Getting Back to the Office and Re-defining Productivity
With the development of vaccines and the inclination towards letting restrictions a bit loose, businesses contemplate getting back to their premises, or to the least adopt a hybrid system of working from office and remotely. However, going back to the office doesn’t mean that things should go back the way they were before the pandemic.
It is going to be rather different and would need some time for employees to get accustomed to the new normal. Putting social distancing rules in front of employers’ eyes, the dynamic of office work would definitely change.
In Will Schutz’s article on how self esteem contributes in boosting productivity, he mentioned how individuals’ self-esteem and organizations’ atmosphere play a key role in reinforcing and boosting productivity. Therefore it becomes legit to assume that this is even more true for times like COVID-19 and the core changes and challenges it brought. The following is an excerpt from his writing:
For the individual, the goal is to continuously enhance the six dimensions defining self-esteem:
- Aliveness: I’m fully alive. I use myself well. I’m energetic. I’m not bored.
- Self-determining: I choose my own life. I’m self-determining and autonomous. I feel free and not coerced. I’m responsible for myself.
- Self-awareness: I tell the truth to myself and to others. I’m aware of myself. I’m aware that I have an unconscious and constantly strive to be more conscious. I don’t deceive myself.
- Significance: I feel significant. I’m an important person. I make a difference.
- Competence: I feel competent. I can cope with the situations presented by life.
- Likability: I feel likable. I enjoy my own company. I like the person I am.
For the organization, the goal is to create an atmosphere that fosters all employees’ self-esteem, specifically by means of the following factors:
- Participation: The organization offers full participation in its business. I, the employee, do not want (nor am I required) to participate in all activities, but I do have the opportunity and am invited to do so. I’m kept informed of the company activities and included in the appropriate activities I wish to pursue.
- Freedom: I’m trusted to determine my own best courses of action.
- Openness: The organization and I are fully open with each other. We keep no secrets (except certifiable industrial or security secrets) and do not withhold. I answer all question truthfully and completely.
- Recognition: I am known and recognized by the organization. As a policy, the organization routinely requires an understanding of the worth and abilities of each employee.
- Empowerment: I am fully empowered and do everything voluntarily. I participate in final decisions on all the issues that I know the most about and that most affect me.
- Humanity: The organization appreciates and knows me as a person and encourages social contacts.
The relation that Will Schutz associated between individual self-esteem and the organizational atmosphere shows that the more the individuals are aware of themselves and of what concerns them in the organization they belong to, the more productivity is in play.
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