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| Thought Leaders: Business |
Chief Empathy Officer
David Sirota
09/01/2006
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About half of the workers we survey report receiving little or
no credit for their contributions, and almost two-thirds say management is much
more likely to criticize them for poor performance than praise them for good
work. To sustain employee enthusiasm, managers need to stop treating employees
as expendable objects who require constant supervision to perform. Instead, they
need to recognize that the great majority of employees come to work to work—not
to loaf and not to fight with each other or with management.
People must be treated with a fundamental fairness when it comes to the basic
conditions of employment. The great majority are reasonable in what they want,
such as competitive wages and a sense that the company has concern
for them and their needs—just as a company expects employees to
care about corporate goals and objectives. Loyalty cannot be a one-way street.
Finally, managers must build a real partnership culture for the long term, where
employees are treated as allies—a culture in which individuals and groups are
eager to work together, serve customers in exceptional ways and beat the
competition. Management policies and practices geared to equity, achievement and
camaraderie create an environment of genuine partnership—and will complete the
virtuous circle that leads to employee enthusiasm and its many business
benefits.
Art by Matt Mahurin.
David Sirota, PhD, is founder and chairman emeritus of Sirota
Survey Intelligence and lead author of The Enthusiastic Employee: How Companies Profit by Giving Workers What
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