It has been a long-enduring truth that it's not about what you know, it's about who you know, especially in the business world. Perhaps, however, it's more than who you know—it's how you get along with them.
Employees in the workplace are plagued with constant stresses, demanding relationships, and (hopefully only from time to time) conflicts at home. A new study now shows that employees are very easily swayed by their spouses' feelings to the job, and the lack of regard for this aspect would lead to reduced productivity of an employee.
The study performed by Dr. Julie Holliday Wayne and other doctors at Wake Forest University School of Business began with the knowledge that "employees have attitudes toward their jobs, toward their companies."
The researchers focused on those attitudes due to their possible effects on the endurance and productivity of an employee. An employee who dislike their work would be likely to quit their jobs while an employee that find their work enjoyable would be more likely "to go above and beyond the call of duty."
The question that the researchers were most interested in was the question: "If the spouse develops [attitude similarities or differences] toward the firm, does that influence the employee?"
The study determined that spouses can easily determine the employee's opinion towards their work, and through those observations they would begin to share their feelings and reinforce the opinion. So, spouses often develop a feedback cycle of emotions, and would amplify the way an employee's initial impression affects on the productivity of an employee.
Though the research may seem unimpressive and obvious to some, Wayne believes that it is the first in its field and allows business owners to also look into the effects of the work on the family, which would in turn effect the work itself. The measurable benefits would bring businesses to construct family-friendly policies to draw out the passion of the employees in the workplace.
The participants reported their level of positivity about their spouse's work life. Some employers were praised due to decent wages and schedule freedoms, while others were condemned for their unpredictability and/or demanding work schedules.
Work schedule seemed to be the key to a spouse's emotion. If an employee is missing from a family event or seems too exhausted to participate, then the partners would become unsatisfied even to employment from a reputable company.
Even though the study tried to stay away from gender correlations, the research did note that in households with both working parents, mothers are expected to have higher family presence than fathers.
"A husband who is dissatisfied with his wife's work schedule may be more likely to hold negative attitudes toward her firm, because work interferes with her primary role of caregiver."
However, if the mother was not employed and stayed at home as a caregiver, the mother would have greater expectations of a predictable schedule for her spouse. The authors of the report suggests that this is due to the psychological support for dealing with children and managing chores throughout the day. Demanding and unpredictable work schedules would lessen an employee's loyalty to the company, and would ultimately lessen the productivity of an employee as well.
The results of the study shows that as long as employers create a positive situation at work through recognition of achievements and other techniques, spouses are easily pleased with their partners' success. Additionally, negatives (e.g. office conflicts or inconvenient work schedules) generally do not affect spousal feelings.
It seems like employee perks and good conditions for workers are not just a kindness but a necessity to increase the productivity of an employee.
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