Excellent question, Laura, and one which many managers have had to grapple.
I'm not sure how much this will help you, but here's my perspective on how to
keep up morale under challenging circumstances.
I'm lucky in that I work within a unit at the Government Accountability
Office in which people perform disparate functions but have bonded well and the
unit consequently has high morale. (Check out the Office of Quality and
Continuous Improvement at www.gao.gov/about.gao/phonebook/orgphonebook.pdf to see the
composition of my current office.) But I saw some of the challenges of
keeping up staff morale in the early 1980s, when the National Archives went through
a reduction in staff. Promotions were few and bonuses small or nonexistent
for some years to come. How to keep up morale under those circumstances?
I think you're on the right track in recognizing that psychic benefits as
well as monetary benefits can be motivators. Some managers understand use them
instinctively, others have to be taught. And, let's face it, some never "get
it," and may go through the motions but torpedo their own efforts because they
are unable to absorb some key concepts. I think a lot of this depends on how
confident the manager is and whether he has the ability to partner with people
of varying ranks. Someone who is overly invested in his own sense of status
may be unable to lead effectively during tough times. Even bringing up the
question of workplace improvement might be dangerous for subordinates working for
such a manager, so the first step is understanding how the top people think
and operate. I was lucky that I worked with managers at NARA who knew how to
improve morale even when there was no money to be handed out as part of the
official rewards system.
It is useful for managers to understand what makes for a high performing
workplace. You can give out all the cash awards you want but if staff are afraid,
they probably won't perform as well as they can. Conversely, you can inspire
staff to work hard even if you can't reward them financially. We worked very
hard at NARA and did good work, even after the RIF that took place in
1981-1982. A key component was trust and respect.
One of the best books that I have read on how to obtain these nonfinancial
benefits is DRIVING FEAR OUT OF THE WORKPLACE : CREATING THE HIGH-TRUST,
HIGH-PERFORMANCE ORGANIZATION by Daniel K. Oestreich and Kathleen D. Ryan. This book
has been used both by civilian and military thinkers. (For example, you can
see it listed in the bibliography of a paper posted on the website of the U.S.
Army's Combined Arms Center. In writing about "How Much Obedience Does an
Officer Need?" Ulrich F. Zwygart draws on the Oestreich/Ryan book to note that
"Recent publications for businessmen stress the value of criticism, because
quality work is impossible where people are afraid to tell the truth." (Although
unrelated to your question, the Zwygart paper actually is interesting, if you
have time, check out
http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/Zwygart/zwygart.asp )
But I digress (as usual, LOL). According to Oestreich and Ryan, a high
performance, high trust group shows the following:
1. Mutual helpfulness and understanding,
2. Serving as a reality check for one another,
3. Providing feedback for one another, on strengths as well as areas that
need improvement,
4. Influencing each other's ideas and decisions;
5. Willingness to be influenced,
6. Humor;
7. Enjoyment of each other's company,
8. Creative, synergistic problem solving where the results are greater than
the sum of the parts,
9. Respect for different backgrounds and talents;
10. Reliance on one another's expertise to ensure the best results,
11. Willingness and ability to work through conflicts and disagreements,
12. Common commitment to the same goal;
13. Commitment to one another's success,
14. A high level of rapport and honesty with one another,
15. Straightforward communication.
Oestreich and Ryan say that correctly handling the concept of
"undiscussables" is an important part of managing fear in the workplace. Can people speak up
about everything that the boss needs to know? Or not? Do the boss or others
in the group exhibit behavior that shuts the door to discussing certain
topics, making them "undiscussable?" (Do the bosses shoot the messenger -- or
reward him or her?) Or is it possible to talk about concerns, no matter how
tricky the issue? According to Oestreich/Ryan, if you anwer yes to these question,
you have characteristics of a fear based organization:
1. Do a high proportion of people in your organization frequently hesitate
to speak up about certain issues?
2. Does a fear of speaking up exist at many levels in your organization?
3. Do people in the workplace associate bosses with fear?
4. Do leaders in the organization exhibit behavior that causes employees to
be afraid?
5. Are people reacting with strong emotions to a perceived environment of
fear?
6. Is fear having an impact on work and how it is getting done?
On a related topic, you also might consider taking a look at "Why do People
and Organizations Produce the Opposite of What they Intend," at
www.rotman.utoronto.ca/rogermartin/Walkerton.pdf
Finally, many of us (archivists, records managers, historians) work in one
person functions. Roger Trask, former dean of a history department and a
retired Federal historian, has noted perceptively, "one of the problems peculiar to
one-person [history] offices is professional and intellectual loneliness.
There is no one readily available internally to discuss program directions and
initiatives, research problems and analytical questions." Having worked in three
federal agencies, Trask believes the federal historian often faces problems
because he "is a unique and little-understood personality in an agency engrossed
in current affairs." (Roger R. Trask, "Small Federal History Offices in the
Nation's Capital," The Public Historian (Winter 1991)
If you are a manager of a mixed group of employees, encourage your
subordinates to find ways to decrease intellectual loneliness. Make sure they have
outlets for discussing professional issues, either with your or with others. Some
of this is obvious -- give them opportunities for speaking up and
contributing, etc. And, as in any mixed group, look out for and counter actions by
bullies who don't want to hear the views of people outside the dominant group.
A sense of community, either physically or virtually, goes a long to improve
morale. Managers sometimes overlook this, especially when most of the
employees belong to a dominant group (say, mostly scientists, or artists) with only a
few employees working in functions (history, archives, records management)
that require different skills and aptitudes than those found within the dominant
group. It is easy to reward psycically the ones in the dominant group; it
takes a lot of skill by a manager to reward the people in one-person functions.
But the payoff is great if you can do it!
Good luck and thanks for your patience in making your way through my rambles
this Saturday afternoon!
Maarja
In a message dated 7/7/2006 3:23:33 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Dear Colleagues,
As part of a training exercise, myself and several other colleagues are
putting together a presentation on non-monetary means of improving staff
morale at our library. Due to union issues, neither monetary methods nor
extra time off are options, which fact is causing us to more creatively
shape our research and brainstorming. We’re focusing on a variety of
different fronts, including rewards, recognition, professional development,
social events, and special “perk” programs.
We’re curious as to what other institutions are doing in these arenas, and
whether they feel their institution’s efforts are successful. If folks on
the list wouldn’t mind taking a few minutes to share—even just a few items
or programs—it would be immensely helpful. As this topic could be construed
as a somewhat political one, feel free to contact me either on or off-list,
or to leave out the name/identifying features of your institution.
Thanks!
Laura Ruttum
Manuscripts Specialist,
Manuscripts and Archives Division
New York Public Library
[log in to unmask]
A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
*or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>