HR Pulse - Spring 2009 - (Page 34) A Matter of Perspective Help Employees Separate Problems from Realities By Michael Cohen Remind employees to accept and adjust to those everyday work frustrations that are outside your ability to overcome and to focus on those problems that can be solved within the work team. I f a problem is so difficult that it can’t be solved, it is not a problem; it’s a reality. A problem is an obstacle to employees’ success that is within a manager’s sphere of influence and control to overcome. As a heath care HR leader, you have a responsibility to remove those system barriers that impede employees’ goal accomplishments. A reality is an obstacle outside of your direct control. It’s not that you are unaware of or don’t care about this obstacle. You simply don’t have the necessary resources, autonomy, or power to make the desired change. We must accept realities and work out the problems that come with them. Solving problems that are within our control takes courage, creativity, determination, patience, and persistence. Successfully adapting to the inherent limitations in our work life is an act of maturity. Without this ability, we take premature stands, play the role of victim or martyr, and set ourselves up for more frustration. Manage Expectations You have a real conflict on your hands when employees define a specific obstacle as a problem when, in fact, it’s a reality. One major contributor to conflict is unrealistic or unmet expectations. If employees believe an improvement in working conditions will or should happen, they begin to feel entitled to the thing they want. This leads to increased frustration because it undermines one of the most 34 HR Pulse Spring 2009 ulse Spring 2009 ulse Spr ng 2009 e Spring 2009 Spring important sources of job satisfaction: the belief that the manager is an employee advocate who accesses permissions and resources within the hospital to set up employees for success and that the manager is willing and able to work the system to make employees’ jobs easier and more effective. If employees assume that complaining brings about positive change, or if they feel entitled to their desires, they can become overly negative and self-righteous. Interestingly, incessant complaining actually decreases happiness because whatever individuals focus on, they get more of. The negativity begets more negativity. And complaining about things they don’t have (and think that they should have) undermines gratitude, a source of job satisfaction. Ungrateful people cannot be happy. It is your role as a manager to remind employees to accept and adjust to those everyday work frustrations that are outside your ability to overcome and to focus on those problems that can be solved within the work team. You must reinforce the concept of personal responsibility. Employees can and should maintain control over their own attitude, work ethic, motivation to serve, and constructive conduct despite the inherent irritations within their immediate work environment. Control over every situation they encounter is an illusion, but they must hold themselves accountable for their reactions to these various challenges. The practical exercise on page 36 can help employees to maintain realistic expectations of what you can do to facilitate their success. ▲
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