Paying attention to the morning moods of your employees can pay dividends, according to Nancy Rothbard, Professor of Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. A recent research effort showed employees who started out each day happy or calm usually stayed that way throughout the day. Interacting with customers tended to further enhance their mood.
Source: Harvard Business Review, July 21, 2016.
We discovered strong performance effects when it came to quality of work and productivity. Employees who were in a positive mood provided higher-quality service: they were more articulate on the phone with fewer “ums” and verbal tics, and used more proper grammar. Employees who were in a negative mood tended to take more frequent breaks from their duties to cope with the stress and get themselves through the day. These small breaks piled up, leading to a greater than 10% loss of productivity.
INSIGHTS: Our team likes the idea of helping employees learn to complete “intentional transitions,” which may be as simple as taking a different route to work, before entering the workplace.