I couldn't agree more. As someone once said - contented people are happy with the world, discontented people aren't. Therefore, it is the discontented people who are going to change the world, not the contented.
(Apologies to the author if I messed it up :-))
PHIL
-----Original Message-----
From: RICHARD CORCORAN [SMTP:
CORCORANRE@EXCELINC.COM]
Sent: Thursday, 5 February 1998 19:17
To:
MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
Subject: ATTITUDE
Anne Barry,
I think there are a lot of good recommendations for 'attitude
adjustment'coming from this thread. I especially agree that the
more input employee's have in the design of the processes they use
the more likely they are to develop good attitudes.
I think that the majority of attitude problems that people
experience are coming from the feeling that they have little to no
control over their work. Again this is why Visions and Goals are
important in keeping Employee's focused when they are given more
decision making capability.
BUT....and this is the real reason for my response, keep in mind
that a level of disatisfaction is vital to an organizations
health. I think our goal as managers is not to create the happy,
content employee, but to channel discontent torward continuous
improvement and to channel disatisfaction torward the competition
or torward previous 'satisfactory' performance levels.
Employee's should be happy with benefits, policy and the way they
are treated, I think, but never satisfied with the processes that
they use to guarantee Customer satisfaction.
Thanks,
Rick Corcoran
Mark I of Excel Industries
Employee Empowerment, Kaizen