Spring Cleaning Insights
Mosquitos and flies really annoy the author of this post.
At the same time, spiders eat mosquitos and flies. They are like free insect control officers. They don’t scare me like they scare some.
That is why my house is often adorned with more cobwebs than would be considered “house proud”.
It is also why occasionally when I do a spring clean it feels frustrating. Why?
I’m killing animals I do like. In the process making it easier for animals I don’t like. All so that I can have a ‘clean house’.
There are many things like this in the workplace that are equally frustrating.
For example, conducting reviews as a way of improving productivity. This is a conversation (that takes time) about the past that is meant to help you in the future, but often these reviews turn into a form-filling exercise and yield no productivity benefit. Very often they take up more time and are counterproductive.
Incentives
Another area for investigation is incentives.
Financial incentives like a pay rise work as an incentive, but only for a short while. Soon, the extra pay becomes ‘normal’ and no longer an incentive.
Studies have shown that non-financial incentives like flexible hours and work-from-home work better. But, many of these studies were pre-lockdowns. COVID gave many people unprecedented flexibility and work-from-home scope. Did it work as an incentive? Not according to these articles about upcoming workplace resignations.
Massage Feels Good
At the end of Spring Cleaning and this post, we may not understand any better why we clear cobwebs or which incentives work best. But what you and I both know is that massages feel great. So if you want incentive that feels good and makes people happier, healthier and more productive, then what you must do is: Get in Touch (pardon the pun).