We all want to feel good when we go home after a full day of work. Unfortunately, many hard working professionals go home stressed, overwhelmed and frustrated. They experience and talk about the disconnection between management and staff. They may also feel as if the clientele receives poor services or products.
“Hardworking professionals who want to be happy” ask themselves hard yet smart questions to advance their careers and income. Today’s question deals with workplace satisfaction. Are you and your workplace together forever? This question is important because we spend the majority of our waking time at work. Who wants to be miserable or unhappy at work? No one does. This smart and simple question leads us to examine the relationship we truly have with the place that pays us.
We know that employee/workplace relationship is built upon commitment. Each party makes a commitment to the organization’s mission and to each other. They work together toward a common goal. This type of commitment is not unlike that in a marriage or long term romantic relationship.
Every day will not be rosy; however, every day can start and end on the foundation of a strong and stable connection. These five statements describe the components that encourage a long-lasting relationship.
Relationship Components
• Strong long lasting relationships are held together with trust. Workplaces facilitate trust by weaving honesty, fairness, and consistency into everything that is done, said or planned.
• Compatible relationships form when employees and workplaces share a common mission. The workplace again incorporates the tenets of the mission into the fabric of the organization.
• Two – way communication allows employees to fully participate in workplace problem-solving and decision – making. The workplace values employee input and allows all employees an opportunity to share.
• No workplace is without faults. A workplace that promotes open conversation, negotiation, or mediation creates an environment in which compromise is possible when necessary.
• Employees speak in positive terms when speaking of their workplace. Management uses affirming phrases to describe the workforce. Their actions towards employees demonstrate the significant value of employees.
• A desire to understand drives all interactions between management, employees and clientele.
We are launching Smart and Simple Questions, a new web series in partnership with our sister website For REAL Social Workers Online Magazine. Stay tuned for more.