Business Link

Add the vibe There is a direct relationship between human motivation and productivity at work.

Good work conditions have a positive impact on efficiency and productivity. We prefer to work with state of the art equipment, in safe, clean and functional workshops and offices. A spot of colour, aesthetical interiors and ergonomic desk arrangements are perks for our daily performance. But what if it stops there? What if we have no team spirit, no vocational training, no communication management and no competence
management???

I consult a variety of people on a daily basis about how to identify and change or conquer what de-motivates them in their job.

The motivational obstacle course represents the full spectrum. Ranging from deeply personal issues (fear, no confidence), lacking necessary competency (knowledge, experience, skills), to plain external obstacles (understaffing, performing miracles
without tools).

However, quoted by most as their number one ‘De-Motivator’, is having to work with Negative Persons. Here my clients refer not to their difficult clients, but to colleagues, be it bosses or peers, in their midst.

Asked to describe their case, they break out in a cold or a hot sweat, calling up these frustrating individuals. I get desperate emotional statements like: ‘You have no idea of the bad vibe this person puts out!’ ‘We all tiptoe around and try to be invisible…’ ‘I cannot take it anymore!’ ‘We’re all sick of him (or her)!’

Obviously the Negative Person does far worse than responding gruffly to your ‘good morning’. Your typical negative colleague is the one who:

Persistently responds in a derogatory or abusive manner, either by shouting and screaming or by giving you the silent treatment
Snoops or spies on you and others
Steals, copies or plagiarises your work and gets recognition for your achievement
Spreads division and distrust
Nit-picks, fault finds and destroys one employee after another
Research on this topic provides you with a longer list.

But more important is that research shows how such negative colleagues thrive in, grow as a part of, perpetuate and bequeath after them dysfunctional workplaces. Forget productivity when your company gets stuck there. Remember the chicken and egg? What management can do is cure the chicken and remove the rotten eggs. How? By doing a close check, overcoming denial, and confronting the challenges of the negativity spiral.

What each and every one can do is understand and resist the negativity spiral and join the effort to make it stop. Be consciously positive about your work environment. Be the right
person at the right place at the right time. And add the right vibe.

Dr Janin Vansteenkiste is a Biographical and Motivational Consultant, based in Port Elizabeth, working with companies, teams and individuals. For more information or help, contact her on 041-367 2223 or via email on janin@netactive.co.za