I remember walking back home from work one rainy evening in downtown Seattle. I had a great day at work. I had a smile on my face. A homeless guy at the end of the street selling the Real Change newspaper knew that smiling faces don't turn down anticipatory looks. I bought a paper and we exchanged smiles before I resumed savoring the smell of the rain and enjoying my walk. I was a happy man, and it wasn't an unusual day. I loved working in that organization and my manager brought out the best in me. This could have been a "crappy rainy day" if I had a stressful day at work. I have experienced working at a company where I felt completely demotivated, disengaged, and stressed. I am sure you have had similar experiences.
More than just "feeling bad"
According to Dr. Richard Boyatzis, working professionals have 8-12 incidents of chronic annoying stress on a good day. Working men encounter this 5-6 days per week. Working women encounter this 7 days per week. Stress is associated with higher production of cortisol, which suppresses the immune system and decreases bone formation. Buildup of this chronic annoying stress impairs our immune systems, cognition, and emotional states. Under this stress people have higher incidence of bacterial infection, influenza, type 2 diabetes, and ulcers. It also leads to heart problems, strokes, sleep disorders, gastrointestinal difficulties, and sexual dysfunctions (Dr. Richard Boyatzis talks about this and more in "Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence" on Coursera and on the CD Resonant Leadership).
Welcome to the corporate world!
One-third of our lives
We spend one-third of our lives at work; it's our responsibility to make it a better place. Just as we take care of our homes so we can end up in comfort after work, shouldn't we be attempting to make work itself a better place?
What else?
A global disengagement problem
According to Gallup's "State of the Global Workplace" report, only 13 percent of employees around the world are actively engaged in their jobs, find satisfaction in their work, and focus on creating value for their employers. Actively disengaged employees outnumber engaged employees by almost two to one.
Effect on the bottom line
According to Gallup research, higher engagement yields to considerably higher productivity and profitability, combined with less turnover and absenteeism.
Companies with engaged employees see a 240 percent improvement rate in business results.
In 2011-2012, organizations with an average of 9.3 engaged employees for every actively disengaged employee experienced 147 percent higher earnings per share compared with their competition.
During that same time period, companies with an average of 2.6 engaged employees for every actively disengaged employee experienced 2 percent lower earnings per share compared with their competition.
Human dynamics matter. Emotions matter.
So what?
Tendency to underrate and trivialize morale
According to the Version One 2013 "State of Agile" survey: “Improved team morale” was ranked fourth in actual improvements from adopting Agile methods, but it wasperceived to be almost the least important, followed only by "managing distributed teams"!
We are marginalizing the importance of team morale. This prevailing perception is hurting us.
Who? That manager!
"Here's something they'll probably never teach you in business school: The single biggest decision you make in your job -- bigger than all of the rest -- is who you name manager. When you name the wrong person manager, nothing fixes that bad decision. Not compensation, not benefits -- nothing." -- Gallup CEO Jim Clifton
The leading factor influencing employee engagement is widely accepted to be an employee's relationship with his or her own direct manager. Twenty-first century leadership skills matter!
Now what?
With this in mind, I am writing this manifesto to help managers make the right choices and make the world a better place.
Image: Movie Matrix
Manifesto for twenty-first century management
Developing resonant relationships instead of perpetuating dissonant relationships
Inspiring, exciting, and motivating people instead of judging, evaluating, assessing them
Inviting people toward a vision instead of focusing on their task completion
Enabling self-organization instead of exerting centralized control
Cultivating intrinsic motivation instead of exploiting extrinsic motivation
Embracing and exploiting diversity instead of seeking conformance
There is science out there that can help managers become better leaders and coaches. I will explain each one of these value statements, along with solid, unbeatable evidence backing them up, in Part II of this article. Until then, keep changing!
Originally published at: Scrum Alliance
Cover image courtesy of: Pixbay/ makamuki0
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