Most employers have the
perception that employees only respond to negative reinforcement, but
the vast majority of employers confuse hostility to be negative
reinforcement!
While it is an established fact that negative reinforcement works, it is not completely effective to practice it on independent adults who make their own career decisions. Negative reinforcement in itself is not a bad thing as it aims to correct behaviour. Some employers set out to correct unwanted behaviour by creating a hostile work environment for their employees (the confusion).
The Hostile Work Environment
In an environment where employees are already unhappy and offered zero motivation, hostility only makes things worse. Example; a bossy manager who is a habitual "yeller", constantly yells at an employee (who already has one foot out the door) for not performing to his satisfaction, without offering any advise on how to improve, may and will eventually push this employee to add the second foot to the one already out the door.
In my years as a recruiter, I have encountered a lot of employees leaving their jobs due to bad management and toxic interpersonal relationships.
An employer who values the contributions of his/her employees, no matter how small, will make time to study each employee and their source of motivation. Some employees just need a little encouragement to do better, others need just a nudge in the right direction. There is always a way to make employees do things they will never do under normal circumstance and it all boils down to effective communication.
Verbally abusing or yelling at an employee practically sends a message that they are "stupid". Employees are not "stupid" as most employers believe, no matter how "dumb" they may seem. They just need a vote of confidence, room to make mistakes and learn from it and an assurance that they're trusted to contribute to the success of the organisation.
It is very easy for employees to stay with a good organisation for years (10 years' minimum) when you ask why, they tell you "I receive good pay, I have grown career wise, management is good, the company has a vision and it carries and empowers the employees to contribute". Now that sounds like an organisation any employee would hope to work for.
Effects of Hostile Work Conditions
2. Fear
For some employees, once their efforts are harshly critiqued, they coil into their shell and are always afraid to make another attempt. Worse case scenario, they may even be scared at just the thought of going to work when they wake up in the morning. This is not healthy for the employee.
3. Employee Turnover
An employee will launch a job search, stealth or open, only when he/she is not happy at his/her current place of employment. While a lot of factors can cause any employee to quit their job (some of these reasons are sometimes tolerated), the moment an employee senses hostility, they start looking for a way out.
Now, the moment a good employee leaves such an organisation, others follow because they do not want to be at the receiving end of the extra attention (surplus hostility) from managers.
4. Negative Mental Conditioning
Once employees are constantly subjected to abuse, they start to think that no amount of effort will make a good impression to their managers. This makes employees second guess their performance, that they are not good enough and will never be. Sadly, this transcends work and affects personal relationships too (in some extreme cases).
While employees are advised to leave such toxic organisations, employers are also advised to be empathic when handling employees. It will take great effort and time, but nothing is impossible under sun. Do you have any ideas on how employers perception can be changed? I invite you to leave your comments below.
Written by Frances Owusu, HR Coordinator at Ghana HR Solutions
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frances-ekua-owusu-08b81060/
While it is an established fact that negative reinforcement works, it is not completely effective to practice it on independent adults who make their own career decisions. Negative reinforcement in itself is not a bad thing as it aims to correct behaviour. Some employers set out to correct unwanted behaviour by creating a hostile work environment for their employees (the confusion).
The Hostile Work Environment
In an environment where employees are already unhappy and offered zero motivation, hostility only makes things worse. Example; a bossy manager who is a habitual "yeller", constantly yells at an employee (who already has one foot out the door) for not performing to his satisfaction, without offering any advise on how to improve, may and will eventually push this employee to add the second foot to the one already out the door.
In my years as a recruiter, I have encountered a lot of employees leaving their jobs due to bad management and toxic interpersonal relationships.
An employer who values the contributions of his/her employees, no matter how small, will make time to study each employee and their source of motivation. Some employees just need a little encouragement to do better, others need just a nudge in the right direction. There is always a way to make employees do things they will never do under normal circumstance and it all boils down to effective communication.
Verbally abusing or yelling at an employee practically sends a message that they are "stupid". Employees are not "stupid" as most employers believe, no matter how "dumb" they may seem. They just need a vote of confidence, room to make mistakes and learn from it and an assurance that they're trusted to contribute to the success of the organisation.
It is very easy for employees to stay with a good organisation for years (10 years' minimum) when you ask why, they tell you "I receive good pay, I have grown career wise, management is good, the company has a vision and it carries and empowers the employees to contribute". Now that sounds like an organisation any employee would hope to work for.
Effects of Hostile Work Conditions
- Rebellion
2. Fear
For some employees, once their efforts are harshly critiqued, they coil into their shell and are always afraid to make another attempt. Worse case scenario, they may even be scared at just the thought of going to work when they wake up in the morning. This is not healthy for the employee.
3. Employee Turnover
An employee will launch a job search, stealth or open, only when he/she is not happy at his/her current place of employment. While a lot of factors can cause any employee to quit their job (some of these reasons are sometimes tolerated), the moment an employee senses hostility, they start looking for a way out.
Now, the moment a good employee leaves such an organisation, others follow because they do not want to be at the receiving end of the extra attention (surplus hostility) from managers.
4. Negative Mental Conditioning
Once employees are constantly subjected to abuse, they start to think that no amount of effort will make a good impression to their managers. This makes employees second guess their performance, that they are not good enough and will never be. Sadly, this transcends work and affects personal relationships too (in some extreme cases).
While employees are advised to leave such toxic organisations, employers are also advised to be empathic when handling employees. It will take great effort and time, but nothing is impossible under sun. Do you have any ideas on how employers perception can be changed? I invite you to leave your comments below.
Written by Frances Owusu, HR Coordinator at Ghana HR Solutions
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frances-ekua-owusu-08b81060/
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