They're both a new accessory in office decor and an attempt to
enhance corporate culture. Either way, motivational posters are finding
their way onto workplace walls. And most of the managers who put them
there hope the posters will create a pleasant atmosphere, change
employees' behavior, and ultimately boost productivity.
But do these posters really motivate? If they're perceived as a
flavor-of-the-month management tactic, employees may scoff, warns Samuel
Culbert, Ph.D., professor of management at UCLA. "Unless they're
depressed, people are already motivated to succeed," Culbert notes.
"Managers should be trying to remove obstacles to productivity, and they
need to ask their people how to do this. By putting up these signs,
managers are showing that they don't care about the answers."
Another potential danger is that employees may become confused or
cynical if the posters relay messages that contradict the behavior the
company actually rewards. Still, it's possible that the posters can have
positive effects if they're part of a plan that teaches a company's
values and priorities. The problem comes when managers rely on posters to
do their work for them. "We don't guarantee anything," says Mac Anderson,
chairman of Successories Direct Marketing, a leading
motivational-products firm. "We don't think people will change unless
management walks the walk."
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