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I-O Psych
All posts by Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Attitudes & Emotions, Health & Wellness, Industrial & Organizational Psychology, Occupational Health Psychology, Stress
The Cost of Unemployment
2009 December 15 Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
When people are employed, common stressors at work include physical/task stressors (e.g. heat, noise, pace of work, workload, and number of hours worked) and psychosocial stressors (e.g. role ambiguity, interpersonal conflict, and lack of control) (Landy & Conte, 2007). Workplace stress takes an incredible toll resulting in physical/medical (e.g. heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure), psychological (e.g. burnout, anxiety, family problems), and behavioral (e.g. absenteeism, substance abuse, accidents, violence) (Landy & Conte, 2007, citing Quick, Quick, Nelson & Hurrell) and research has shown a connection between job stress and depression (Dragano, He, Moebus, Jockel, Erbel, & Siegrist, 2008).
Unfortunately, when an individual becomes unemployed, he/she may still experience many of the same symptoms of stress (as when employed) such as poor psychological health, depression, insomnia, irritability, and general anxiety (Landy & Conte, 2007, citing Warr).
In a New York Times' article about the emotional and financial toll of being unemployed (Luo & Thee-Brenan, 2009), 708 unemployed adults were surveyed between Dec. 5 and Dec. 10, 2009. Here's what they found about unemployed Americans:
69% are more stressed.
55% have had trouble sleeping.
48% have experienced emotional or mental health issues (e.g., anxiety or depression).
46% have felt ashamed or embarrassed about being unemployed.
53% have borrowed money from family members or friends since losing their jobs.
54% have reduced visits to doctor or medical treatments.
47% is without health care coverage.
"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these." -George Washington Carver
Dragano, N., He, Y., Moebus, S., Jockel, K., Erbel, R., & Siegrist, J. (2008). Two models of job stress and depressive symptoms: Results from a population-based study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43,72–78.
Landy, F. J. & Conte, J. M. (2007). Work in the 21st Century: An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Luo, M. & Thee-Brenan, M. (2009). Poll reveals trauma of joblessness in U.S. The New York Times. Retrieved December 15, 2009 from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/us/15poll.html
Health & WellnessIndustrial & Organizational PsychologyJob LossOccupational Health PsychologyStress
Attitudes & Emotions, Business, Coaching, Executive Coaching, Incivility, Industrial & Organizational Psychology, Leadership, Organizational Behavior, Teams, Training & Development
People with a Situational Value System
"A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person" (Barry, 1998, p. 185).
[NOTE: This post was updated January 2015]
Many years ago, while waiting for a show at a nice hotel in Dallas, my wife and I were standing in line to order some coffee. As we were in line waiting (we were second in line) at a busy one-person coffee stand, the woman waiting behind us (she was third in line) yelled out, "Can I go ahead and pay for this?" It didn't matter to her that two other people (the first lady in line and us) were ahead of her in this ordering process.
I forgot what this was. It might have been a bottle of water or something small. But pretty much everyone else waiting patiently in line was ordering something small. After she interrupted and cut in line, she made some disparaging remarks about the single employee working there.
My wife and I both used to work as a waiter (me) and waitstaff trainer (wife) and thus we're especially sensitive to and aware of how we and others treat waiters, waitresses, or anyone in a people service profession (e.g., hotel maids, bellmen, etc.). When I see behaviors like this woman's, it brings me back to the time, more than 20 years ago, when I worked as a waiter for a restaurant in Austin, Texas.
I didn't know it at first but was quickly informed by the other waitstaff that I was waiting on a baseball celebrity and his family. "Ok, not a big deal," I thought. I'll just make sure that I'm at my best and take care of them as I always do with all of my customers.
Because the family was busy visiting and chatting loudly, I stepped back to give them time to decide what they wanted to order. Not long afterwards, the wife snapped her fingers at me (like a rich person does when she beckons her servants). After the family ordered, she dismissed me, like "I'm done with you now leave my sight" type of attitude.
William H. Swanson, Chairman and Former CEO of Raytheon, cautioned:
"Watch out for people who have a situational value system, who can turn the charm on and off depending on the status of the person they are interacting with . . . Be especially wary of those who are rude to people perceived to be in subordinate roles." [Cited in USA Today "CEOs say how you treat a waiter can predict a lot about character"]
I think this advice should be taken very seriously, especially by those in a supervisory or management role. In a USA Today article, Siki Giunta (CEO of Managed Objects, but who previously worked as a bartender) summed this up well when she said this type of situational behavior is a good predictor of a person's character because it's not something you can learn or unlearn easily but instead it shows how you were raised.
The woman who cut in line to place her order felt that she was special and deserved special treatment and gave herself permission to cut in front of others and then displayed contempt by mumbling unkind comments about the person preparing the coffee.
Takeaway: Whether it's ordering coffee on a Saturday night or interacting with employees at work on a Monday morning, each of us—whether you're a CEO, manager, or employee—needs to treat everyone, both in and outside the office (regardless of their status or title in the social or corporate ladder) with kindness, dignity, and respect.
Written By: Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
Leadership + Talent Development Advisor
Barry, D. (1998). Dave Barry Turns 50. New York, NY: Ballantine Publishing Group.
Jones, D. (2006, April 17). CEOs say how you treat a waiter can predict a lot about character. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2006-04-14-ceos-waiter-rule_x.htm
BusinessCoachingExecutive CoachingIncivilityIndustrial & Organizational PsychologyLeadershipOrganizational BehaviorTeamsTraining & Development
Attitudes & Emotions, Happy & Unhappy, Health & Wellness, Incivility, Industrial & Organizational Psychology, Occupational Health Psychology, Teams
Workplace Incivility Hurts Employees & Businesses
Work stress
Earlier this week, I talked about the Manic Society and the Hyperactive Workplace. For today's post, we'll shift gears and cover workplace incivility. This topic is a favorite of mine, so I'll leave you with something to think about for the weekend. NOTE: The information for this post came from an assignment I completed for a class.
Workplace incivility is defined as "the exchange of seemingly inconsequential inconsiderate words and deeds that violate conventional norms of workplace conduct" (Pearson & Porath, 2009, p. 12).
"Workplace incivility is low-intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target, in violation of workplace norms for mutual respect. Uncivil behaviors are characteristically rude and discourteous, displaying a lack of regard for others" (Pearson, Andersson, & Wegner, 2001, p. 1397). These are rude, insensitive or disrespectful behaviors in the workplace.
Examples include: ignoring or making derogatory remarks about someone, taking credit for the work of others, passing blame for your own mistakes, belittling the efforts of others, failing to return phone calls or respond to emails, setting others up to fail, leaving snippy voice mail messages, withholding information, leaving a mess for others to clean up, shutting someone out of a network or team, avoiding someone, throwing temper tantrums (Pearson & Porath, 2009).
Workplace incivility is so common that we often don't even notice it. Pearson & Porath (2009) found in their studies that 1 in 5 people in their sample claimed to be targets of incivility from a coworker at least once a week. About 2/3 said they witnessed incivility happening among other employees at least once a month. 10% said they saw incivility among their coworkers every day.
A survey of public sector employees in the United States found that 71% of respondents reported at least some experience of workplace incivility during the previous 5 years, and 6% reported experiencing such behavior many times (Cortina, Magley, Williams, & Langhout, 2001).
What's more, it's not unique to the U.S. The researchers (Pearson & Porath, 2009) discovered that 50% of Canadians in their study also reported suffering from incivility directly from their coworkers at least once a week. 99% said they witnessed incivility at work and 25% reported seeing incivility occurring between coworkers daily.
When civility is disregarded in the workplace, the results are negative effects – not only on the target(s) of the incivility, but also the on effectiveness and efficiency of the teams and the overall organization (Andersson & Pearson, 1999; Pearson & Porath, 2009).
Researchers found that workplace incivility has an insidious effect, first negatively impacting the targets, and later with repercussions rippling like waves to other areas of the organization. The end result is an adverse effect on the health of the employee (Cortina, Magley, Williams, & Langhout, 2001) and the efficiency and productivity of the organization (Pearson, Andersson, & Wegner, 2001). What's even more troubling for psychology and business is that workplace incivility harms not just the targets and the organizations but also those who are witnesses to these incivilities (e.g., customers).
Andersson, L., & Pearson, C. (1999). Tit for tat? The spiraling effect of incivility in the workplace. Academy of Management Review, 24(3), 452-471.
Cortina, L. M., Magley, V. J., Williams, J. H., & Langhout, R. D. (2001). Incivility in the workplace: Incidence and impact. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 6, 64–80.
Pearson, C., Andersson, L., & Wegner, J. (2001). When workers flout convention: A study of workplace incivility. Human Relations, 54(11), 1387-1419.
Pearson, C. & Porath, C. (2009). The cost of bad behavior: How incivility is damaging your business and what to do about it. New York, NY: Portfolio.
Health & WellnessIncivilityIndustrial & Organizational PsychologyOccupational Health Psychology
Attitudes & Emotions, Health & Wellness, Occupational Health Psychology, Stress
Hyperactive Workplace
2009 December 9 Steve Nguyen, Ph.D.
This is part II – Hyperactive Workplace – of a 2-part series on Dr. Robert Holden's book, "Success Intelligence: Essential Lessons and Practices from the World's Leading Coaching Program on Authentic Success." In his book, Dr. Holden discusses the impact that a Manic Society, Busy Generation, and Hyperactive Workplace have on our lives.
In today's workplaces, we're required "to work faster and better, to do more with less, to change continuously, and to invent new ways of working" (Holden, 2005, p. 28). Our work is dominated by long hours, a permanent state of busyness, goals and to-do lists, attitudes and incivility, and no downtime. In the hyperactive workplace, we're always "doing" but never getting enough "done" (Holden, 2005, p.29).
"We are 'doing' all through the day, 'doing' in our free time, and 'doing' ourselves out of a life…We're 'doing' to the point of exhaustion [and] literally 'doing' ourselves to death-killing ourselves for our careers, [and] in the name of success" (Holden, 2005, p.29).
In a 2008 Quality of Working Life survey among managers in the UK and Australia, over half of managers felt that the hours they work negatively affected their health (53.4% in the UK, 55.6% in Australia); around 45% thought that the hours they worked had a negative impact on their productivity and over half thought that the hours they worked had a negative impact on their social lives and their relationships with their spouse or partner. However, despite this awareness, over 90% of managers in both countries insist on working over their contract hours.
Across the Atlantic, the Conference Board (2007) found, in a survey of 5,000 U.S. households, that less than half of all Americans say they're satisfied with their jobs, down from 61% in 1987.
Sound bite: "In the hyperactive world of work, we end up overworked and overspent, and our lives are over before we know it. If we are not careful, we get so lost in our constant activity that we fail to recognize what the real work of our lives is about" (Holden, 2005, p. 34).
Holden, R. (2005). Success intelligence: Essential lessons and practices from the world's leading coaching program on authentic success. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, Inc.
The Conference Board (2007). U.S Job Satisfaction Declines, The Conference Board Reports. Press Release/News Feb. 23, 2007. Retrieved December 6, 2009 from http://www.conference-board.org/utilities/pressDetail.cfm?press_ID=3075
Worrall, L., Lindorff, M. & Cooper, C. (2008). Quality of working life 2008: A survey of organisational health and employee well-being. Comparisons of the perceptions of UK managers and managers in Victoria, Australia. Chartered Management Institute, UK.
Health & WellnessStress
Manic Society
Today, I'll be doing part I – Manic Society – of a 2-part series on Dr. Robert Holden's book, "Success Intelligence: Essential Lessons and Practices from the World's Leading Coaching Program on Authentic Success." Dr. Holden talks about our Manic Society, our Busy Generation, and our Hyperactive Workplace, where people work without vision and joy.
The word "manic" comes from "mania" meaning a state of frenzy. In the U.S., we're taught to believe the idea that everyone can be richer and happier if we would just go faster and work harder. We live and work in a constant state of mania, of frenzy madness. But for what? We speed through time spent with others that we never truly connect with them (Holden, 2005). We work like mad only to come back to houses wall-off by ten-foot high fences and our children already in bed. In the end, this manic lifestyle and our manic workplaces take their toll on our health, our relationships, and ultimately our happiness.
"The National Institute for Occupational safety and Health estimates that 40% of the U.S. workforce is affected by stress, making it the top cause of worker disability…Around the globe, stress-related illnesses are a major financial drain on organizations, $200 billion per year for treatment alone" (Pearson & Porath, 2009, p. 72).
The Manic Society sells the myth that everyone can be an "instant winner" and an "overnight success" if we would just go faster and work harder. But our nonstop busyness can easily cloud our vision. We're living faster and working faster, but what for? "Without vision, we can so easily confuse speed with progress, adrenaline with purpose, and urgency with importance" (Holden, 2005, p. 9).
"'We all pay for our mad rush, our blind push, our hurried lives,' wrote Jonathon Lazear, author of Meditations for Men Who Do Too Much…Vision must always lead the pace, otherwise we are simply fast-forwarding to nowhere in particular" (Holden, 2005, p. 10).
If we don't get off the Manic Society bus every once in a while, we will lose our sanity while letting life go by. In the process of chasing the "dream", whatever it may be, we'll miss out on actually living and experiencing it.
Sound bite: "If we never stop, we end up skimming the surface of life; our time disappears and we miss the richness, depth, and texture of each occasion" (Holden, 2005, p.13).
Health & WellnessOccupational Health PsychologyStress
Health & Wellness, Occupational Health Psychology, Stress
A 24/7 Mindset about Work is Bad for Your Health
Companies and organizations want employees who are fully engaged at work. Work engagement has been shown to be related to positive organizational outcomes (Sonnentag, Mojza, Binnewies, & Scholl, 2008, citing Salanova et al., 2005). However, if you are someone who is always thinking about work (even during time off work) your health might be negatively affected.
Work engagement is defined as ''a positive, fulfilling work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption'' (Sonnentag et al., 2008, p. 259, citing Schaufeli, Bakker, & Salanova, 2006).
Sonnentag et al. (2008) studied 159 workers from five German organizations in various industries. Workers were asked to complete surveys twice a week, at the beginning and the end of four consecutive working weeks. The researchers confirmed earlier findings that engagement at work and disengagement from work during time off the job both predicted workers' affective states.
The study found that detaching psychologically from work, when you're off work, is especially important when work engagement is high. It makes common sense to understand that employees who are highly engaged need time off the job to unwind and distance themselves from their work. The researchers recommend focusing on activities not related to work.
Sound bite: Being able to balance between high engagement at work (being "on") and high disengagement from work (being "off") will help protect employees' well-being. Approaching work with a 24/7 mindset "is a double-edged sword that in the end might threaten employee health and well-being" (Sonnentag et al., 2008, p. 273.)
Salanova, M., Agut, S. & Peiro, J.M. (2005). Linking organizational resources and work engagement to employee performance and customer loyalty: The mediation of service climate. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 1217-
Schaufeli, W.B., Bakker, A.B. & Salanova, M. (2006). The measurement of work engagement with a short questionnaire. A cross-national study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66, 701
Sonnentag S., Mojza, E.J., Binnewies, C., & Scholl, A. (2008). Being engaged at work and detached at home: A week-level study on work engagement, psychological detachment, and affect. Work & Stress, 22(3), 257-276.
Attitudes & Emotions, Leadership, Occupational Health Psychology, Stress, Teams
Positive Emotions Are Good for Business
In today's tough economy, when resources and rewards are few, creating and maintaining positive emotions in the workplace (e.g. making workers feel valued and engaged) can be a valuable investment that an organization can make.
Shapiro (2009) maintains that this emotional investment improves relationships in the workplace and encourages satisfying, long-lasting agreements. When companies fail to foster these types of relationships, negative communications and conflicts arise.
Shapiro noted in his work with organization and government leaders that there are FIVE predictable core concerns:
Appreciation: recognition of value
Affiliation: emotional connection others
Autonomy: freedom to feel, think, or decide
Status: standing compared to others
Role: job label & related activities
He said that once these concerns are appropriately and proactively addressed, companies "can steer a potentially negative conversation to a positive place" (Shapiro, 2009, p. 30).
Sound Bite: By promoting and modeling emotional well-being in your organization, you'll get more value out of the good times and do a better job of overcoming the bad.
Shapiro, D. (2009). Why repressing emotions is bad for business. Harvard Business Review, 87(11), 30.
Industrial & Organizational PsychologyLeadershipOccupational Health PsychologyStressTeams
Attitudes & Emotions, Coaching, Executive Coaching, Health & Wellness, Industrial & Organizational Psychology, Leadership, Meaningful Work, Organizational Behavior
What is Your Life's Work?
[NOTE: This post was updated February 2018]
In his book, What is Your Life's Work? Bill Jensen asks people to write a letter to a loved one about the meaning and importance of work. Specifically, he wanted them to think about this question:
"What is the single most important insight about work that you want to pass on to your kids? Or to anyone you truly care about?"
In the course of writing these letters, people experienced something remarkable — clarity about what "it" is that's most important to them and the power of following their dreams.
"There are only 1440 minutes in every day. No do-overs. Time stolen from you at work means less time for whatever really matters to you…We must all be respectful of how work uses the precious time in people's lives — as a guiding principle in whatever [we] do every day" (Jensen, 2005, p.9).
"I'm a workaholic. I can't remember a time when I wasn't striving for full-throttle success. As it turns out, I failed in one critical area. I had turned my back on life." (A Letter Writer quoted in Jensen's book)
According to over 40 Gallup studies, about 75% of workers are disengaged from their jobs. And based on a recent U.S. Job Retention Survey, 75% of all employees are now searching for new employment opportunities. Jensen also found, in a New American Dream Survey, that more than four out of every five of us (83%) wish we had more of what really matters in life (Jensen, 2005, p.5).
In the past 20 years, Jensen has interviewed and surveyed over 400,000 people in more than 1,000 companies. What he found was that "[m]ost of us already know what really matters. We just let all the daily excuses and conflicting priorities cloud our judgment…Yet the people who are truly focused on what matters rarely have this problem. They know how to listen to themselves – how to quiet all the outside noise long enough to hear their own heartbeat and their own wisdom" (Jensen, 2005, p.16).
Jensen (2005) recommends several things:
Face what you fear
Get grounded, there are others like you
Let go, nobody's watching
Suspend judgment, others' "aha" moments can reveal a lot
Find your passion, write it down
Laugh at your own excuses
Rewrite the script, because you can
"[T]he most important quality in a candidate is passion for what he does and who he is. This passion will drive people to succeed even when obstacles occur in the workplace…For my money, give me someone with passion. We can teach him the rest." (Mike Grabowski, quoted in What is Your Life's Work?)
Wishing you good work life, health, and well-being.
Jensen, B. (2005). What is Your Life's Work?: Answer the BIG Question About What Really Matters…and Reawaken the Passion for What You Do. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
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The Science of People at Work
Covers 3 Areas:
Industrial and Organizational (I-O) Psychology: studies people, work behavior, and work settings to understand how behavior is influenced, changed, and enhanced to benefit employees and organizations.
Talent Development: building the knowledge, skills, and abilities of others and helping them develop and achieve their potential so that the organizations they work for can succeed and grow.
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Eight Common Problems Teams Encounter
In Chinese: Crisis Does NOT Mean Danger and Opportunity
Creating an Ethical Organizational Culture
10 Life Lessons from Basic SEAL Training from Admiral William H. McRaven
Conversation Killers: Interrupting/Monopolizing, Minimizing/Discounting, Opposing/Arguing, and Not Paying Attention
Locus of Control: Stop Making Excuses and Start Taking Responsibility
The Link Between Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Organization Development, and Change Management
Good Liars: Their Characteristics and Why They are So Hard to Detect
People with Secure High Self-Esteem Don't Need or Seek External Validation
Steve Jobs Had Moderately Low Emotional Intelligence