A few years back, Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans wrote a book entitled Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em: Getting Good People to Stay.  The basic premise is that love helps your employees feel valued, and as a result they stick around.  This is neither mushy sentiment nor erotic infatuation, but rather a true, genuine caring.  Such caring creates what I call an “emotionally safe environment.”  When employees feel safe, they are enabled to bring their best to the table without reservation.

If the concept of Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em is a factor in maximizing productivity, it stands to reason that the absence of love can minimize it.

Contrary to popular belief, the opposite of love is not hate, but fear.  And, at the risk of stating the obvious, when employees are afraid, they do not feel safe.

Therefore, to maximize productivity, management must not only Love Em or Lose Em, they must also work to minimize fear in people.

At least five fears are universal:
- Fear of Criticism
- Fear of Rejection
- Fear of Failure
- Fear of Not Getting What You Want
- Fear of Losing What you Have

For managers who might think this is so much hogwash, I invite them to compare the retention and profitability figures between companies in which these fears are minimized and companies in which fear rules the roost.

A central point here is the role of manager.  Reason: A core responsibility for this level in an organization is understanding people. Managers can either force people to do what needs to be done, or they can create environments in which people want to do a good job because it’s what they want to do.

It’s my observation that many managers avoid this responsibility because they might not excel at it. So let’s talk about it: What can be done to help managers excel in this core competency of understanding people–especially in the realm of the powerful emotion of fear?

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Filed in Work, Business, Opinion, Motivation, Management, Leadership, Workplace, Corporate Culture