CEO Chronicles # 40 : Five Workplace Myths Busted! November 24th, 2020
Workplace Myths
It is so easy to believe in myths.
We are conditioned to believe. From childhood, we hear our parents and elders caution us or advise us about various myths.
“Friday the thirteenth inevitably brings bad luck.”
“If your right palm itches, you are likely to receive money.”
“Walking under a ladder will lead to sorrow.”
Most myths are beliefs or practices that result from one of five causes :
- Ignorance
- Fear of the unknown
- Trust in magic, luck or chance
- A false conception of causation
- An irrational attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God
Similarly, workplace myths, too, abound.
A lot of these myths start off as well-intentioned business and leadership observations. Sadly, they take on the garb of wisdom, and over time, are believed as if they were gospel.
Here are 5 workplace myths that research has proven wrong. You have surely heard of these. You have possibly believed these myths.
Let us bust these myths once and for all!
Myth # 1 : Longer Hours = More Productivity
Since I started working many years ago, I have always been told that putting in extra hours is the sure route to achievement and success.
“See that colleague – he works 14 hours every day, and his career is sky-rocketing.”
Research has conclusively proved that employees are actually more productive when they work shorter days.
In one case, using a time-tracking productivity app called DeskTime, the Draugiem Group conducted an experiment to understand the habits of the most productive employees.
They found that the employees with the highest productivity did not work longer hours than their counterpart. In fact, they did not even work full eight-hour days.
Instead, the most productive employees took a 17-minute break for every 52 minutes of work.
Built in breaks and shorter workdays actually enable employees to be their most productive.
In fact, the reverse is true. Working longer hours can, in fact, lead to greater operational costs and negative health effects, such as sleep deprivation, which can threaten productivity.
Myth # 2 : High Achievers = Great Managers
How often have we seen a superb sales representative being promoted to a sales manager’s role and then failing spectacularly.
“Rajan has surpassed his sales targets 3 years in a row. Let us promote him to Sales Manager!” And 6 months later, “I am afraid we will need to let Rajan go – he is just not up to the task!”
There is a clear difference between performing and managing.
Performance is necessary to be a manager, but not sufficient.
To be high achiever, one needs to bring out the best in oneself. To be a great manager, one needs to be able to understand, interact with and bring the best out of people.
Research has found that managers who don’t have the ability to improve the productivity of their people fail at twice the rate of average-quality managers.
So being a great manager takes more than just being great at your job. You need to understand your people and their capabilities and make them great performers, too.
Myth # 3 : Higher Salaries = Happier Employees
“I think George may be thinking of leaving us. We should increase his salary so that he stays.”
Salary is important.
But salary is not a motivator. It can cause dissatisfaction, but it can never satisfy. It is a ‘hygiene’ factor.
The best research in this area is Frederick Herzberg’s in motivation and hygiene factors, and their impact on morale and productivity.
Herzberg showed that the there are two kinds of factors in the workplace – motivators (satisfying factors) and dissatisfiers (hygiene factors). The proper management of hygiene factors can prevent employee dissatisfaction, but these factors can never serve as a source of motivation.
A good salary, for instance, will keep employees at a job but does not motivate them to work harder. But poor salaries may make employees look elsewhere and quit.
A manager who wants to increase employee satisfaction and happiness needs to focus on the motivators. A job with many satisfying factors will usually motivate workers, provide job satisfaction, and prompt effective performance.
Satisfying factors include recognition, responsibility, advancement, job satisfaction and growth.
Hygiene factors include salary, job security, workplace conditions and supervision.
Myth # 4 : Happy Workplace = Zero Conflict
Most of us believe that workplace disagreements are undesirable.
Such disagreements indicate tension and disconnect, distract team members from doing their jobs, and therefore damage productivity.
But research reveals just the opposite: in many cases, disagreements fuel better performance.
Most workplace disagreements fall into one of two categories:
- relationship conflicts, which involve personality clashes, and
- task conflicts, which focus on how work is performed.
Studies indicate that while relationship conflicts are indeed detrimental, task conflicts produce better decisions and stronger financial outcomes.
Healthy debate encourages group members to think more deeply, scrutinize alternatives, and avoid premature consensus.
While many of us view conflict as unpleasant, the experience of open deliberation can actually energize employees by providing them with better strategies for doing their job.
Workplaces that avoid disagreements in an effort to maintain group harmony are doing themselves a disservice. Far better to create an environment in which thoughtful debate is encouraged.
Myth # 5 : Open Plan = More Engagement
“Let us move to an open plan office – that will help our employees engage more and collaborate better!”
Theoretically, open plan offices should encourage more interaction.
With no cubicles or walls to divide staff, open plan offices were originally planned to increase collaboration within teams and workplaces.
But a 2018 study from researchers at Harvard University suggests the design could be counterproductive.
Comparing the experiences of employees at two Fortune 500 companies before and after a move to open plan, the researchers found that face-to-face time between employees decreased by around 70% while the use of email increased in the range of 22-50%.
Why?
One, the drive for increased interaction and collaboration comes at the expense of the ability to focus and concentrate. Continuous distractions make it hard for employees to focus. This results in increasing stress and errors, undermining performance and productivity. This forces employees to work harder and longer; causing them to eschew interaction with others so they can complete their tasks.
Two, engagement and interaction are not products of workspace configuration. They are outcomes of culture, workplace environment, team-structure and role definitions.
Tradition Is Obsolete
Five common workplace myths busted!
By now, you should have realized that these myths have been believed for so many years only because we fell prey to tradition.
“This is how it was always done, so this is how we must continue to do it.”
Break out of that mindset. It is a prison that shackles you and prevents you from innovating and growing.
Look at every myth that you have accepted. Question it. Evaluate it. And then, discard it or embrace it based on the value it brings to your workplace.
What is the myth you want to bust today?
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Do send your inputs to me, either as a comment or as a PM.
Cheers | Shesh | Singapore | 24 November 2020.
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