Nice people working in nice professions often inadvertently create nasty workplaces – which HR managers can learn a lot from, writes David Creelman
It is ironic that some of the workplaces you expect to be the
nicest are the most dysfunctional. I’ve come across bitter petti
ness in a university religious studies department, yoga studios that
treat teachers callously and small consultancies set up by friends that
quickly destroyed that friendship. Even lovely hobby activities like a
community garden can reveal the unlovely side of human nature. One
woman spent days laboriously carting away “her” soil when she was
leaving a garden plot, because she hated the idea of the next person
benefiting from it.
Nice people working in nice professions often inadvertently cre
ate nasty workplaces. This surprising outcome delivers some lessons
in good HR management.
Why nice people create nasty workplaces
People frequently make two mistakes in understanding what makes
for a good workplace; one is called the fundamental attribution error
and the other is a mistaken dislike of structure.
The fundamental attribution error, is assuming behaviour is driven
by personality rather than by the situation. If you see a sales repre
sentative arguing with an accounting clerk ,it’s natural to assume it’s
because one of them isn’t being nice – we attribute the behaviour to
the personality of the people involved. If you are in a nice profession
like religious studies, you assume that this sort of thing simply won’t
happen because everyone will work hard to be good. In fact, human
behaviour is frequently driven by the situation rather than personali
ty. If a sale representative feels they need to entertain clients, while
the accounting clerk has been told to be strict on allowing entertain
ing expenses, then conflict is bound to arise. Conflict usually arises
because of the situation, not the personalities.
The second damaging assumption is that rules and structure are
just annoying bureaucratic practices we are better off without. This
assumption occurs because we notice when
things go wrong, not when they go right. We
scarcely notice when our computer operat
ing system is working correctly, but when
something goes wrong we are quick to curse
it. The same thing happens in organisations:
the rules, the structures, the hierarchies, all
come to our attention when they get in our
way. Nice people think they can get rid of
these troublesome traditional features of or
ganisations.
These two incorrect assumptions lead peo
ple to rely on niceness to create organisational
harmony – and that is simply not enough to
get a group of people to work well together.
What leads to good workplaces?
What actually leads to good workplaces? Two
important elements are structure and results.
Structure includes all those organisation
al elements HR puts into place; like clear ex
pectations, conflict resolution procedures,
unambiguous reporting lines and well-defined
processes. Structures don’t need to
be particularly rigid or bureaucratic,
but they need to be there to minimiSe
conflict. Continually working to keep
the structures working well will lead
to a happier workplace.
The other factor in a good work
place that may be overlooked by nice
people is results. People are gener
ally happier when the organisation is
achieving its goals. The objective of
the organisation need not be partic
ularly noble for people to find success
highly motivating, even if the mission
of a team is as pointless as kicking a
ball into a net, it can ignite great pas
sion. The telling point here is that peo
ple will happily put up with a lot of
problems if their team or organisation
is achieving great results. This is not
a matter of compensation or bonus
es (although these can be important
too), people are driven to achieve
goals, and an organisation that
achieves its goals can often be a great
place to work.
Dr. Bob Sutton wrote a well-loved
book called The No Asshole Rule en
couraging organisations to show no
tolerance for jerks. However, organi
sations should also pay attention to
the “No Bozo Rule” which argues that
organisations should show less tol
erance to people who are nice but are
hopeless at doing their job. People
like getting things done and bozos
make for an unhappy workplace.
A role for niceness and the role of HR
Before we give up entirely on nice
ness, it is worth noting that having
nice people in the organisation does
help. Sutton was right; we should fire
people who are jerks. Furthermore
even if people are not nice by nature
we can train niceness as a skill. Man
agers can be taught to ensure every
one has a chance to voice their views
in meetings. Leaders should learn to
debate issues respectfully, even when
they strongly disagree. It should be
an expectation that employees reach
out and be inclusive towards other
employees.
The lesson for HR professionals
is that, HR is the group with expert
ise on the factors that lead to an ef
fective workplace. Too often, HR peo
ple seem to end up in narrow silos
where they are the expert on labour
law or recruiting practice or com
pensation design. These specialities
are important, but the bigger role of
the HR professional is being the per
son who understands how people
and organisations work and know the
elements required to make a work
place that is effective and yes, a
workplace that is nice.
David Creelman is CEO of Creelman Research, providing writing, research and commentary on human-capital management. He can be reached at dcreelman@creelmanresearch.com
