Dive Brief:
- Ever wonder why some days seem so great, others not so much? According to a new study, it may be because you had an encounter with a "jerk at work," reports the New York Times.
- The study, from a team of researchers that included Gretchen Spreitzer, a management professor at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, discovered that certain co-workers are “de-energizers” who "spread their dispiriting attitude to others."
- Breaking it down, that person more commonly is known as a jerk, hence the "jerk at work" disease.
Dive Insight:
Spreitzer told the Times that HR and frontline managers probably don't even know that this behaviorial type can drag a "dark cloud" over those around them. In the process, the entire organization's culture is dragged down too.
Ensuring work has meaning and purpose (isn't that every employer's ultimate yet incredibly difficult goal, after all?) will help buffet the "jerk effect" and let employees succeed, Spreitzer told the Times. She added that "purpose could take the form of making a big difference to a customer or helping an employee develop a new skill, but it has to come from within to make a difference."
Perhaps HR is pondering other issues rather than certain people and situations that are draining or renewing their workforce's energy. But as the article notes, it might be good to encourage workers to reflect on these peaks and valleys as a way to "help people develop new coping strategies." At the same time, she said, leaders can help "shift the balance toward positive energy by considering that type of behavior when conducting performance reviews and awarding promotions."
