Does Your Office Need an Intervention? - Conversation Starter - HarvardBusiness.org

'If there's one thing the winners of the Boston Globe's 100 Top Places to Work have in common, it's this: They all believe it's good business to keep employees satisfied, motivated, and working hard. Show them respect,' says Shirley Leung, assistant managing editor of business news for the Globe.

But not every company is so lucky. In fact, many organizations are bastions of dysfunction, where overwork and stress fuel negative and aggressive behaviors. For example, take bullying — one of those behaviors which tends to spike up during stressful times. One recent study states, '37% of the U.S. workforce (an est. 54 million Americans) report being bullied at work; an additional 12% witness it. 49% of workers. Simultaneously 45% report neither experiencing nor witnessing bullying. Hence, a silent epidemic.'

..:: If this sounds like your company, maybe you need an office intervention ::..

Some say dysfunctional workplace behaviors, such as bullying and aggression, are just part of work, that they don't affect the bottom line, and that people should just 'knock it off,' and get back to business. But the results of this thinking deeply negatively impact business. 'The threat response is both mentally taxing and deadly to the productivity of a person — or of an organization. It impairs analytical thinking, creative insight, and problem solving,' says David Rock of Strategy+Business.

..:: Full article: Does Your Office Need an Intervention? - Conversation Starter - HarvardBusiness.org

Share|