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Featured Story
Altruism in the
Workplace: Improve your workplace!
by
kelly Searcy
 It is an old saying, one which we all
have heard perhaps through parents,
grandparents, teachers, mentors, even
friends;
“Treat
others as you wish to be treated.” It’s
fairly easy to say but sometimes a bit more
difficult to practice regularly. Altruism,
the act of being other-oriented and placing
the needs of others before your own can have
an incredible impact in not only your
personal life but your workplace environment
as well. Through altruistic behavior, the idea of
work becomes one of service with value and
significance that can generate higher
productivity as people recognize the
fulfillment and satisfaction in being
recognized for their ability to create or
give to others in their environment; be that
environment their office, home, community,
or on a larger scale, the world.
Those who are encouraged to practice
altruism may choose compromise and
cooperation over consistent confrontation.
It is possible that altruistic behavior can
help eliminate discriminatory behavior in
the workplace due to the open-mindedness
that people must have to be other-oriented.
In addition to increased awareness,
altruistic behavior encourages people to use
their professional expertise unselfishly to
benefit the cause/project/team/or company. So in order to increase one’s altruistic
practices here are a few tips to try out in
your workplace:
- During any meeting, be it brainstorming,
delegating, confrontation or friendly
conversation; make a point to clear your
mind of distractions. Give your full
attention to the matter or person at hand,
asking questions to clarify the message,
maintain interest or to get more
information.
- Be open-minded to the ideas of others. Ask
for opinions regularly, discuss the benefits
of each idea and collaborate to find a
resolution that is satisfactory to all
parties involved.
- Avoid having people be isolated in their
work. Promote working in teams and pay
attention, perhaps change the reward
structure so that people benefit from the
efforts of the group instead of individual
accomplishments. Be careful; do not forget
to acknowledge the efforts that each person
can bring to the team. This is also
important because it can increase the amount
that each team member will contribute.
By practicing and encouraging altruism in
your workplace, hopefully you should see the
morale and corporate culture improve. Even
if you are one person being considerate and
attentive to others, you will be a constant
reminder that people are innately good and
it is important to be a positive interacting
force in any situation. Good news travels
fast, so do unto others as you would have
done unto you.
Sources: Reciprocal Altruism and
Teamwork - Using Human Nature to Motivate
Employees.
Filed in archive Human Nature by rob on
November 01, 2003
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