In your opinion, why do so many companies have such low employee productivity and morale?
Managers fail to understand what really motivates employees. In order for employees to perform at peak potential, employees must be in a state of positive energy. The ultimate motivation for all of us is to be happy, to feel good about ourselves. Every thought, every action, every behavior, has as its intent the belief that the end result will somehow bring us closer to happiness. Every person has an innate desire to perform and to perform well. We have a desire to express ourselves creatively. As children we are encouraged to do that. Observe children at play. As we mature in age, that innate desire for creative expression does not go away. Now as managers, we can subdue those desires - dictator managers are expert at this. I was one such manager. For years I managed by harassment and intimidation. Because my results were ok, the feedback I received was ok so there was no motivation to change my management style. What I have discovered now is that when I created a work environment that encouraged empowerment, creativity and initiative – not only did morale dramatically increase, so did productivity.