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Bad Behavior, Like a Bad Cold: A Corporate Contagion That Must Be Contained

By Lois Sonstegard

It’s time for summer colds.

In the corporate world, where people spend 8 to 10 hours a day with their coworkers, summer colds can spread like wildfire. We only realize we’ve been infected when we, too, start sneezing and coughing. To arm ourselves, we can drink plenty of orange juice or wear masks. Yet, there is another underlying menace that’s contagious and an equally serious threat to our organization — one we may not even recognize.

I’m referring to behavioral influenza.

Bad behavior, like a bad cold, is a corporate menace. It is a contagion that must be recognized and contained.

Unlike a sneezing coworker, we can’t always move away from bad behavior, and taking vitamin C won’t help. In fact, when we see overt bad behavior in the workplace, we often stay quiet, tolerate it, or even attribute it to stress. Yet even latent bad behavior can have a profound effect on us. That’s according to studies by the Harvard Business Review and others like Trevor Foulk, Andrew Woolum, and Amir Erez from the University of Florida.

Here’s what’s behind it: Mimicry is a helpful life skill. From the time we’re born, we learn to mimic the behavior of the people around us. This helps us empathize with others and learn what behavior is acceptable in society, and what is not. Yet, behavioral mirroring can have a negative side as well.

That’s because, even as observers, we tend to copy any negative behavior we witness. As a manager, you need to be aware of this. Before you can circumvent the spread of bad behavior, you must understand that it has both direct and indirect effects. It can spread upwards and downwards in the corporate hierarchy as well as among peers.

Harvard Business Review discovered that employees are 37 percent likelier to engage in misconduct if they recently encountered or worked with a peer with a history of misconduct. Is this because of peer effects (how employees learn norms and standards of behavior from each other)? Because they have the same incentives? Or even because coworkers with similar cultures or backgrounds tend to gravitate toward each other?

The findings: Bad behavior spreads more strongly across peers. With peers who share the same ethnicity, the effect is nearly doubled.

A study by Foulk, Woolum, and Erez found that prior exposure to bad behavior sensitizes us and makes us more prone to join in. This happens automatically, without conscious thought. More disturbingly, the study showed that engaging with someone who has exhibited bad behavior makes us more likely to act in a negative way to others. In addition, the newest recipient of the negative behavior is willing to suffer personally as long as they can blame the offending party.

The bad behavior contagion was evident for up to a week after the initial interaction! In other words, people carry grudges and negativity has longer-lasting consequences than we ever expected.

As a manager, if you know why workers copy bad behavior, you’ll have the key to circumventing it.

Although there are many reasons employees may choose to extend negative behavior, it’s my experience, as an executive coach, that consequences can play a significant role.

Don’t look at the bad behavior itself. Concentrate on what comes after. You can make allowances for one act, but repetitive bad behavior — like being late — if not punished, will demonstrate to other employees that they can get away with it, too. Before you know it, everyone will do the same thing.

Behavior matters even more than skills. It may take you a lifetime to build a good reputation, but a moment’s bad judgment can ruin it forever.

So how can you model, foster and enforce correct behavior within your organization?

1. Write down the positive behaviors you want, and hold those who don’t follow it accountable.

You need to formalize company policies listing bad behavior that won’t be condoned. Don’t wait for the behavior to get so bad you need to let go of the employee. Nip it in the bud before it gets any worse.

2. Model positive behavior.

Managers need to communicate and model positive behavior. If the managers in your organization aren’t able to do this, you may need a third party — such as an executive coach — to reinforce and provide training and support. Be sure your managers embrace and embody the behavior you would like associated with your company.

3. Let go of problem employees before they destroy the whole organization.

This isn’t always easy — especially if the offending party is on the management team. But it’s a must. It’s more costly and troublesome to deal with the fallout from bad behavior than it is to let go of workers who can’t follow the rules.

Behavior matters. It has the power to dictate and shape your corporate culture. And it can mold the face your company presents to others.

Understanding why people mimic bad behavior can help managers establish policies and rules that can prevent their contagion. Often bad behavior is easier to copy than good behavior. Provide incentives and positive reinforcements to inoculate your organization against the spread of behavioral influenza.

https://hbr.org/2018/03/research-how-one-bad-employee-can-corrupt-a-whole-team

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Loyal Employees Are Important

By Lois Sonstegard

Have you ever heard the saying, “you don’t build a business, you build people, and then people build the business?”

With any business or organization, the key to efficiency, productivity, engagement, and great customer service are happy employees. When employee morale is at a high, everything else smoothly follows. Employees can make you or break you. They are the backbone of every company’s success. As the first ambassadors of your brand, you need to convince them first before you can convince everyone else.

“Loyal employees in any company create loyal customers, who, in turn, create happy shareholders.” – Richard Braxton

Corporations know that keeping loyal employees is of the utmost importance. Yet, hiring good (if not, great) managers are equally so. Most employees do not leave their jobs, they leave their bosses. Good managers know they have a primary role in keeping employees motivated, engaged, and even, inspired. As a manager who wants to do well by the people who work for him, what steps can you take?

1. Establish a true connection.

Employees appreciate it when their managers make time for them. Going on fieldwork, having coffee, or even just going around their cubicles to ask how their day is going are simple examples, which can yield great results. Remembering their birthdays, families’ names, and events going on in their lives, even greater ones. Empathizing with them by placing equal, or higher, importance to their lives outside of the office, and ensuring they have a good work-life balance will help them realize you care for their spirit and well-being.

2. Practice open communication.

Your employees sit in the trenches of your business. They are the ones who front your customers and can provide valuable feedback and suggestions. Listening and acting on them will show your employees that you value their input, and they will realize that they are important to your success.

Having open communication in place also means letting them know about changes that affect them. Don’t wait for them to hear about it from human resources, or, worse, from the office grapevine. As their manager, they deserve to hear about anything which involves them from you.

3. Be fair.

Have integrity in the way you deal with your employees – equally, and neutrally. Don’t play favorites. Each employee must feel their efforts are equally appreciated and valued. Favoritism can be demotivating, exactly the opposite of what you’re striving for!

4. Empower your employees.

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people, so they can tell us what to do.” – Steve Jobs

Provide your employees with the tools to get their jobs done, but give them the space to use their own strengths and resources to do so. Enroll them in seminars and workshops. Investing in them in this way shows that you value their professional growth, development, and career.

5. Recognize and reward.

Always do your best to show your appreciation for jobs well done. Offer incentives for improvement and positive change. Don’t be afraid to be effusive with your praise. If you can, reward even those who show incremental growth, and not just the top earners. People work harder when they feel their efforts are appreciated.

Great managers never underestimate the value of employee loyalty. They know that having loyal employees can equate with increased productivity, high morale, profitability, and thus, business success. They should never be taken for granted nor treated poorly.

To have loyal employees who work hard, are productive, and are inspired, you must have great managers, too! They are relationship builders, first and foremost. If your employees are the heartbeat of any company, and their loyalty must be nourished and fostered for your business to thrive, then managers are its lifeblood. They are equally necessary and prized.

To have loyal employees who will go the extra mile, great managers are more important than ever.

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How To Code: Frequency count for each letter in a word, in Java.

I used a HashMap in this code. 

Note: This code will count capital letters separate from lowercase letters, but one could easily convert all letters to lowercase to reduce confusion. 

Input/Output:

Enter a String apple {a=1, e=1, l=1, p=2}

……………………..

Enter a String nincompoop {c=1, i=1, m=1, n=2, o=3, p=2}

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“Lightning in the night, the deep roll of thunderclap, the shake of our bed.” . — Daily Haiku on Love by Tyler Knott Gregson . . #haiku #quotes #love #poem #poetry #tylerknottgregson #writing #typewriterseries #tylerknott #lightning (at New Bedford, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzQvaTBF0wP/?igshid=1svdphw9orxij

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