What’s Love Got to Do with Work? - Ideas for Leaders · what the mission statements might say, a...
3
SEARCH tel. +44 (0)203 031 2900 CHALLENGE US PINNED ACCOUNT LOG OUT HOME ABOUT IDEAS LIBRARY IDEAS BY INSTITUTIONS Home Ideas Library What’s Love Got to Do with Work? 10.13007/412 Ideas for Leaders #412 What’s Love Got to Do with Work? Key Concept A culture of companionate love — defined as affection and compassion — in the workplace can lead to greater employee satisfaction and engagement, while a culture that undermines such emotions leads to unhappy workers… and customers. Idea Summary Love is not a word often found in management literature, although the consensus now recognizes the power of emotions in motivating (or demotivating) people. Daniel Goleman and others have popularized the influence of emotions in effective leadership. But even in discussions involving emotions, rarely does the word ‘love’ come up. Love in the workplace? Don’t most companies have rules against such a thing? New research shows that companionate love, defined as feelings of affection, compassion, caring and tenderness for others, can in fact impact employee morale and effectiveness. In organizations that featured a culture of companionate love — the research focused first on the health care industry — employees were more engaged, less emotionally exhausted, and more satisfied with their jobs, and worked better in teams. From the customer perspective — in this research, patients and their families — a culture of companionate love led to more pleasant moods (as assessed by staff), more satisfaction and a higher quality of life. The families of patients were also more likely to recommend the facility when such a culture existed. While the health care field might be an industry in which companionate love can play a part, some might question its applicability to other industries. When the same research was extended beyond health care to more than 3,000 employees in other industries, the correlation between companionate love and employee and customer satisfaction was repeated. Not all industries showed the same level of companionate care although, surprisingly, the greatest Share Authors Barsade, Sigal G. O'Neill, Olivia A. Institutions The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania George Mason University Source Administrative Science Quarterly Idea conceived July 2014 Idea posted July 2014 DOI number Subject Interpersonal Skills Emotional Intelligence Happiness & Well-being Psychology
Transcript of What’s Love Got to Do with Work? - Ideas for Leaders · what the mission statements might say, a...
SEARCH
tel. +44 (0)203 031 2900
CHALLENGE US PINNED ACCOUNT LOG OUT
HOME ABOUT IDEAS LIBRARY IDEAS BY INSTITUTIONS
Home Ideas Library What’s Love Got to Do with Work?
10.13007/412
Ideas for Leaders #412
What’s Love Got to Do with Work?
Key Concept
A culture of companionate love — defined as affectionand compassion — in the workplace can lead togreater employee satisfaction and engagement, whilea culture that undermines such emotions leads tounhappy workers… and customers.
Idea Summary
Love is not a word often found in managementliterature, although the consensus now recognizes thepower of emotions in motivating (or demotivating)people. Daniel Goleman and others have popularizedthe influence of emotions in effective leadership. Buteven in discussions involving emotions, rarely doesthe word ‘love’ come up. Love in the workplace? Don’tmost companies have rules against such a thing?
New research shows that companionate love, definedas feelings of affection, compassion, caring andtenderness for others, can in fact impact employeemorale and effectiveness. In organizations thatfeatured a culture of companionate love — theresearch focused first on the health care industry —employees were more engaged, less emotionallyexhausted, and more satisfied with their jobs, andworked better in teams. From the customerperspective — in this research, patients and theirfamilies — a culture of companionate love led tomore pleasant moods (as assessed by staff), moresatisfaction and a higher quality of life. The families ofpatients were also more likely to recommend thefacility when such a culture existed.
While the health care field might be an industry inwhich companionate love can play a part, some mightquestion its applicability to other industries. When thesame research was extended beyond health care tomore than 3,000 employees in other industries, thecorrelation between companionate love andemployee and customer satisfaction was repeated.Not all industries showed the same level ofcompanionate care although, surprisingly, the greatest
ShareAuthors
Barsade, Sigal G.
O'Neill, Olivia A.
Institutions
The Wharton School of the University of
Pennsylvania
George Mason University
Source
Administrative Science Quarterly
Idea conceived
July 2014
Idea posted
July 2014
DOI number
Subject
Interpersonal Skills
Emotional Intelligence
Happiness & Well-being
Psychology
range of companionate love occurred withinindustries rather than between industries. In somefirms in the financial industry, for example, rated verylow on companionate love, while others rated as highas any health care company.
Can there be too much companionate love? It’spossible. If team members are too compassionateand caring, they may overlook unethical behaviour onthe part of one of their members. This indeedhappened when physicians in a group medicalpractice overlooked the accounting fraud of one oftheir own because of their compassion for himfollowing a natural disaster that hit his home.
Business Application
While there may always be certain employees who arecaring and empathetic, companionate love has adirect impact on employee and customer satisfaction(and thus reducing employee turnover and customerloyalty) when it is encouraged and nurtured as part ofthe organizational culture. Southwest Airlines, PepsiCoand Whole Foods (which has a set of principles thatbegin with ‘love’) are some of the larger companiesthat are not afraid to emphasize the importance ofaffection and caring as part of the values andprinciples of the firm. Look at your company’sstatement of principles and values: does the word‘love’ or ‘caring’ appear? How does your statement ofvalues and principles compare to the followingstatement from Zappos: “We are more than a teamthough...we are a family. We watch out for each other,care for each other and go above and beyond for eachother.”
Just as important, are such sentiments conveyedthrough the attitudes and behaviours encouraged andmodelled by the leaders of the firm? Employees andmanagers will take their cues from the top. No matterwhat the mission statements might say, a culture isbuilt through the actions of executives first.
It is important that emotional culture and cognitiveculture are not mutually exclusive. Your organizationcan still emphasize results while encouraging caringand compassion. Both American Airlines andSouthwest Airlines have a results- and achievement-oriented cultures, Southwest believe that expressingauthentic emotions is the best way to build theseresults; for American Airlines, success comes frombeing the emotionally restrained ‘stainless steel’airline.
Further Reading
What’s love got to do with it? A longitudinal studyof the culture of companionate love andemployee and client outcomes in the long-termcare setting. Sigal G. Barsade & Olivia A.O’Neill. Administrative ScienceQuarterly (Forthcoming).
© Copyright IEDP Ideas for Leaders 2014
About
About
People
IEDP
Partner Institutions
Legal
Terms of Use
Privacy
Disclaimer
Cookies
Help
Subscribe
Help
FAQs
Contact
Accessibility
Follow
Google+
YouTube
Site by Deeson
Further Relevant Resources
Sigal G. Barsade’s profile at The Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania
Olivia A. O’Neill’s profile at George Mason University School of
Management
The Wharton School's Executive Education profile at IEDP
