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Positive Cultures in Health Care PDF Print E-mail
Written by Richard Huseman   
Monday, 01 December 2008 07:00

Are you a positive person? If you answered “yes,” then you are in the majority. But are you sure? Although most people would identify themselves as being “happy” or “positive,” studies have repeatedly shown a strong tendency toward the opposite. For example:

  • We tend to remember failures more vividly than successes.
  • We tend to react more strongly to negative stimuli than we do to positive.
  • We tend to trust negative information more than we do positive.

Most of us go through our day mostly blind to the good things in life and only pay attention when something goes wrong. The fact is that people actually tend to be more negative than positive.

THE IMPACT OF NEGATIVITY AT WORK

If negativity is a dominant construct for an individual human mind, bring a group of minds together and the effect increases exponentially. Negativity is contagious and spreads quickly, especially within an organizational culture. “We engage in emotional contagion,” says Sigal Barsade, a Wharton management professor who studies the influence of emotions on the workplace. “Emotions travel from person to person like a virus.”

Recently, a study of 1,100 employees and 300 senior human resource executives by Towers Perrin and their research partner, Gang & Gang, found a huge difference between how people perceive their current work experience and the thought of their “ideal” work experience. In measuring the nature and intensity of employees’ emotions about work, the study shows more than half of people’s current emotion is negative, and a third is intensely negative.

The top five reasons?

  1. An excessive workload.
  2. Concerns about management’s ability to lead successfully.
  3. Anxiety about the future, particularly long-term job status, income and retirement security.
  4. Lack of challenge in one’s work.
  5. Insufficient recognition and compensation for the level of contribution and effort provided.
The study showed that among those who are intensely negative about their work, 28 percent were actively looking for a new job or poised to leave. By contrast, 6 percent of those who felt strongly positive about their work were looking for a new job.

Lurking behind those numbers is the troubling fact that 25 percent of the intensely negative employees plan to remain with their current employer. This implies that there is a potentially large group of negative workers coming to work each day with the simple intention of “hanging on” to their jobs. These workers are not only a problem in terms of their individual performance and productivity, but also have the potential to adversely affect other employees and customers with their negative attitudes and mindsets.

Negativity is not a hidden problem, especially in health care organizations. Everyone can sense negativity, but it is usually most apparent to customers. “Surface acting” happens when a tired and stressed worker forces himself to smile and be friendly to customers. Customers, however, are not easily fooled.

Consider the story of a nurse who learned firsthand how her negativity affected her patients. Late one night, an elderly patient pushed his call button. The nurse went to the patient’s room and stated her hospital’s scripted line of, “How can I make you more comfortable, sir?” Despite her words, her nonverbal behavior was screaming, “I don’t have time for this!” The patient took one look at the nurse and said, “Nevermind, I’ll save my question for someone else. I can see you are in too much of a rush to be a good nurse.” So humbled by the experience, she tells this story as if it happened yesterday, when it took place more than 20 years ago.

Another study shows that cardiac care units in hospitals in which the nurses’ general mood was “depressed” had a death rate among patients four times higher than in comparable units.

COACHING LEADERS TO PROMOTE A POSITIVE CULTURE

Many leaders do not understand that they are the linchpin in promoting a positive culture in their organization. Leaders have the most significant impact on employees’ perceptions of their work and, as such, are in the best position to fight negativity in the workplace. Coaching provides leaders with the tools they need to counteract negativity, such as offering positive feedback, building trust and enhancing relationships.

It is the virus of negativity that must be battled in order to help sick health care organizations become well. It is only when leaders at every level promote a positive culture that hospitals can secure the health and wellness they desire for both their employees and their patients.

Richard Huseman, author of The Leader As Coach, is an executive coach and professional speaker. He is founder and CEO of Executive Development & Education. For more information, visit his website at www.richardchuseman.com/healthcare. [ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ]
 
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