Valuing Your Family Can Improve Your Job Performance

Managers used to believe that an employee being overly concerned about family issues would have a negative effect on job performance. However, today’s best managers know that valuing your family can lead to more time spent at work. Additionally, caring for one’s family concerns can help employees reduce the negative effects of conflict in the workplace. These desirable organizational outcomes might be enhanced if organizations had even more family-friendly policies. Rather than viewing family identity as a liability, organizations might want to view caring for one’s family as a way to help improve employee job performance.

Source: Bagger, J., Li, A., & Gutek, B. A. 2008. How much do you value your family and does it matter? The joint effects of family identity salience, family-interference-with-work, and gender. Human Relations, 61, 187-211.

Find Out How Your Employees View Work And Help Them Stay Motivated

Today’s best managers know that employees can think about work in three different ways. Some employees see work as just a job. These employees are motivated by what they get out of a job, such as pay and benefits. Some employees see work as a career. These employees are motivated by rewards that come from professional advancements. Some employees see work as a calling. These employees are motivated by the personal fulfillment that doing their job gives them. Today’s best managers find out how their employees view their jobs and help provide them with what motivates their view of work.


Source: Wright, T. A., & Goodstein, J. 2008, December. Character is not “dead” in management research: A review of individual character and organization-level virtue. Journal of Management, 33, 928-958.

Employee Thoughts and Feelings Influence Many Job Attitudes and Behaviors

Today’s best managers know that the feelings and moods that employees experience on the job influence many aspects of employee thoughts and behaviors. These feelings and moods are called “affect” and they can be positive or negative. Employee thoughts can shape feelings, and feelings can shape thoughts. Employee affect can influence decision-making, performance appraisal scores, ratings of job applicants, job satisfaction, employee job performance, and the willingness to help other employees. Today’s best managers monitor employee affect since employee thoughts and feelings influence so much of employee performance.

Source: Baron, R. 2008. The role of affect in the entrepreneurial process. Academy of Management Review, 33, 328-340.