difficult to survive in this fluid economy if too many resources are focused on hiring and training new employees.
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