Carolina Woman Magazine

The Happy Place
Employee enthusiasm is good for business

By Carol Kleiman

The word “enthusiasm” never appears in a job description as a required skill.

But it is very important.

“The more enthusiasm a workforce has, the higher the performance of a company,” says David Sirota, founder or Sirota Survey Intelligence, a group of industrial psychologists who helps firms improve managerial skills.

“People come to work wanting to be enthusiastic, and they are…at least in the beginning,” claims Sirota, author of “The Enthusiastic Employee: How Companies Profit by Giving Workers What They Want.”

He says new workers are happy about their jobs and get a great deal from what they do eight hours a day.

“It’s a virtuous, instead of vicious, cycle: Employees who are motivated help the company do better. In turn, the company can do more by offering raises, promotions and job security.”

But in about half a year, the honeymoon’s over, according to Sirota’s study of 2.5 million U.S. employees from 1995 to 2004.

“After the first six months, we found that only 80 percent of employees still were highly interested, excited about their new jobs and learning new skills,” he says. “It is a significant decline.”

And excitement continues to wane after that.

Of employees who had worked at the same company for one to five years, 69 percent were still gung ho. And after six to 10 years, only 68 percent were still enthusiastic.
While there was a slight improvement in enthusiasm among workers with 10 years of experience, that strong sense of happiness “never recovered to what it was when they first started,” Sirota points out.

So why the loss of interest?

“It’s hard to be enthusiastic about an organization that’s not enthusiastic about you,” Sirota says.

“The reason enthusiasm declines is because management appears to be unconcerned, indifferent. Employees want to be treated fairly, to feel proud of their job and their company, and to have good, productive relationships with their colleagues.”

Since these good feelings directly affect productivity — and therefore the bottom line — what should companies and managers do to retain this important buzz?

“First of all, make layoffs a last resort, not a first,” he advises.

“Employees don’t want to be treated as disposable objects.”

He also suggests providing recognition for workers and treating them like responsible adults.

And, every workplace should work on team building and open communication.

In other words, treat employees with respect, and they will respond in kind.
Sirota says he’s lucky.

“I chose the right job,” he says. “Before starting my own company in 1972, I worked for 12 years for a global technology firm. I was given tremendous autonomy and was recognized for what I did. I was valued.”

He says workers respond to being treated fairly, having a sense of achievement and having good relationships with colleagues.

“Everything else is malarkey.”