The secret to happy employees
Jay Goltz has a formula for keeping happy employees:
"I have learned the long, hard and frustrating way that as a manager you cannot make everyone happy. You can try, you can listen, you can solve some problems, you can try some more. Good management requires training, counseling and patience, but there comes a point when you are robbing the business of precious time and energy."
Read on.
Thanks to Ian Aspin.
"I have learned the long, hard and frustrating way that as a manager you cannot make everyone happy. You can try, you can listen, you can solve some problems, you can try some more. Good management requires training, counseling and patience, but there comes a point when you are robbing the business of precious time and energy."
Read on.
Thanks to Ian Aspin.
I worked for years with companies that really didn't care about the happy culture. I never even considered it a factor. You showed up, worked hard, and maybe you'd have a few peers that made working out of a grey box all day bearable. Happiness came on payday. If that didn't make you happy, just move on to a bigger paycheck somewhere else to get happier.
Then, I had a job interview for a very high paying job that I was well suited for. I had rare experience that they desperately needed for a big project. All looked good until he asked me what type of culture I liked. I told him I'd been all over the world and got along with people of all colors and backgrounds. He looked at me like I was a moron. I never got the job. I had to go and look up what they meant by "business culture" and that's when I found out about this happiness business.
I've got some of my best work done when I was angry. Happy happens hunting, fishing, motorcycling, family time, etc. I suppose promotions, pay raises, finished projects, etc. are good too, but it takes a pile of tough days to get them.
The article is right in that you'll never make everyone happy. Firing someone for not being happy though? You could be unhappy because he's got solutions and nobody wants to hear. I've seen employees stealing from the company that were just delighted. If you fire unhappy folks, you're going to see a bunch of people faking a smile.
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How happy can people be, working for a boss who might fire them because he doesn't like their attitude? It would be like working for the Queen of Hearts.
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Mark and David - I am compelled to add that the article did not reflect my philosophy. It was a conversation starter.
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Why do you feel compelled to tell us it's not your philosophy? Was everyone at work smiling for no apparent reason today?
You're good. I didn't think you jumped the happiness fence.
I had a teacher that told me if you're unhappy at work, shake it up a little bit and get your work done. Nothing will make you happier than actually completing your tasks. If the management is unrealistic, make you own goals and get them done as it's all that you have the power to do.
In an age where many load up on chemical assistance to get through the day, getting things done is a great alternative.
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With shots being fired at me, it is my rhetorical way of stepping aside. While I don't ever agree that simply firing an unhappy worker is the solution, I also don't think that an angry or unhappy worker helps productivity. If someone is unhappy all day at work it is difficult to keep it to themselves. Unhappiness is contagious as is happiness. I'm not talking about smile-plastered-on-the-face happy. Instead I am talking about toxicly unhappy. That is a problem that will fester if left unadressed.
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I can vouch that the article doesn't reflect Kurt's philosophy. Regular readers have probably figured that out for themselves.
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By the way, framing the issue as employee unhappiness, rather than employee boorishness, is telling.
I suspect that the problem stems from the relatively modern notion--since the Sixties, probably--that we all should express our feelings all the time. Anyone can be unhappy in certain circumstances; letting it all hang out is what hurts productivity and morale. Simple good manners would resolve most of these problems, if we still had commonly understood standards of behavior. If bad manners would go out of style, like smoking, a manager would never know whether an employee was unhappy. Moreover, it would be none of the manager's business. If an employee were dissatisfied with the job, by contrast, the employee would know how to discuss it with the manager like a grown-up, and the two of them could look for a way to resolve it.
Look to Miss Manners for the answers, not Dr. Phil.
From my soapbox.
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