The Good-People Crisis and the Performance Gap

"I'm working harder than I ever have, and I don't know if it's still worth it."

You've probably had this thought cross your mind more than once, given today's fast-paced economy, the stress, the constant pressure, the rapid pace of change, office politics, and so on. Many people in leadership positions — and not only them — feel unhappy at work, suffer from burnout, and can't wait for their days off, their vacation, or a sabbatical.

People feel they can't give much more, and their performance suffers as a result.

Some say it's just a job, and that we shouldn't expect to find fulfillment at work.

But I believe it's a crucial factor for motivation. Because engagement and dedication come when people are happy and fulfilled in the place where they sometimes spend even more time than at home.

A subject that has interested me for a long time is workplace relationships and their consequences.

I remember about 8 years ago, after spending 3 years at one job (my first job) and finally finding the courage to leave, I switched 4 or 5 jobs in the following year, just to see what it was like out there. Looking back now, I realize that whenever something bothered me, I preferred to stay quiet, afraid my message wouldn't be well received. So I'd bottle things up, and when I couldn't take it anymore, I'd leave.

Basically, I operated on the assumption: "If I tell the truth, will I still have a job tomorrow?" So I'd choose to speak my mind — and then leave on my own 🙂

Coming back to the present, employee turnover in the Romanian market is rising sharply, and so is the shortage of good people that employers keep complaining about.

Unfortunately for some, and fortunately for others, this crisis is driving a redefinition of organizational systems and cultures.

What does that actually mean?

The old system, where people were seen and treated as resources, no longer works. What's needed now are systems where people within organizations are seen and treated as equals — human to human.

In other words, it's about creating an environment where people can reach their potential — not about squeezing everything out of them like juice from a lemon.

It's not about being first, about losing, or about winning

It's about an environment where people feel safe and, above all, trust one another.

Just as an organism needs a balanced internal environment to defend itself against external threats, organizations need teams where the connections between people are balanced, so that performance can follow.

Only when trust and cooperation within a team grow does the team combine its strengths and abilities, and the organization's results grow along with them.

I've come across people and organizations where, even under sometimes unpleasant conditions, people still went to work with genuine enthusiasm, leaders were transparent when facing problems, and others simply offered to help without being asked.

Over the past decade, with the rise of the millennial generation, bonuses and various employee benefits have started appearing. That's not a bad thing in itself — it's just one part of the growth-and-development environment needed to build a balanced system.

Unfortunately, there are still many organizations where people go to work because they have to — because they have loans to pay, children to support, bills to cover — and, in a way, everything they do is out of obligation.

And now I ask myself: under these conditions, how can productivity, creativity, and above all engagement find any room to exist?

How can we move from comparing and competing with one another — from who's the favorite or the best — toward collaborating, achieving goals together, and, when we fail, all owning the outcome together?

Ultimately, who's responsible for this?

Those who accept and comply, or those who are simply following the only model they know?

My personal view is that far too little attention is paid to soft skills, and far too much to technical skills — forgetting that people actually act and make decisions emotionally, that relationships and friendships at work motivate or demotivate them, and that sooner or later, once their core needs go unmet, they disengage from what they're doing and eventually leave.

A group of people's ability to do remarkable things is directly related to the degree of cohesion among the members of that team.

People need to feel that they're contributing and growing where they work, and that what they do is fulfilling. They need to feel that their job is a second home.

Also, when they work as a team, they achieve far greater results than when they work individually. And when results are achieved together, the relationships between team members automatically improve as well.

I'm curious whether you've experienced any of the situations above, and what you think the solution might be for teams to become high-performing and build that kind of group cohesion.

With love,

Raluca

P.S: If you want to actively work on your relationships with the people around you, below you'll find a resource with an exercise that takes about half an hour: "The Circle of Relationships," where you'll discover how you influence your relationships with others, and how they affect you in turn.