Igniting the organisational spirit

We go the extra mile to organise big parties and dinners for them; sometimes even their family members are included. I do not want to sound bitter, but how much more do they want? In fact, they should be grateful for they do not know how lucky they are to have a good-paying job and a company that cares!
Yet all I hear is their constant complaints about us, and even resigning when they should be thanking us for what we are doing for them.
Why are they like this?
– Frustrated

A: This sounds familiar. I hear this very often as it keeps coming back, even more often these days. So why do you think so? With the world becoming more and more modern and people becoming more complex and sophisticated, more is needed than “putting food on the table” for your people.
Many bosses do not realise that the “slavery” days and the hard times of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s are behind us forever. A paycheque alone does not guarantee employee satisfaction and high morale. We need to accept this. People want a meaningful life in the organisation and do not want to wake up feeling dreadful about going to work. They do not want work, work – and just work!
The Bottom Line: Such a workplace environment suffers from what is called anomie, which means alienation that leaves people feeling isolated, disillusioned and disjointed. This is the result of an organisation not having strong values and norms to “glue” people together.
What happens is there is a lack of social and interpersonal guidelines for interaction. People therefore work as individuals with the mentality of “you mind your business and I mind mine”. You need to consider how you can humanise it with “bridges”, where employees and even customers can live out each other’s values.
Serve your employees rather than behaving like their masters. Doing this means being an advocate to support them in critical areas that will immensely drive employee satisfaction and career enrichment, which will in turn unleash their potential.