Entitlement is a poison that will destroy a business from the inside out. This feeling has a number of causes and solutions, however if it is left unchecked it will create resentment and spread to other people in your organization. I have been on both sides of it from feeling entitled working for a company, and as I had to manage employees who felt entitled. In these cases it always resulted in resignation and/or termination.
Seeing the feeling of entitlement begin is a huge red flag and needs to be dealt with swiftly. In myself I started to see it start I began to identify the reasons for why it happens.
- Feeling unappreciated
- Creativity and ambition that becomes stifled
- Peers being promoted or recognized
- Negative motivation used instead of positive motivation
- Lack of communication
The basic issue is that as people we all see our own strengths and want to feel like we are contributing to progress in the company we work for. If we feel the work we are doing is not recognized, not appreciated, and even see our peers being promoted over us (in our minds unjustly), the longer we are working the more we feel we are “owed”. Employees that feel entitled are less likely to work as hard, care enough, and can even bring the morale down as they communicate within the company.
The most interesting thing about entitlement is that the solution is rarely about money. In our courses we teach how to short-circuit this before it begins by creating communication that makes people feel not only verbally appreciated, but shown they are valuable. On a deeper level it gives them room to feel fulfilled because they can utilize their creativity and ambition.
In the end we all need to feel good about the work we do. We are not automatons, we have to feel like we are making progress, utilizing our creativity, and that we are recognized for that work. Some people’s strengths are diligence, predictability, and slow but methodical completion of their work. Some are fast paced, ambitious, creative, and inspired. Learning about styles of people and the way they communicate their needs, goals and work styles, is very important to keeping employees happy and motivated.
Tags: Charisma
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July 26th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Keep ‘em coming D!