Anticipation vs. Realization
Why Workplace Attitudes Are What They Are
Complex dynamics — such as company morale — do not necessarily require exceedingly complex explanations.
In simple terms, organizational emotions are shaped by the relationship between two things, what people expect and what they experience.
- What people expect. What do workers — individually and collectively — hope for? Do they anticipate big challenges, tight deadlines, exciting new ideas, and performing under the spotlight of month-end pressure? Or do workers expect a more low-key and systematic workflow that emphasizes quality, accuracy, and workmanship over frenetic urgency?Expectations should always be clearly communicated from the top-down so that workers can anticipate an accurate reality. For potential new hires these expectations should be shared at the beginning of the interview process. Managers and leaders should set the tone of expectations that workers can prepare for. For the sake of this discussion, let let “Energy expectations” run along a vertical energy axis ranging from “little” to “lots.”
- What people experience. The second part of the work force equation is, “What do we actually experience?” Does what we actually go through involve very little energy or are our experiences far more exciting?
Expectations vs. Actual experiences
In our left hand we hold a cup of expectations for stimulation that range somewhere between little and lots; and in our right hand we compare our actual experiences — which also range somewhere between very little excitement and a whole lot. A worker’s individual morale is influenced by how well or poorly those experiences match his or her expectations.
While individuals may have different gaps between expectations and experiences, company cultures reflect how closely the critical mass of expectations match the critical mass of experiential reality.
Office environments and managers then act and react according to the matches and mismatches between what workers expect and what they experience. Wholesale disjoints cause turnover, a costly but fixable problem.
This matching of expectations and experiences is especially important in today’s multigenerational workforce, because younger workers tend to bore easily. Older workers, by comparison, generally have a wider range of patience and tolerance for gaps between work expectations and how things really do play out.
How alignment or gaps impact morale:
Alignment and misalignment shape worker emotions. Here is how four common workplace emotions are shaped:
- Relaxation. When we neither seek nor find excitement, we relax. A relaxed office is one in which both expectations and experiences are muted.
- Anxiety. Anxiety occurs when unexpected or pressure situations are thrust upon us. If workers expect little excitement but chaos breaks loose, the workers will quickly grow anxious.
- Boredom. When we want action but don’t have any, we get bored. This is the curse of the younger workers, who tend to bore quickly and may react by job-hopping or disengaging. Younger workers have little fear of change, so workplace flexibility can be both blessing and curse.
- Excitement. When high anticipation and high activity collide, workers get excited.
This concept of “expectations versus experiences” is important for a couple reasons. If you are an office leader and aren’t happy with what you see, figure out why things are the way they are — and change them. Secondly, if you are a worker and aren’t happy, figure out why and proactively seek an audience with someone empowered to fix it.
Running away is the easiest but not always the best answer. Many times your best gap closure fix lies within within your current organization. The challenge is finding that resource and having the gumption to step forward and deal with it.
Good organizations love smart thinkers who can dissect a problem and invent a quality fix. Just because things are they way they are today does not mean they need to remain that way tomorrow.
Do not leave positive change to the next guy. Be the orchestrator. Be the man or woman who steps up and gets it done.