How Do Our Labor Relationships Affect Our Work Performance?
Job performance depends on an endless number of variables, from some that are relatively individual—such as motivation, training for the job, commitment, physical condition—to others determined by the context. Scientific research in work and organizational psychology has demonstrated the impact of material resources, technology and workspace lighting on productivity. However, there is also extensive development regarding the influence of the human factor on work performance, demonstrating that the way in which people are linked within the organization seals the final result of our work.
The work environment, that is, the subjective perception that the worker has of the organization in which he participates, his work environment and the social relationships that occur in him, is a determining factor in work performance. In other words, The quantity and quality of work relationships that we establish with our superiors and peers affect the fulfillment (or not) of organizational and individual objectives Therefore, in this article we will develop how the bonding dimension of work affects our work performance.
The quality of interpersonal relationships at work
Social and general psychology have emphasized the adaptive nature of social relationships. The need to belong to a group motivates all human beings to maintain at least a minimum amount of meaningful, lasting and positive interpersonal relationships.
This need to form groups is guided by the search for survival, a tattoo of our history as a species, since thousands of years ago loneliness posed a risk given the possibility of encountering a predator at any moment, not getting food or not. breed. Today, although our relationships are not based on the need to protect ourselves from a beast, they are They endure due to the need to establish strong bonds, based on affection and empathy
Furthermore, in the workplace, maintaining quality interpersonal relationships operates as a way to ensure greater well-being when working, something of great importance if we take into account that they are relationships that we must maintain on a daily basis; also essential for the fulfillment of our objectives in the workplace. At work, many tasks are impossible to carry out without cooperation. This fact forces people to congregate in groups or work teams to carry out a task, which implies the assumption and allocation of roles in pursuit of achieving said common goal.
The effects of negative work relationships on performance
However, a team will hardly end up solving tasks effectively if the bonds on which it is based are based on coldness, apathy or distance. Labor relations must be based on affectivity. Various research has shown that there is very little about a relationship that can be understood without understanding the other’s emotional tone, emotions and feelings. Again, this brings us back to the search for proximity inherent to our species.
If relationships with bosses and co-workers follow the logic of being simply links forged with an operational purpose, maintaining a certain resistance to empathizing with the other – which could be expressed with the typical phrase of “we only have to see each other for a few hours and that’s it” “is”—paradoxically we will ensure that our work relationships affect our performance and productivity. In relation to this, a study carried out by Dutton and Heaphy concludes that the impoliteness enacted Low-quality working relationships can be harmful to individuals and, ultimately, organizations
On the other hand, negative labor relations tend to emerge when there is a lack of sense of community at work, that is, when workers do not feel a sense of belonging to the workspace or the organization; nor do they consider their presence to be important to their colleagues or superiors. People share a large part of their days at work, even those whose work has a certain autonomy with respect to the functions performed by others, so hostility or excessive competitiveness could deeply undermine work performance even when the tasks they perform Each subject must be independent from the work of their companions.
Positive labor relations as catapults towards productivity
For its part, maintaining positive relationships with bosses and colleagues operates as a catapult towards increased performance at work and greater well-being during working hours. High-quality connections between people are accompanied by positive outcomes for individuals, promoting the development of their careers and personal projects but also benefiting the organizations to which they belong.
A key characteristic shared by all job performance-enhancing relationships is mutuality. For Roberts, mutuality has four dimensions: mutual benefit, mutual influence, mutual expectation and mutual understanding. The cultivation of these four aspects leads to greater individual and collective development, as well as a greater commitment to the proposed objectives. The fact that workers maintain relationships of this type with their superiors could even increase their involvement with the organization, that is, their degree of dedication to their work.
To conclude, it is relevant to note that There are a series of practices capable of helping people develop strong and meaningful work relationships ; based on trust, empathy and mutuality. Positive relationships at work, according to Kahn, are facilitated by the fact that the organization aims to promote career development, a sense of community or belonging to the organization, as well as the fulfillment of specific objectives and personal support. Therefore, it is also key that organizations propose spaces that encourage the deployment of positive work relationships between the agents that participate in it, with the aim of not only improving their performance, but also the well-being of each of the individuals in the organization. job.
