Why bosses are unable to make employees love work

“How would you feel about a physician who killed more patients than he helped? What about a police detective who committed more murders than he solved? Or a teacher whose students were more likely to get dumber than smarter as the school year progressed?

And what if you discovered that these perverse outcomes were more the rule than the exception—that they were characteristic of most doctors, policemen and professors? You’d be more than perplexed. You’d be incensed, outraged. You’d demand that something must be done!

Given this, why are we complacent when confronted with data that suggest most managers are more likely to douse the flames of employee enthusiasm than fan them, and are more likely to frustrate extraordinary accomplishment than to foster it?”

Gary Hamel, WSJ.com (16 December 2009)

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Gary Hamel is making a big point here.

It is managers’ job to manage — which means to get work done through others, by motivating them to give their best.

So why are they mostly so very bad at it, and why do we put up with this state of affairs?

Hamel is referring to a survey by Towers Perrin that came out last year.

This global study attempted to look at employee engagement by polling 90,000 workers around the world.

It revealed some shocking news: that only a fifth of employees feel ‘truly engaged’ in their work— ie would go the extra mile if asked to.

Nearly four out of 10 are mostly or entirely disengaged.

What a damning indictment of management—and I have to tell you I think things are even worse in this part of the world. So how do we explain this?

Is it that managers don’t know this about their workforces?

Highly doubtful—workplace boredom is too common.