Unwritten systemic laws – does that sound strange to you?
Yet we are intuitively aware of them, and they become clear immediately when boundaries are crossed.
For example: if there is no balance between give and take in a system, such as an organization, most people intuitively recognize this as injustice. Even if it cannot be immediately named, everyone knows that strange feeling, whether in the stomach, the back, or the little finger… that something is not right.
If there is a balance between give and take in an organization, tasks are distributed as fairly as possible and according to competence, new efforts are not immediately weighed up, and additional issues are not immediately rejected.
In these systems, there is a balance between what is given and accepted, and what is taken and given.
Employees and leaders do not work with the silent suspicion in the back of their minds that they are being “taken advantage of.”
When there is balance, it is evident in the following ways:
- Employees are motivated to work a little harder or longer when emergencies arise.
- Appreciation is not just a big word, but is lived and implemented at all levels.
- Managers recognize the performance of their employees.
- Employees are happy to take on responsibility.
If the balance is not right, this is evident in the following ways:
- Employees do not consider their pay to be appropriate in relation to their performance.
- Workloads in teams and projects are perceived as unbalanced and unfair.
- Managers do not care about the needs of their employees and do not keep an eye on them.
If this imbalance persists over the long term, people usually find other ways to compensate for it.
These are not positive for any company: they contribute to an extent that seems appropriate to what they receive; they lack the motivation to work longer hours during bottlenecks; and ultimately, the business loses valuable resources.
That’s why it’s worth paying attention to the pulse of your system, recognizing symptoms, and addressing their root causes.
If you need support with leadership and teamwork, please feel free to contact me. We can do this through coaching or workshops, depending on what is most appropriate. I look forward to hearing from you!
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