David J Paul Project Management Professional, Management Professor, Author and Small Business Manager
Our friends at Kaiser Permanente of Northern California report on a fabulous piece of caring that happens weekly at their locations in and around Santa Rosa, California. They ‘commandeer’ an unused patient room, set up an array of homemade teas and cookies and invite any staff member to come visit for a cup of tea, cookie, massage, and a little talk. Not a big deal, you say? Data and stories around this activity show that productivity, health, and wellness, as well as lowered turnover and higher levels of job satisfaction are all better as a result of this offering. Staff managers support this and allow and encourage attendance and participation in this element of self-determination. If you would like to go, then go, they say.
Given the measurable business problems directly associated with low employee engagement — absenteeism, low productivity, and high turnover, it is perilous for organizations to assume that they can build a profitable and growing customer base if they can’t develop these caring relationships with their employees. Because the “nature of these interpersonal relationships has been understudied” the importance of these results must be explained.
Bandura, in his discussions on intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy, stresses that a performance-contingent reward may increase the perception of competence, “rewarding quality of performance enhances perceived competence which, in turn, predicts intrinsic interest.” You already know that intrinsic interest relates to engagement that is elemental to a task, and that motivation elemental to a task can be related to Perceived Organizational Support through job behaviors and affective commitments. All of which leads to one of the keynotes of caring in the workplace. You will get to find this out for yourself as you take your organization from first base to second base: People are most often engaged, committed, and connected when they are doing work that matters to them (The INTRINSIC Motivation) for people, environments, and peers who care for them (The EXTRINSIC Motivation). Combining the two elemental motivations gives engagement and productivity levels that are up to 900% greater than ‘average’ productivity. Deci, Connell and Ryan (1989) present evidence suggesting that employees who are given opportunities for greater self-determination evaluate the organization and its climate more favorably as caring for them as individuals. So, even though it is sometimes hard to do, let them work through it and support them along the way. Don’t criticize. Find supportive structures like Kaiser’s tea, cookies and a foot massage to allow them greater self-determination. It’s a win-win for you both.
The Cameron Group, Inc. 