The Enthusiastic Employee

David Sirota has two abiding professional interests: organization behavior and survey research. Both of these interests took hold at the University of Michigan, where he received his doctorate, and where he worked at that university’s Institute for Social Research, a leading center for applying survey methods to the study of organizations. Upon receiving his doctorate, David was recruited by International Business Machines (IBM) to help initiate behavioral science research there. He stayed at IBM for 12 years in a variety of research and executive positions, leaving in 1972 to set up his own firm, Sirota Consulting, now simply Sirota. The firm specializes in the diagnosis and improvement of the relationships of organizations with all of their key constituencies: employees, customers, suppliers, investors, and communities. In 1996, David became chairman emeritus of the firm, after completing his own succession plan with key employees. He continues to consult with selected clients, primarily on matters of leadership, and collaboration and conflict within and between organizations.   Parallel to his career as a consultant, David has had an academic career, having taught at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations of Cornell University, the School of Industrial Administration of Yale University, the Sloan School of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.   David is married with two children and lives in New York City.   Douglas Klein is, likewise, steeped in survey research, with 25 years of experience in the field. Prior to joining Sirota, he worked for AT&T, building leadership assessment centers and conducting employee research, and then at Time Warner, where he conducted employee and customer satisfaction research. Doug brought his insights into employee and customer research to Sirota and helped launch its “linkage” efforts, statistically relating employee attitudes, customer attitudes, and “hard” business metrics. He managed the normative database for the firm for more than a decade (on which so much in the book’s first and second editions is based) and is seen by many as a real historian of employee attitudes. His current role as the firm’s chief leadership advisor allows him to apply his strong analytical skills and decades of client experience to issues of organizational values and culture and to the day-to-day problems faced by senior executives in the management of their companies.   Doug is an active advisor, speaker, and writer. (See his blog on www.sirota.com and search for the many articles he has authored or to which he has contributed.) He holds a master’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology from New York University.   Doug lives in Merrick, New York, with his wife Ilene and their two children.  

Acknowledgments xi

About the Authors xiii

About the Second Edition xv

Our New Website xx

Introduction 1

Asking the Questions 4

Asking the Right Questions 4

Questions Result in Data 6

After the Honeymoon 11

A Quick Look at “Old-Fashioned” Theories 12

Solid Theory, Research, and Management Practice to Which We Are in Debt 15

How This Book Is Organized 15

Part I  Worker Motivation, Morale, and Performance 17

Chapter 1  What Workers Want—The Big Picture 19

Blame It on the Young 20

The Lordstown Strike and Job Enrichment “Solution” 22

The Generation Gap Mythology Re-Emerges 24

Myths About the Work Itself 29

The Sirota Three-Factor Theory 32

The Specific Evidence for the Three-Factor Theory 45

How the Three Factors Work in Combination 52

Racial/Ethnic and Gender Differences 55

Individual Differences 62

Chapter 2  Employee Enthusiasm and Business Success 67

Making the Connection 67

Telling Us in Their Own Words 69

A Few Leading Organizations 74

“Enthusiasm” Versus “Engagement” 79

Enthusiasm and Performance: The Research Evidence 81

Building the People Performance Model 86

Part II  Enthusiastic Workforces, Motivated by Fair Treatment 93

Chapter 3  Job Security 95

Specific Job Security Policies and Practices 107

Chapter 4  Compensation 117

Money as Seen by Workers 117

Money as Seen by Employers 118

Levels of Pay 122

Paying for Performance 133

Recommendations 143

A Note on Merit Pay for Teachers 157

Chapter 5  The Impact of the Great Recession: Flight to Preservation 161

The Survey Results 165

The Role of Management 176

Chapter 6  Respect 181

The Heart of Respect 184

Humiliating Treatment 186

Indifferent Treatment 188

The Specifics of Respectful Treatment 193

Physical Conditions of Work 195

Status Distinctions 196

Compensation Status Is a Fundamental Distinction 200

Job Autonomy 203

Constrained Communication 206

Part III  Enthusiastic Workforces, Motivated by Achievement 213

Chapter 7  Organization Purpose and Principles 215

Elements of Pride in One’s Company 215

The Impact on Performance of “Doing Good” 219

Short- Versus Long-Term Profit Horizon 225

More About Purpose 231

More About Principles 232

Ethics in the Treatment of Employees 233

Getting Practical: Translating Statements of Purposes and Principles into Practice 238

Chapter 8  Job Enablement 255

Ah, Bureaucracy! The Evil That Just Won’t Go Away 262

A Management Style That Works 269

Layers of Management 274

The Benefits of Self-Managed Teams 278

Telecommuting: Yahoo Bans Work-From-Home 283

Chapter 9  Job Challenge 295

Is This an Aberration, Are Workers Delusional, or Are They Lying? 297

Given a Choice, Few People Volunteer to Fail 300

Push and Pull 302

Chapter 10  Feedback, Recognition, and Reward 313

Do Workers Get the Feedback They Need? 313

Guidance 315

A Short Course on Giving Cognitive Feedback 318

Evaluation, Recognition, and Reward 330

What Makes for Effective Recognition of Workers? 333

Advancement 340

The Other Side of the Equation: Dealing with Unsatisfactory Performance 343

Feedback Sets Priorities 347

Part IV  Enthusiastic Workforces, Motivated by Camaraderie 349

Chapter 11  Teamwork 351

A Look Back 352

Are We Doing Better Now? 353

Socializing While Working 354

Uncooperative Co-Workers Have an Exponentially Negative Effect 356

Contentious Workgroups Are Drags on the Organization 357

Building Partnership 362

How Can the Misperceptions Be Uncovered, Confronted, and Corrected? 364

Lay the Foundation Prior to the Workshop 367

Establish Workshop Ground Rules 367

A Typical Workshop Agenda 369

Action Example: IT and Its Users 370

Part V  Bringing It All Together: The Culture of Partnership 375

Chapter 12  The Culture of Partnership 377

Application to Other Constituencies 395

A Cultural Case Study of Mayo Clinic 396

Partnership in These Times 405

Chapter 13  Leadership and the Partnership Culture 411

The Critical Importance of Effective Leadership 412

Trust 414

Charisma 417

The Nine Key Leadership Attributes 421

Chapter 14  Translating Partnership Theory into Partnership Practice 431

It Starts at the Top 433

The Action Process 436

Endnotes 457

Index 479