Regarding psychic benefits, employee morale, and motivation, here's a link to 
a useful HR site with links to MANY different articles about managing people:
http://humanresources.about.com/od/motivationrewardretention/ .  Some good 
stuff there.

And here are a few more links which discuss group dynamics which can affect 
morale positively or negatively within the workplace:

1.  I mentioned in my first posting the challenges of managing people in 
different functions.  From an article posted on the website of a CPA firm, 
interesting observations on two managers trying to sort out differences between their 
respective functions:

http://www.bpcpa.com/openness01.html

2.  A dissertation focused on educators includes some interesting statistics 
and observations:

http://thomdramer.com/dramer/p3.html

And finally, a few more thoughts from Maarja off the top of her head:  I keep 
emphasizing the importance of recognizing differences and figuring out what 
makes employees tick.  Some people are introverts, others are extroverts.  
Myers Briggs testing is useful in sorting out some of this.  Some people are 
comfortable with top down management and a sense of order and control where 
everyone knows his or her place.  Others thrive in situations which may seem chaotic 
to those who like order.  And do best in an environment with a flat structure 
and few boundaries and lots of opportunities for creative brainstorming.  

There are no one size fits all solutions to offering psychic benefits.  
Figure out who likes what and offer opportunities for as many types of people as 
you can.  Try to avoid force fits.  For example, a chance to write an article 
for an internal organizational newsletter about one's function might help an 
introvert shine.  A chance to talk about one's function before a large group 
would better suit an extrovert.  This can get tricky, BTW.  Keep in mind that some 
people work in functions for which they have less natural aptitude than their 
peers.  They may have to wear masks and to adopt conventions and rituals that 
are not natural to them.  Look for ways to give them a break from that, to 
let them be themselves just a little bit from time to time but still succeed 
professionally!

And finally, there is the challenge of motivating people of different 
generations.  A great book for this is WHEN GENERATIONS COLLIDE.  See
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0066621062/103-0456666-3480645?v=glance&n=283
155
or
http://shrinkster.com/gh8  

Maarja

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