TREND LINES: It's the little things that count

I just returned from spending the holiday with a dear friend who lives in Germany. I go there often, and each time I sleep on a foldout sofa bed of sorts. Imagine a love seat that expands to a hard foam platform. There's an indentation from side to side where the platform unfolds. And there's a trough from top to bottom.

The beast was ancient when we met more than 15 years ago. As I lay there one night trying to make peace with this bony monster, I asked myself why my loving friend would subject me to this uncomfortable experience. It struck me that she most likely had never slept in her own guest room.

My mind wandered to a recent conversation with a client who was perturbed with employees who had asked for new desk chairs. Money wasn't in the budget, and he couldn't see spending the funds. He relented and bought chairs for the entire office -- cheap chairs from a big box chain.

Employees were still complaining. "There's no pleasing them," he said. Looking at his expensive ergonomic desk chair, I asked him if he had ever worked a day in the chairs he bought for employees. I knew the answer.

Frederick Herzberg was a smart man. Writing in the late '50s, his theory was that the factors that motivate people at work are different from, and not simply the opposite of, the factors that cause dissatisfaction. In short, people are satisfied and motivated by things related to doing their job -- success, appreciation, meaningful work, timely feedback, etc.

They're dissatisfied by those things related to the context of the job -- work environment, furniture, having the right tools, the quality of the toilet paper in the restroom, parking, etc. It's these seemingly little things that add up to big dissatisfactions over time.

If there are enough of these demotivators in the workplace, it's all but impossible to motivate people to do good work in a way they find satisfying. And, it's often these demotivating factors that escape the attention of managers who, by the nature of their positions, see the workplace from a different perspective. The lesson here is that these seemingly small things make a huge difference in whether or not your employees are satisfied with their jobs and motivated to do a good work. And they're not even on the radar of most managers.

What factors in your work environment are serving to demotivate employees? What can you do to alleviate or correct the things that are getting in the way of having a truly motivated workforce? Pay attention. And do your best to look through the eyes of your employees. Spend some time in their shoes. And while you're at it, every so often, sleep in your own guest bed!!!

Jan Flynn teaches at the J. Whitney Bunting College of Business at Georgia College.

This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 9:13 PM with the headline "TREND LINES: It's the little things that count ."