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Small signals of appreciation have a decisive influence on the output and quality of the work of employees. A field experiment of KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) economist Petra Nieken and two colleagues revealed that a combination of performance-oriented piece wage and motivating words increases the performance by 20% and reduces the error rate by 40%.
"Our results are relevant to entrepreneurial practice," Nieken emphasizes. She holds the Chair for Human Resources Management of KIT's Institute of Management. How can staff members be motivated? Theory lists two instruments: Financial incentives, such as bonuses or piece wages, and the capability of executives to motivate their staff members. The question whether and how these two instruments complement, strengthen or weaken each other, however, is not clearly answered by theory. That is why this question was in the focus of the study performed at Bonn University.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Thursday October 22 2015, @03:38PM
Sure, if you treat your employees well, they're more likely to be happy with their work environment, which will make them more likely to like their jobs, which will in turn make them more likely to make the effort to do a good job. Also, by establishing by example a cultural rule of "No Jerks!", you make it more likely that employees will cooperate well with each other and will thus get useful work done without even being directed to do so by management.
But unfortunately, you can be darned sure that the way this will be applied is for HR drones to train their managers to use the right "motivating words" as a way of avoiding having to give out raises. These days, the art of management (at least in the US) is seen first and foremost as a matter of reducing the cost of employees despite the fact that in the long run that tends to hurt businesses (via staff turnover and costly mistakes) more than it helps.
And if I had to give just one concept to management that would make a world of difference, it would be this: Your employees all have lives outside of work. Some of that they may talk about at work, some of that they will never tell you about. For you, your work may be the most important part of your life, but for a lot of your people it will be the thing they do to make the money they need to have the life they want - and that's perfectly OK. Do everything in your power to avoid imposing on their life outside of work if you want to maintain good relationships with your employees, and if you do impose on that make damned sure you are experiencing what they're experiencing. If you demand they go to the office at 10 AM on the Sunday of a holiday weekend while you stay at your party, if you demand that they answer alerts at 3 AM on a regular basis while you never take your turn on call, if you demand that they accept invasions of their privacy that you never would allow for yourself, they will remember that as the insults they are and act accordingly.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by termigator on Thursday October 22 2015, @05:32PM
One thing that annoys me is the idea that everyone needs to be friends at work. Management tends to push this, which enchroaches on personal-vs-work boundaries. At work, all I expect is people to act professionally. Liking you is secondary. Don't expect me to goto work parties and other gatherings outside of work hours, that is my time.
I have noticed that managers that worry too much about everyone "getting along" have little clue on what is best for the products and services the company offers. They are deluded in believing that if workers are not BFFs the company will fail.
There are people I do not personally like, but do not mind working with them because they are competent and can act professional. There are people I like personally, but dread having to work with them because they are incompetent. Do not equate compentency with friendliness.
(Score: 2) by Tramii on Thursday October 22 2015, @07:11PM
Don't expect me to goto work parties and other gatherings outside of work hours, that is my time.
Exactly. Everyone seems confused when I decline attending all the company work parties. Hey, I have better things to do than continue to hang out with my co-workers. I mean, I already spend 8-10 hours with them every day. The *last* thing I want to do is to give up some of my personal time to hang out with them for even longer. No, I don't care that there will be free booze, I have my own at home. I have family and friends I would like to see, so no thank you, I am going home now. If you really wanted to reward me for a job well done, you would have scheduled the party *during* work hours. Trying to guilt me/threaten me to attend your weekend party is just pissing me off.
I seriously think the people that do attend all the work parties are either serious alcoholics or literally have no life outside of work. Do you people really have nothing else better to do???
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Thursday October 22 2015, @07:46PM
More like, they're afraid to say no.
I attended 2 or 3 such events. I forget what they called them, something like "manager's club". They certainly were educational, just not in good, honest, sincere ways. After a few such after work parties, I felt I'd seen enough, learned what little there was to learn. It wasn't that I couldn't guess what they'd be like, but it seemed prudent to restrain my cynicism and try to view the events without preconceived notions, just in case they somehow weren't what I was expecting. Nope, they were.
Of course one sees all the sycophants working their egg sucking and brown nosing skills. What I didn't expect was the CEO so openly displaying his stupidity. It's as if he was daring anyone to call him on it. No one did though, no one cared enough and had the guts to risk their job.
Those parties will never get better while the balance of power remains so lopsided. If people were better positioned to tell employers to shove their miserable jobs, if employers actually had to try to find and keep good employees, it would do wonders. As it is, most employees aren't in a strong enough position to do any boat rocking, not with high unemployment and jobs so hard to get and keep, not with labor so cheap.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday October 22 2015, @11:17PM
My basic rules for office parties:
1. Do not get drunk under any circumstances. Make sure you have fewer drinks than those above you in the pecking order. (Also, getting them drunk may allow you to gain some advantageous information and/or blackmail material.)
2. You have 2 ears and 1 mouth. Use your ears more than your mouth.
3. Make a reasonable attempt to participate in whatever nonsense activities they've come up with. No matter how stupid. Don't try to win any contests really, but do make what appears to be a good-faith effort.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 22 2015, @09:20PM
I dunno. One of thoes outings where they do "team building" at a paintball facility, after a few beers, can get interesting.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday October 22 2015, @08:53PM
Sure, if you treat your employees well, they're more likely to be happy with their work environment, which will make them more likely to like their jobs, which will in turn will make management more likely to underpay them, which in turn will make your employees want to quit.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh