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Culture Shift: Bad Signs
March 17, 2008
Those "funny signs" posted in many workplaces may actually be indicators of a cultural climate that's nothing to laugh about.
By Paul Levesque
I once found myself waiting in a business reception area that provided no magazines or newspapers for visitors. My choices were to gaze at the carpet or at the funny sign the receptionist had pinned to the wall near her telephone. I studied the sign.
It was a crude line drawing of a woman slumped over her typewriter in exhaustion—or perhaps despair. The caption read, "I only work here because I am too old for a paper route, too young for social security, and too tired to have an affair." The image had that fuzzy copy-of-a-copy-of-a-copy look about it, which suggested the receptionist wasn't the only one who'd considered this a sentiment worth preserving.
Of course signs and slogans like these are just a bit of "harmless fun," right? Everybody knows they're just jokes, don't they? Isn't it a good thing to introduce a little humor and fun into the workplace once in a while?
Who Does the Message Affect Most?
Most workers who post these types of signs in their work stations—or place bumper stickers such as "Work sucks but I need the bucks" on their cars—will tell you it's mainly for the amusement of their co-workers. It's just a way to give their peers a figurative wink and elbow in the ribs to let off a little steam.
But what effect do signs like these have on new employees? What will a new hire be telling loved ones at the dinner table about the culture of the organization he or she has just joined? And what are these "harmless little jokes" conveying to outside customers? How much confidence do they inspire in customers hoping for a satisfying interaction with dedicated and caring employees?
There's no way around it. These so-called funny signs are not only a reflection of a culture in which workers feel dispirited and demoralized: They're also a reinforcer of that very culture.
Accentuating the Positive
Where morale and motivation are low, attempts to "outlaw" negative signs won't help. Workers are always on the lookout for catchy slogans and phrases that reflect how they feel about their work and their workplace. If the prevailing feeling is negative, then negative slogans will inevitably keep popping up like weeds.
The trick is not to eliminate signs that reflect negativism, but to eliminate the negativism itself.
Some shortcuts:
• Give employees opportunities to vent their frustrations and let off steam where their bosses can attend, listen and learn. Often just making employees feel their complaints are being heard goes a long way toward reducing their sense of frustration.
• Encourage employees to collectively brainstorm solutions to their problems. Instead of trying to impose management's solutions, let staff work together on the job to come up with their own. Even if they arrive at the same solution management would, the ownership aspect always makes a huge difference in motivational terms. And, if they discover on their own that there is no easy solution…poof! Most employee resentment will magically evaporate on the spot.
• Make positive signs and slogans available on a voluntary basis. Invest in attractive commercial posters, placards and signs bearing messages of inspiration and optimism, and let workers know these are available as decorative elements for their work areas. To emphasize the ownership element, invite workers to collaborate on their own designs and content for original, customized signs and slogans, and have these professionally produced for the workplace.
Spreading Good Vibes
During my long-ago days as a corporate trainer at Motorola, I created a training program around the concept of allowing pieces of work to be "pulled" through the factory assembly line, rather than each worker "pushing" it onto the next individual ready-or-not. In one of the training sessions an employee coined the phrase "Let's Pull Together." Within a few weeks hundreds of workers across the organization were voluntarily pinning "Let's Pull Together" buttons on their clothing, and the factory floor was festooned with banners and posters bearing the same message in the same striking color scheme.
If what's on display today in your work setting seems a little on the negative side, it may be time to begin shifting the culture in a more positive direction. As you do so, keep watching the walls around you for "signs" of progress.
 Editor's Note: The manifestation of humorous signs in the workplace diminishes employee morale, ultimately hindering your organization's incentive initiatives. But what effect do these signs have on your customers, who sometimes catch a glimpse of these "amusing" pictographs? Find out in this week's Culture Shift podcast, "Bad Signs," at www.incentivemag.com/podcasts.
Incentive online "Culture Shift" columnist Paul Levesque is an author, seminar leader and public speaker with two decades' experience as an international business consultant specializing in the connection between employee motivation and customer satisfaction. He is a senior consultant with Boston-based Novations Inc., and is also founder and CEO of Customer Focus Breakthroughs Inc.
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