BUSINESS ADVICE
Treat Your Employees Like Animals by Mike Martuza, Consultant, The Franchise Consulting Company Whenever I visit the New England Aquarium I always spend time watching the penguins. Penguin interaction leads me to think about workplace dynamics and, if people could learn anything about working together from the penguins. For the vast majority of the time the penguins were either going about their own business or were engaged in some activity with other penguins (or the staff). Every once in a while one penguin would have an issue with a pool mate – somehow related to rank or status (isn’t everything in the animal world?) The penguin with the issue let the other one know immediately that there was a problem. What followed was a minute or two of loud squawking, some physical bumping and a high speed chase through the water (the chase was like watching the penguin version of The French Connection). Once the activity subsided, the dispute was settled and from then on it was penguin business as usual. Let us contrast penguin behavior to how we humans resolve issues in the workplace. Most of us try to avoid conflict, keeping issues (real or perceived) to ourselves or sharing them among a
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few close confidants while hoping that they will go away. If you take the time to think, it’s interesting that almost everything in our workplace, just like the penguin’s, revolve around rank or status. Be it money, promotions or perks we are always comparing ourselves to others and trying to understand and/or improve our position in the flock. When we think that we have been short-changed it results in an issue between co-workers (why you and not me?) or worker and boss (everything went to the boss’s favorite). Unresolved issues
result in a significant lowering of workplace productivity. Those directly involved are not focused on the task at hand because their mind in preoccupied with envy, rage, jealously toward someone with whom they must work. Even if the issue is not real (it may be a misunderstanding) the fact that one person believes it exists creates the problem. Others who interact with the aggrieved individual are also likely experience lowered productivity due to the atmosphere, antics or general misery projected by the unhappy party.