Hitting the sweet spot of dignity
It’s the last Friday of August, next week marks the official start of spring. Exciting times ahead!
As you know, all of the work we do is aimed at Making Work Rock – we help companies create cultures that people want to be a part of, while at the same time helping employees develop to reach their fullest potential. At it’s core, organizational health aims at striking the balance between what the company and the individual employee wants and needs. At times this can be a pretty tricky tightrope to navigate. Striking the right balance between humanity or compassion and performance or results isn’t a straightforward task, as any leader, manager or employee will be quick to recognize.
Let me explain, by using something that all consultants love, a simple 2 by 2:
From our perspective, humanity and performance seem to sit at two extremes of a pendulum. In the past, much of the emphasis was placed on achieving results at the expense of the people involved. Not caring about the impact on anybody involved, the aim was to keep shareholders happy even if that meant doing things that caused harm to employees, communities, the environment or any related stakeholders.
In recent times (although it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when and where this started, but the Pandemic certainly made it more visible) the pendulum has swung to the other extreme. Many employees and society at large are adamant that their unique needs be met, irrespective of these things being practically viable, sustainable or even beneficial to themselves. The great resignation came about (and is probably not over yet) from millions of individuals feeling like they were wasting their lives in positions that were not aligned to their purpose, values, skills or needs. In essence, the need for a greater sense of humanity in the workplace came to the fore. This is a position we agree with, but this is also something that can go to the extreme. When employees insist on working remotely, although it might come at the expense of their teams or delivering high quality results, this obviously becomes an issue. Many people that have recently left their previous employers have asked for their jobs back, realizing that freelancing is not the ideal situation for them.
We cannot chase results at all costs, this is not a sustainable way of conducting business. We also cannot overemphasize humanity and give every individual exactly what he or she wants, at the expense of performance. Rather, we need to hit the sweet spot of emphasizing both, which manifests itself as an experience of dignity in the workplace.
We experience dignity in our work when we are held to a high standard in terms of performance, but also are treated in a caring, fair and respected way. When the needs of the business and the individual are in balance and are held in equal esteem, this brings the best out of both. Employees want to contribute and make the sacrifices needed to be part of a great work environment, that does business in a sustainable and responsible way. Everybody wins.
So ask yourself this: as a leader, manager, employee, parent or friend, which side do you tend to default towards, humanity of performance? Where does your business sit on this continuum and do you need a bit of a course correction towards the middle ground?
Organisational health is what we do. Whether you team or business is large or small, talk to us if you need help finding your way.
Thank you for reading and spending some time with us at the end of the week. We really do appreciate your continued support. Please share this content with anyone you think could benefit from it.
Have a great weekend and enjoy the start of spring!
At PurposeWorks we are all about Making You and Your Work Rock. Our focus is on Organisational Health and Design, Employee Centered Culture, Leadership Development and Performance Coaching. For more information on how we can help you create a work environment that rocks, develop a great team, become an inspiring leader or unlock your personal excellence talk to us at info@purposeworks.co.za.
