There are many organizations that still subscribe to the belief that fear is the best motivator for its employees and that it creates a more robust and competitive entity in the market place. As an executive coach and psychiatrist for over 20 years I wish to dispel this destructive myth once and for all here. What is the true benefit to an organization of using fear as a motivator? Well let me count the ways: 1. It creates increased emotional & physical stress for employees. 2. This leads to accelerated turnover and burnout of high caliber individuals. 3. This leads to a major reduction in creativity and overall performance. 4. It leads to employee dissatisfaction and greater resistance to management directives from above. 5. This leads to greater management-employee conflict. 6. This siphons off creative energy meant to produce revenues into wasteful intra-organizational conflicts that make the organization weak, ineffective, vulnerable and less able to survive. 7. Oh yes, last but not least, it leads to an escalation in operating costs through , poor performance, sick leave, health & insurance plans payments, retraining, and other inefficiencies. So with all these benefits why would any manager not want to employ fear as a motivator? Well in fact it is usually the manager's fear that is motivating such a choice in the first place. So you see there are serious risks that can literally bring an organization to its knees with such a strategy. There is a better way! It entails each individual working from a place of passion, purpose, creativity, energy, joy, desire, freedom, health, enthusiasm and so on. Unfortunately most organizations are still too afraid to allow such a positive and resilient atmosphere from living within their walls. The fear is, there's that word again, that nothing would get done, correct? Well have it your way then. If you do see the logic in this argument and would like to build a truly resilient organization kindly contact me at the web link below. |
