Here a pretty interesting article from Businessweek - The Management Blog
Employee engagement is a short-sighted remnant
of the 20th century management thinking. What companies need today,
in a fast-moving globalized world, are workers who are truly passionate about
their jobs. This, however, imposes a real challenge on today’s managers.
Research claims that passion is highly related
to pay (and the role or position a worker has in the company). Workers,
however, state that their passion – even though having been in existence once –
simply evaporates as companies do not keep their promises and as they
constantly have the feeling of having “one foot out the door” since employers
are constantly reorganizing and restructuring. Why wasting passion on the job
when you might not even keep it..
But what is actually the difference between
employee engagement and a truly passionate workforce? Which strategies could
companies implement in effort to, first of all, select workers who exhibit a
passion for their job in the first place and secondly, keep them passionate of and
inspired by their work? Is passion – rather than skills and qualifications – a
better criterion according to which employees should be recruited? Do you
personally think that new technologies and an appealing physical design at your
workplace could encourage your passion about your job?
What are your personal experiences with “passion
for the job”? Have you ever been inspired by an employment?
Thanks Ulli for this interesting article. I totally agree with the fact that a company certainly needs passionate workers and will benefit from their inspiration and passion. As we all know, a highly motivated workforce increases the productivity of a company and therefore has a positive effect on the overall success of a company. For sure, skills and qualifactions are important as well, but I believe that those things can be trained to a certain degree. If for example an applicant for a vacant job lacks a certain qualification, but is highly motivated and passionate about the job, I'm sure that the person would do everything necessary to acquire the needed qualifaction when he gets accepted. If, in the other case an applicant fullfils all the formal application criteria but isn't really passionate about the job, he won't add a lot of value to the company due to his lack of motivation.
AntwortenLöschenWhen I read in the article about the pysical design of the workplace and whether this could increase employee motivation and passion, I immediately had to think about Google. I guess everyone of us has heard about the astonishing offices of Google and all the benefits for the employees. And if you now consider the employee satisfaction Level and especially the overall success of the company, it becomes obvious that the physical working environment and the infrastructure and technology on site will definitely influence employee satisfaction and passion in a positive way.
I myself could experience this influence during my summer job within the last years. When I was there for the first time, we were working in a nicely decorated office with a lot of space and a really comfortable atmosphere. The year after that the company was renovating and due to this the whole department had to work in one large room with only the most necessary furniture and not a lot of decoration for a certain period. I've been there only for one month each year, but I could definitely feel the difference in the working climate between the two years and I myself didn't feel really comfortable either working in the temporary office.
Reading this article and your comments and thoughts about it, I figure that finding and maintaining a passionate workforce is a big issues in nowadays business life. The article says that physical design is a way to keep people passionate. To a certain point I agree with this theory, because who would not like to work in a hyper modern office, with big screens, the latest technique and comfortable chairs and desks? However, in my opinion interesting tasks are the most important feature to keep somone motivated and passionate about their work. If an employee doesn't find his tasks very appealing, how on earth can the office design keep him passionate about their work? I do also think that the work climate plays a big role in this matter. If you get along with your colleagues and your boss well, the change of seeing your job as your passion is much higher.
AntwortenLöschenThank you very much for this highly interesting article! I was quite surprised of how unsatisfied U.S. employees seem to feel at work which is even more confirmed by the comments below.
AntwortenLöschenWhen it comes to recruiting staff, in my opinion, passion and skills should go hand in hand. At best, you find someone who is passionate for what he/she is skilled for; wouldn’t that be an ideal situation? I dare believe that this would apply to quite some people who are then discouraged when they see how little value they seem to have for a company. This fact got especially visible to me by reading the comments below the article.
In my opinion, new technologies as well as a nicely designed workplace might definitely help avoid your staff lack passion. Nevertheless, I do not think that this is the most crucial part when it comes to passion for a job. I think that it is rather the opportunities, responsibilities, encouragement and trust communicated towards workers that make them become passionate as well as the feeling of being a valuable asset to the company that cannot be easily interchanged.
Reflecting on my past experiences I realized that it was exactly those criteria that made me get speed and motivation for the completion of tasks.
Even though some points might be challenging to put into practice in the today’s profit-seeking and fast-changing world, it appears to me that we have to stay optimistic and say: “Yes, we can!” :)
I agree with Anja that a nice and modern work place is important as one should feel comfortable where he/she spends most of this time.
AntwortenLöschenHowever Lisa also has a point in saying that the tasks should be challenging and/or interesting. A nice work place means nothing if you are not satisfied with your assigned tasks.
Personally I think that feedback is essential for the managers and the employees as both parties will learn from that.
Every employee has different needs and if those needs are satisfied he/she will become a passionate worker.
It is also essential that the workers feel valued and appreciated by the company. Nobody gets motivated or even passionate if the work is not recognized by the manager. I think exactly those feedback session can help. Another possible solution for not passionat workers might be job rotation as they might find better work colleagues or more interesting tasks in another department.
Passionate workers are also important for the reputation about a company. If you have no passionate or even motivated workforce your reputation might be damaged and you won't attract as many new possible employees and/or customers as you might have otherwise.
Having passionate employees is essential for companies to stay in business nowadays. Who doesn't want to be an attractive employer?
Thank you for sharing your opinions. I highly agree with all aspects and arguments considered and discussed above.
AntwortenLöschenEven though I am convinced that working in a modern and high-tech environment encourages workers and boosts their motivation, I also believe that true passion for a job cannot be "created" by whatever the employer is willing to offer his labour force.
Passion is an attitude people have towards things they like and can identify with. Performing a routine job without any responsibilities or self-empowerment, or not being able to identify with one’s tasks and their final objectives (as well as with the common goals and objectives of the company), will not allow employees to develop passion for their work.
What always made me passionate about tasks and jobs was the fact that I could really SEE what I achieved. Thus, the results of my performance – be it through positive feedback from a superior, colleague or customer, being self-content with what I accomplished, or having creating valuable and essential input for another colleague’s work – were the driving force behind my passion, rather than the new designer furniture or Apple computers in the office.
And yes, passionate employees are absolutely vital for companies in order to survive in today's economy. However, employers should not feel the need (and/or pressure) to create "artificial" passion among their work force via, for instance refurbishing the office. Passion, at least in my opinion, derives from each individual's attitude towards certain circumstances, tasks or goals. This attitude can probably be slightly influenced but not fundamentally changed. Therefore, the refurbished office or high-tech office equippment (or whaterver employers might offer) might just be the icing on the cake (for employee satisfaction) but it will definitely not make the employee love his job and feel passionate about it, if the employee cannot identify with what he is doing.
Thanks for the nice discussion that emerged during the last days. Of course, I totally agree with you and also think that a designer office won't create any passion among the employees if the tasks are not challenging. Real passion and employee empowerment can only be reached via the tasks and the responsibilities that an employee has. But having the latest technology, nice furniture and other amenities in an office will create a nice working environment and hence might improve the general working climate in a company (provided that the employees are essentially satisfied with their work and tasks).
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