From the Bookshelf This is a fortnightly review of bestsellers for business executives Fostering employee enthusiasm by Susanna Tai A business is only as good as the people in it What sets the best companies apart is the quality of their staff. That, of course, doesn't mean having a lineup of top graduates and MBA holders. Rather, it is a matter of having the sort of people who willingly work late to get a project finished, are always upbeat when dealing with customers, and are interested in everything colleagues or the company is doing. With that kind of enthusiasm and commitment, any organisation can look forward to years of success. In The Enthusiastic Employee, How Companies Profit by Giving Workers What They Want, David Sirota and his co-authors explain what managers must do to achieve this, and highlight where things consistently go wrong. Their central thesis is that, in a successful enterprise, much depends on generating and maintaining employee enthusiasm which is "not just a feeling or an attitude: it is a motivated state, impelling people to action" (p.40). This viewpoint derives from a survey involving over 2.5 million employees at 237 companies in 89 countries. The research showed a strong correlation between employee morale and business success in terms of productivity, quality of work, sales and stock market performance. It also found that about 95 per cent of employees are enthusiastic when starting a new job. They work positively, persistently and are willing to go the extra mile for the company. But, according to the authors, this rarely lasts, mainly because "management treats them as sources of problems, costs, and resistance rather than as assets" (p.301). This approach makes the work environment oppressive and suppresses the natural enthusiasm that recruits initially bring to their jobs. Key measures In analysing what happens, the authors use four measures of employee morale: enthusiasm, satisfaction, neutrality and anger. Using this scale, only 13.8 per cent of the organisations surveyed had an enthusiastic workforce and, generally speaking, this went hand in hand with lower staff turnover, fewer customer complaints and higher quality products or services. For employees, three basic factors make all the difference — equity, achievement and camaraderie. Equity means that people want to be treated fairly in relation to their peers in terms of pay, benefits, respect and safety. Achievement reflects the fact that they want to be proud of their jobs and the company they work for, as well as to receive due rewards and recognition. Camaraderie develops from teamwork and professional interaction, and allows staff to build close, cooperative relationships. When these conditions exist, management will be well on the way to having a motivated and enthusiastic workforce. Wrong approach The survey results also revealed that many companies regard their employees as expendable and will instigate layoffs at the first sign of a downturn. However, the authors point out: "If an organisation seeks to have enthusiastic workers, it must understand that those employees are not fungible objects" (p.58). In fact, some of the most successful US corporations have managed to get through difficult times without letting staff go. Their methods are based on good communication, promoting cooperation, and designing flexible remuneration packages, which are performance-based. The book also recommends that companies adopt a style of management based on "partnership". Applying this, they will treat staff as mature, responsible adults who have the organisation's best interests at heart. It is estimated that using these methods can boost employee performance by 30 to 40 per cent. However, the authors also learned during their research that many organisations barely acknowledge the connection between employee enthusiasm and corporate results, indicating there is still some way to go. Content highlights: Recognising good performance is one of the best way of creating strong morale Regular team or company meetings help to foster commitment, communication, participation and teamwork Employers should offer financial incentives in the form of commission, profit-sharing and bonuses, as well as flexible working hours, unpaid leave and the option of working from home to allow a work-life balance Laying off staff should only be a last resort About the authors David Sirota is founder and chairman emeritus of Sirota Consulting, a firm that aims to improve business performance by systematically measuring and managing employee, customer and community relationships. He previously worked for IBM as director of behaviourial science research and application. He has taught at Cornell, Yale, MIT and Wharton, and was a study director at the University of Michigan's Institute of Social Research. Louis A. Mischkind has been involved with organisational effectiveness for over 35 years. Before joining Sirota Consulting, he was programme director of executive development at IBM. Michael Irwin Meltzer joined Sirota Consulting in 2001 as managing director. He has advised financial consultancies and real estate developers, as well as sales, distribution and construction organisations. Taken from Career Times 14 April 2006 Your comments are welcome at [email protected]