How Organizations Can Improve Employee Attitude?

Imagine a situation wherein you are talking to your team members. You have presented a proposal. You have explained your thought process and now you would like their feedback, suggestions and concerns. When asked, one of the team-mates said: “You have already decided so I have no comments” How would you feel about that?

Behavioural issues like attitude is a matter of a major concern for organizations. Such issues lead to negativity in the workplace and it costs organizations a lot of money. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that businesses lose $ 3 billion dollars every year due to the effects of negative attitudes in workplaces.

Harvard Business Review carried out a survey in 2013 on how employees dealt with behavioural issues faced in the organization. Some of the key findings were as follows:

●    98% of employees face rudeness in office

●    25% of the employees take out their frustrations on customers

●    12% leave the organization because of such negativity

 So, what can organizational leadership do to improve the attitude of their employees? Organizations should focus on 3 areas:

 1.  Change Organizational Mindset

2.  Early Adoption of Behavioural Skills

3.  More Investment in Behavioural Skills Training and Hiring

 Change Organizational Mindset

Organizations should change their mindset recognizing that behavioural skills are much more important than technical skills. Technical skills can be learnt any day, but behavioural skills, after a certain age are very difficult to adopt. Mindset change is necessary. Although the shift has started showing in the organizational mindset, the pace needs to increase.

Early Adoption of Behavioural Skills

From the day of induction, employees should be introduced to the company values and behavioural skills including attitude. Leaders should guide, coach, mentor and closely monitor employees so that the company culture and values become a part of the employees values and culture.

More Investment in Behavioural Skills in Training and Hiring

Organizations should invest more in behavioural skills training. Organizations do invest a lot in technical training but comparatively much less in behavioural skills. More investment is required in this area. Alongside, organizations should also invest sufficient time in assessing the behavioural skills (including attitude) of candidates during hiring. This can be done through pre-set questionnaires and a rigorous interview process that includes multiple rounds of screening. Currently, the primary focus is on the technical skills of candidates. However, if the attitude/values of the employee are not the right fit for the organization it can impact the overall efficiency of the organization.

In conclusion, organizations should immediately take cognizance of both the seriousness of the situation as well as the opportunity that awaits them if behavioural skills are properly managed. The company culture should strongly drive the behavioural change within the organization. Proper coaching and having good hiring practices in place will reap long term benefits for all in the organization.

Asish Datta: As COO and CFO, Congruent Info-Tech, I am focused towards maximizing profitable growth by providing matured people and result oriented leadership. I am also very passionate about coaching budding leaders who are looking to make it big in the IT industry. For more information, please contact me @asish2611@gmail.com.

Reference:

1. Porath, C., Pearson, C. (2013), "The Price of Incivility", Harvard Business Review, viewed on June 6, 2021, available at https://hbr.org/2013/01/the-price-of-incivility