Joy to the World? How About Joy in the Workplace?

I know we all experience joy in our personal lives.  Weddings, the birth of children, graduations, new jobs and personal growth certainly create a sense of joy. I know things like this do so for me.

However, do you experience joy in your professional life?

That may take a minute to process, and with regret I would guess many of us would have a hard time answering a resounding “YES!” to that question.  Certainly, milestones like getting a long sought-after position, annual bonuses, meeting and exceeding tough goals, being recognized for achievement, all can create a sense of happiness and fulfillment, if not outright joy.

We are coming into the season where gratitude can play a key role in keeping up our spirits.  A sense of joy in what we do can offset many of the challenges we face in staying positive, especially in challenging times.

Last month I wrote a blog about the importance of trust in the workplace.  At least one study has shown that a sense of trust can increase the productivity and motivation of both ourselves and the teams we work with.

Recently I came upon another article from the Harvard Business Review titled “Making Joy a Priority at Work” by Alex Liu (Harvard Business Review, July 17, 2019, read it here).

Why joy as a priority? Liu says: “Amid the dazzle and hopes of the digital age, it is easy to forget that old-fashioned human desire is as essential to achieving business goals as ever.”  But, as he notes, “…many companies struggle because their cultures get in the way — too many layers and silos, too many colleagues who prefer to stay in their comfort zones, bask in their KPIs [Key Performance Indicators], and resist new ways of connecting and working.”

What to do?  “…joy can be a big part of the solution. Why? For two reasons. People intrinsically seek joy. And joy connects people more powerfully than almost any other human experience.”

He uses sports as an example. Who among us has not witnessed the raucous celebrations that erupt after our favorite team wins?  And winning seems to breed success, if for no other reason that feeling the joy of accomplishing something meaningful feels pretty dang good. Don’t we all want to keep feeling like this?

Liu suggests that business leaders can build joy into their organizations by focusing on three key behavioral elements:  Harmony, Impact and Acknowledgement.

  • “ On winning teams, each player has a distinct role in achieving the goal. One player might be a great passer. Another is a great scorer. Yet another may bring a certain intensity and competitive fire. When the diverse skills and strengths of teammates are really clicking together, it feels great.”

 

  • “Impact. Team harmony leads to impact, which further fuels joy. Even if the result is just a single sublime play or golden moment, the palpable joy of each teammate rises.”

 

  • “Acknowledgment. Great coaches instruct their players to, when they score, immediately point to the teammates who created the scoring opportunity. Acknowledging each player’s contributions and cheering for each other powers the entire joy-success-joy cycle.”

Is the impact of joy in the workplace quantifiable?  Yes, according to Liu.  A.T. Kearny did a survey in December 2018 that dealt with employee’s experiences of joy in the workplace.  The results?  There is a direct correlation between feeling more joy in work and being able to work in harmony, have impact and thus being acknowledged for accomplishments.

All roses?  Not quite.  “…[T]he survey also points to a pronounced “joy gap” at work. Nearly 90% of respondents said that they expect to experience a substantial degree of joy at work, yet only 37% report that such is their actual experience.”

The consequence: “Business leaders tend to think a great deal about success, but rarely about joy. Chances are, few are even aware of the joy gap in their organization and the resulting lack of interpersonal connection and team aspiration. That must change.”

How to do that?  Liu has three key steps to enhance workplace joy”

  • “Set the agenda. Make the experience of joy an explicit corporate purpose. Strengthen your inclusion agenda to incorporate meaningful efforts toward ensuring all employees feel heard, recognized, and acknowledged.”

 

  • “Set the stage. Staff your new digital/culture programs with true cross-unit, cross-silo teams, where joint teamwork delivers maximum impact, shared success, and fun.”

 

  • “Set the tone. Encourage and celebrate individual and corporate social impact efforts. Authentically express more of the joy you personally experience in your role. Joy begets joy.”

How does A. Alliance try to create that sense of joy in our workplace?  Especially in an industry as tough and challenging as debt collection?

Well, each year the management team designates the entire month of November as Team Appreciation Month.  You will hear more about that in the weeks ahead, but suffice to say the intent is to show intentional appreciation for the superlative efforts our team puts forth during the year.  Working as closely as we do, working as a team is imperative, and when we achieve our goals, we all feel pretty joyful.  That, of course, in turn, becomes high quality service and results for you our valued clients.

Thank you for being our valued clients and for bringing us a sense of joy when we are successful for you!

 

A. Alliance Collection Agency, Inc. is a full service, licensed accounts receivable management and debt collection agency providing highly effective, customized one on one management and recovery solutions for our business partners.  Founded in northern Illinois in 2005, we have been proudly improving the bottom-line on behalf of our business partners in and around Chicagoland for over 14 years.

 

 

Debt Collection: Trick-or-Treat?

I bet I know what you’re thinking—trick. Tell someone you work for a collection agency and their reaction can pretty much be summed up with one word—yikes! That’s because ours is an industry that is typically thought of negatively. There are a few other professions I can think of off the top of my head that are met with a similar reaction. How many bad jokes can you think of involving car salesmen, IRS agents, lawyers, or cable TV providers?

Do you know why? In part, I believe that in each of these cases, society has let the actions of a few taint the way they feel about an entire industry. It’s just another case of the light shining the brightest on a few bad actors. It ruins it for the rest of us! Kind of sad.

As much as it pains me to admit, I know there are some collection agencies out there behaving dishonestly and treating consumers disrespectfully. But I think that only accounts for part of the reason the collection industry is not liked. Let’s face it, when money—sometimes a lot of it—is involved emotions can run high and sometimes you just want to shoot the messenger.

Good or bad, the fact is, the U.S. economy revolves around consumption. When low-cost money is available to consumers they spend, and when they spend it propels the economy. Those who provide the credit, goods and services do so expecting to be repaid. And when they don’t, that’s when we come in.

Have you ever stopped to think about what happens to businesses that don’t get paid? Bad debt can create serious financial problems for any business.

I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying There’s no such thing as a free lunch. We have a similar one that goes around our office. There is no such thing as an unpaid bill. They both are a takeoff of the economic theory that whatever goods and services are provided, they must be paid for by someone. In the case of the “free lunch” it’s true that bars in Milwaukee and other cities around the country used to advertise “free lunches” to get patrons into their establishments during the noon hour. And while they did not charge for the lunches—make no mistake—the consumed food was paid for with the profits made from the many beers and other alcoholic beverages customers bought to wash-down their lunches. And in the case of the “unpaid bill” believe me it will be paid for—in the form of increased prices, layoffs, tax increases, business closures, and unavailable services or goods.

Here’s a staggering and sobering statistic. According the Federal Reserve, the total amount of consumer debt in the U.S. exceeds $15.5 trillion!

In 2016, ACA International; the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals, hired global advisory firm, Ernst & Young, to conduct a study of third-party debt collectors. Their survey reported recoveries of $67.6 billion in 2016 alone. This recovered consumer debt had a significant positive effect on the nation’s economic health. Check out the results below:

Providing America Jobs
– Direct Collections Jobs: 129,262
– Direct Payroll: $5 B

Paying Taxes
– Direct State / Local Taxes: $677 M
– Direct Federal Taxes: $852 M

Giving Back
– Charitable Contributions: $17.8 M
– Employee Volunteer Hours: 521,700

Even with those few bad apples, a huge majority of this bad debt was collected by ethical debt collectors who treat consumers with the dignity and respect everyone deserves. There are many reasons why people do not pay their bills and reputable third-party collection agencies like A. Alliance can work through issues to find amicable solutions for both creditors and consumers.

If you find yourself in a situation where you have a debt you are having difficulty paying, there are resources out there to help.  For example, Ask Doctor Debt at www.askdoctordebt.org. is a free—literally free—website that can answer questions regarding debt collection and the laws that are there to protect you. Right now, they are in the process of updating their site so it will be bigger with more comprehensive information on a wide range of topics pertaining the credit and collections.  I can’t wait to see it when it’s done.

So…debt collection, trick-or-treat? I hope you’ll rethink your answer.

Best wishes for a safe and happy Halloween!

A. Alliance Collection Agency, Inc. is a full service, licensed accounts receivable management and debt collection agency providing highly effective, customized one on one management and recovery solutions for our business partners.  Founded in northern Illinois in 2005, we have been proudly improving the bottom-line on behalf of our business partners in and around Chicagoland for over 14 years.

Image provided by: Derren Brown – wikimedia

 

Trust in the Workplace: The Key to Business Success

“In God we trust, all others pay cash.”

No doubt you have heard this phrase before.  I certainly have seen it in advertising, in retail shops; well, really all over during my lifetime. Apparently, its origination is unknown, but it was a common phrase bandied about in the last century and its use brought it to nearly the status of a proverbial pronouncement. I say nearly proverbial because try as I might I cannot find it in Proverbs, a place where it might fit in just fine.

It is even the title of a book by the author Jean Sheppard. You may remember Jean Sheppard as the creator of “A Christmas Story” the perennial holiday movie featuring Ralphie, his little brother Randy, his quirky family and friends, and multiple warnings to Ralphie not to put out his eye with the infamous Red Rider BB gun.

Sheppard’s story is very funny (at least to me and my family), and certainly casts this era through a big round lens, in the shade of rose, through which Ralphie sees his innocent world.  Trust is certainly a theme of the movie, trust placed and trust misplaced.   Lack of trust in the advice of his parents and teachers almost costs Ralphie his eye as it turns out. But then again in a figurative way does lack of trust not cost us all?

But I digress.

Trust is a central issue of our world today though, isn’t it?  Whether government, religion, the press, business, and even in personal relationships, it is increasingly hard to know who we can trust.  Fake news?  Shaping the narrative?  It does seem that while we are witness to, and participants in, the battles to win trust, every day that goes by seems to undermine many of our hard-held beliefs.

And yet I find myself trusting those closest to me, and I believe that they trust me.  When there is a trustworthy relationship in place, doesn’t that feel just great?  When it is shattered, does that also, conversely, feel proportionality just as bad?

So, what does trust have to do with business success? Well, just pick up the business news every day and it seems the ‘do whatever it takes and clean up the mess later’ finds another victim.  Would it not be best just to do things right in the first place and have customers and employees trust in what the business is up to?

I know, rose colored glasses again, but there appears to be significant evidence that there is a huge benefit to companies considered to be trustworthy by their customers and employees.

Recently I came upon an article in the Harvard Business Review titled “The Neuroscience of Trust” by Paul Zak, (Harvard Business Review January–February 2017; read it here).  Zak is “is the founding director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and a professor of economics, psychology, and management at Claremont Graduate University.” So, he knows from which he speaks.

Zak, in his research, set out to find what was the key factor in driving workplace engagement.  Was it perks (as he says like “karaoke Fridays”)?  Other so called “golden handcuffs” that lock employees into long term commitment to an enterprise?

Surprisingly he found (my emphasis added): “…that building a culture of trust is what makes a meaningful difference. Employees in high-trust organizations are more productive, have more energy at work, collaborate better with their colleagues, and stay with their employers longer than people working at low-trust companies. They also suffer less chronic stress and are happier with their lives, and these factors fuel stronger performance.”

So how did he determine this?  As the title of the article suggests, he actually engaged in a neurological study to see the effects trust has on us.  I won’t go into detail on his methodology here (the article is definitely worth the read), but he focused on the chemical in our make ups called oxytocin.  Apparently, research using animals had identified that this chemical was responsible for making animals more approachable, and his question became did it do the same in humans?  Taking it a bit further, is there a relationship between our own oxytocin levels and how it actually can cause us to trust?

His research showed that there in fact is a relationship there.  As he writes: “Oxytocin appeared to do just one thing—reduce the fear of trusting a stranger.”

Is this an endorsement to shoot everyone up with oxytocin so we trust more?  Of course not, but it did lead him to several conclusions about what things inhibit trust and what things encourage it.  For example, he notes that high stress inhibits oxytocin.  He went on to develop a framework of management behaviors that encourage oxytocin production, are measurable, and can be managed to improve performance.  They include the following:

  • Recognize excellence.
  • Induce “challenge stress.”
  • Give people discretion in how they do their work.
  • Enable job crafting.
  • Share information broadly.
  • Intentionally build relationships.
  • Facilitate whole-person growth.
  • Show vulnerability.

Does developing trust really work?

Zak writes: “Compared with people at low-trust companies, people at high-trust companies report: 74% less stress, 106% more energy at work, 50% higher productivity, 13% fewer sick days, 76% more engagement, 29% more satisfaction with their lives, 40% less burnout.”

Further: “The effect of trust on self-reported work performance was powerful. Respondents whose companies were in the top quartile indicated they had 106% more energy and were 76% more engaged at work than respondents whose firms were in the bottom quartile. They also reported being 50% more productive—which is consistent with our objective measures of productivity from studies we have done with employees at work. Trust had a major impact on employee loyalty as well: Compared with employees at low-trust companies, 50% more of those working at high-trust organizations planned to stay with their employer over the next year, and 88% more said they would recommend their company to family and friends as a place to work.”

That is pretty powerful stuff.

In summary, Zak says “Ultimately, you cultivate trust by setting a clear direction, giving people what they need to see it through, and getting out of their way.  It’s not about being easy on your employees or expecting less from them. High-trust companies hold people accountable but without micromanaging them. They treat people like responsible adults.”

At A. Alliance  trust between our leadership, our customers (clients and consumers alike) and employees is critical.  We do not take it lightly, and we structure our business to solidify and earn that trust every day.

A. Alliance Collection Agency, Inc. is a full service, licensed accounts receivable management and debt collection agency providing highly effective, customized one on one management and recovery solutions for our business partners.  Founded in northern Illinois in 2005, we have been proudly improving the bottom-line on behalf of our business partners in and around Chicagoland for over 14 years

Image provided by:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynellshooks