Those bug-eyed Marxist fanatics over at the Harvard Business Review are making the case against aggressive management practices again:
“…a large and growing body of research on positive organizational psychology demonstrates that not only is a cut-throat environment harmful to productivity over time, but that a positive environment will lead to dramatic benefits for employers, employees, and the bottom line.”
They cite three key costs to businesses:
- Stress-related costs – where US firms have to pick up health costs as part of their employment contract, this can be an even-more-noticeable problem, but those costs are also felt in other ways
- Lack of engagement – the old adage that ‘a tense office is a productive office’ turns out not to be true – there’s little dialogue, people feel undervalued and the necessary feedback loops are broken
- Loyalty is lost – and that’s not good either.
They also offer a checklist of good management practices and you can read the whole thing here.