Looking for your discount program? Create an account or log in here.

Workplace Peer Pressure: Engaging Employees

In his book, “Building a Magnetic Culture”, Kevin Sheridan, Chief Engagement Officer at Human Capital Management, discusses the different levels of engagement we find in the workplace and their effect on each other. Peer pressure is alive and well in our 21st century offices. Which means the engagement levels our employees experience can spread like a virus.

peer pressure

We’ll dive into the ways we can spread positive engagement.
First let’s discuss, as Sheridan details, the different types of employees we encounter:

Employee Types

Actively Disengaged Employees 

are the “Negative Nancy”s of the workplace. They can be found constantly complaining, focusing on problems and openly expressing their discontent and negative outlook on their position.

Ambivalent Employees

are arguably the most dangerous type of employee because they’re often the hardest to spot. They are fulfilling their basic job responsibilities, but not much more. In fact, they rarely offer to lead projects or volunteer for extra opportunities. These nine-to-fivers just want their paycheck, with bags packed and feet out the door by five o’clock sharp.

Actively Engaged Employees 

are the ideal type of employee. As engaged employees, they consistently go above and beyond their job description. They promote the mission and vision of the company’s brand, contribute new ideas, and are optimistic about their future in the company.

Making a Change

Because the majority of employees fall within the Ambivalent category, it’s crucial that they move towards becoming Actively Engaged versus Actively Disengaged.

In a previous article we discussed the importance of workplace friendships on both personal health and organizational success. This is evidence that peer pressure can be essential in driving the increase of employee engagement. One tactic managers can implement is putting these Ambivalent Employees in close proximity to Actively Engaged Employees through group projects and assignments. Because these Engaged employees thrive in environments where they can step up to the plate and lead others, it’s a great way not only to involve the Ambivalent, but also encourage and affirm those employees who are already engaging in positive ways.

Most of the time, however, we don’t associate peer pressure as being a positive force. Just like a high school bully, Actively Disengaged Employees can negatively affect every person in their surroundings. Their negativity can be a virus to the workplace. It’s important not to shy away from addressing this negativity as quickly as possible to not infect others. Because these employees are primarily motivated by their paycheck, it is not likely they will leave on their own initiative. For that reason, it’s crucial that managers speak with any actively disengaged employees.

Address the Whys

When speaking with these employees, it’s also important to assess why they may be feeling apathetic in their work. Many times there could be an opportunity for a constructive conversation. In fact, this conversation could even transform them into some of the mostly highly engaged employees in the organization. However, it is likely that the position or the company may not be a great fit for this particular person and, in that case, discuss transitioning them out of the company.

Taking a page out of Sheridan’s book, “Creating a workplace environment where Engagement thrives and Disengagement dies should always be a management priority.”

Want more insights like these? Subscribe using the form to the right!

Best Friends Forever from 9-5

work friendships blockheads

Is your coworker also your close friend? Or is your close friend also your coworker?

Office friendships can be a great source of pleasure and support, but they can also be a challenge to navigate. Many have ambivalence toward forming deeper friendships with their colleagues for a number of reasons. Perhaps they worry about the potential for distraction, influence on decision making, or awkwardness during performance reviews. Despite these legitimate concerns, research on workplace friendships suggests they are crucial to both personal health and organizational success.

Friendships Alleviate Stress

In a breakthrough 1995 study, Christine Riordan and Rodger Griffeth found even the possibility of friendship formation increases both job satisfaction and organizational effectiveness. This finding takes on particular importance when considering that in 2014, 80% of Americans stressed over at least one thing at work. Furthermore, a 2013 Lifeboat report found a whopping three-quarters of Americans are not truly satisfied with their friendships. By more than 2:1, respondents said they would prefer a smaller number of deeper friendships to a greater number of friends. Given the increasing blur between work and home life, the office seems like a promising place to form deep friendships.

Friendships Foster Loyalty

In a recent post for Harvard Business Review, Riordan asserts that office friendships foster group loyalty. This, in turn, leads to shared commitment and discipline toward one’s work. Similarly, a 2012 Gallup report found that 50% of employees with a best friend at work felt a strong connection with their company. Meanwhile, only 10% felt this connection without one. In fact, “good relationship with coworkers” was the most frequently cited reason in a 2013 survey for 2,223 people planning to stay in their current job. Three studies by workforce intelligence company Evolv found employees referred by friends are less likely to quit and more productive.  Consequently, employees trained in a “friendly” culture stayed with their employer twice as long as those who were not.

friendly statue

Friendships Improve Performance

In “The Best Place to Work,” psychologist Ron Friedman asserts that having close friends at work brings with it a number of benefits, like combating loneliness. Prolonged loneliness makes it more difficult for people to relax and fall asleep. In turn, this can lead to diminished cognitive function such as impaired memory formation and learning ability. Surrounded by friends means spending less time worrying about fitting in and pay more attention to our work. Personal connections between colleagues also boost motivation, because poor performance at work means letting down friends.

Friendships are not the only way to enhance productivity or boost engagement in the workplace. However, friendships are unique because their strength endures, and even grows when other standard retention incentives wane in a bad economy. Friends are an invaluable resource in the workplace. They provide an emotional support system and a network for helping to more efficiently execute one’s job. Friedman acknowledges making new friends can be scary because of the shared risk involved in disclosing personal details with an acquaintance. That being said, the above trends should encourage anyone who is hesitant about opening up to coworkers. The message is clear: a little vulnerability in the break room can go a long way.

PerkSpot Cubs Game

PerkSpot takes an afternoon off for a Cubs game.

Why Practicing Altruism Will Make You (and Everyone You Know) Happier

altruism

We recently published a piece explaining how happiness promotes productivity and highlighted several cost-effective perks for employers to boost employee happiness. Similarly, employers can also harness empathy and altruism to increase happiness in the workplace.

What are Empathy and Altruism?

Simply put, empathy is the ability to recognize, understand, and share the feelings of another person. Altruism is the selfless concern for the well-being of others. While two distinct social phenomena, empathy and altruism relate when put into the context of the 21st-century workplace. Both behaviors fall under the idea of “positive affect” and “companionate love”.  Researchers employ these traits when investigating the implications of positive emotions in the office.

Empathy and Altruism in the Workplace

Empathy and altruism in the workplace foster greater levels of office camaraderie and encourage employees to make more selfless choices. A study at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that altruists are more likely to be committed to their work and less likely to quit their jobs. Examining the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, which surveys 10,000 Wisconsin high school graduates from the class of 1957, researchers demonstrated that those who routinely help others are happier than those who do not.

altruism collaboration

A recent Catalyst study led by Jeanine Prime and Elizabeth Salib found a positive association between selfless acts by managers and increased innovation by employees. Furthermore, employees who observe altruistic behavior in their leaders are more likely to feel included in their work teams and engage in team citizenship behavior, such as picking up slack for an absent colleague. These findings resonate with previous research confirming that observed altruism results in individual status gains among groups. This provides a greater potential for elevated status as the personal cost of an altruistic act increases.

The Business of Empathy and Altruism

Another study similarly asked employees to rate their CEOs in terms of four traits: Integrity, Compassion, Forgiveness, and Responsibility. Executive development firm, KRW International, reports that CEOs earning high character marks had an average return on assets of 9.35%. This is nearly five times the 1.93% of their low ranking counterparts. While dramatic, this margin is not all that surprising. Stanford University research psychologist Emma Seppala cites neuroimaging research. The study confirmed how our brains respond better to bosses who have shown us empathy. And, as a result, this established a link between workplace trust and performance.

Business writer Jayson Boyers aptly notes that “relationship-focused success expands capacity and potential, and empathy is a business skill that actually grows when practiced and shared.”. Empathy and altruism are skills we develop, rather than static personality traits. This notion is key for businesses hoping to incorporate a positive emotional outlook into workplace culture.

altruism social networks

Empathy and Altruism in Practice

While in practice it may seem overwhelming, the research of James Fowler and Nicholas Christakis is encouraging. Fowler and Christakis studied 5,000 people over 20 years and discovered people surrounded by happier people tended to be happier in the future. According to Fowler, “We found a statistical relationship not just between your happiness and your friends’ happiness, but between your happiness and your friends’ friends’ friends’ happiness.” In lay terms, practicing altruism and empathy is statistically more likely to produce an outward ripple through your social network that will find its way back to you via the growing compassion of your peers.

In the coming weeks, we encourage you to be attentive to opportunities to practice your compassion. Turn an earnest mistake into a teachable moment or a disagreement over strategy as a chance to broaden your perspective. If you notice an overwhelmed colleague this week, consider offering to pick up their lunch. Altruism and empathy are one of the most effective means of improving emotional culture. Plus, they also produce tangible benefits in the workplace. The best part: the only limit to how much you get is how much you give.