Employee Moods Impact Performance

Γνωστό θέμα εδώ και καιρό τους "παροικούντες την Ιερουσαλήμ". Όσο πιο πολλά τεκμήρια όμως τόσο καλύτερα.... Και αυτό το άρθρο από το SHRM.

Starting work in a bad mood can trigger a chain reaction that can cause a worker’s job performance to spiral downward throughout the workday, according to a study conducted by researchers at Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
The researchers found that employees’ moods at the start of the workday affected how they felt and performed for the rest of the day. The moods were linked to their perceptions of customers and to how they reacted to customers’ moods.
“We saw that employees could get into these negative spirals where they started the day in a bad mood and just got worse over the course of the day,” said Steffanie Wilk, associate professor of management and human resources at Fisher College of Business.
Wilk conducted the research with Nancy Rothbard, an associate professor of management for the Wharton School. The results of their study, which will be published in the Academy of Management Journal, examined the daily work habits of 29 customer service representatives for a large U.S.-based insurance company. The researchers tracked their moods and behaviors over three weeks.
At the start of each workday, the study participants completed a brief survey designed to determine their mood. As the workday progressed, participants respond to a second survey to describe their attitudes at that point in the day and to describe the customers that they dealt with during the day.
The study results showed that when employees began the day in a good mood, they tended to rate customers more positively and tended to feel more positive about themselves as the day progressed.
Similarly, the researchers found that bad moods at the start of the day had a strong negative effect on work performance. Employees who started the day in negative moods performed less work during the day compared to their “positive mood” counterparts: They tended to answer fewer calls and needed more breaks between calls when they felt bad.

“The employees knew that they were being monitored and that their supervisors knew when they weren’t taking calls. Still, when they were in a bad mood they tended to be less available, which suggested they needed time away,” Wilk said. “They just couldn’t sit there, take the calls and pretend.”
The study found that employees in positive moods were more likely to see their attitudes sour after dealing with negative customers. Surprisingly, employees who started the day in a bad mood weren’t affected as much by negative customers, and their moods were more likely to improve during the day.
“We call this the ‘misery loves company’ effect,” Wilk said. “If you’re in a bad mood, it seems to help to talk to someone else who is feeling as bad as you. Maybe the employees were able to blow off some extra steam by reacting to rude customers.”
Still, the research identified a clear pattern: Employees did better and more work when they started the day in a good mood. According to Wilk and Rothbard, the study shows that managers need to be aware of employee moods and do everything possible to ensure that workers are in a good mood.
Mood Monitoring Challenges
While many employers understand that employee moods can affect job performance and customer service ratings, it’s difficult to track employee moods.
Guaranteeing that workers are in a good mood is practically impossible.
“When I worked at Southwest Airlines, our CEO used to say all the time that we can’t be responsible for an employee’s bad mood. Everybody has bad days, and it shouldn’t be the employers’ responsibility to make sure your day gets off to a good start,” said Libby Sartain, a former Society for Human Resource Management Board chair, an HR management consultant and former chief HR officer for Southwest Airlines and Yahoo. “The best thing that an employer can do is create an atmosphere and culture where people enjoy coming to work. When you work with other people who are positive and happy about their jobs, it tends to rub off on you.”
Sartain, who spent more than 20 years working for Southwest Airlines, knows well the effect that negative and abusive customers can have on employees.
“It can be tough and put you into a bad mood real quick when you deal with a nasty and abusive person,” she said. “If you trust that employees will do the right thing and handle situations as best they can, then that’s what will happen.”
Employers that empower their employees and encourage them to make decisions when dealing with customers tend to have relatively more productive workforces and retain employees. Focusing on empowerment and engagement, as opposed to daily mood swings, is a much more effective way to get the best performance from workers, according to Melodie Howard, a program director with the executive development program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.
“Everyone has bad days. People go through divorces or don’t feel well or they might have a relative, a friend or a pet die. So, frankly, if I was having a bad day for what I felt was a good reason, and a manager hinted that I needed to improve my mood, well I’d be tempted to kick that person in the shins,” she said with a laugh. “The most effective way to keep employees engaged and performing well is to empower them and provide a workplace and culture that is encouraging and supportive.”
Howard said an employer needs to look at the organization’s whole culture and concentrate on creating an environment that encourages and rewards employees to contribute. Once an organization creates that type of culture, employees will want to perform well and “go the extra mile” for their employers, she said.
Sartain agreed, saying that employers should focus on creating work environments that encourage employees to enjoy their work. When Sartain worked at Yahoo as the chief HR officer, she said the company’s offices had game rooms with foosball tables. Employees were urged to use the game rooms to play and work off stress.
“It worked too, because employees used those areas constantly. … The ones who did tended to be the most productive and positive employees at Yahoo,” she said.
Wilk and Rothbard said that workplaces with strict and inflexible work and attendance policies usually add to employees’ bad moods, resulting in an increase of sub-par performances. “If you’ve had a rough commute and you have to rush to your desk, and you know you’re going to be in trouble, that’s just not a good way to start your workday,” said Rothbard. “Once an employee starts that way, it could have negative consequences for the company the whole day.”