“This job is killing me!” That statement may seem to be an exaggeration, but in looking closely at the work environment, it has become apparent there is a serious malady affecting the productivity of organizations. This malady has been coined ‘professional suicide,’ by a company which was among the first to become aware of the problem.
Professional suicide, a widespread but rarely studied phenomenon is costing companies not only dollars and cents but the talents and skills of many bright, creative and committed key employees. The syndrome affects talented hard driving employees with strong accomplishment needs. Those most likely to be affected are good employees who constantly operate in a crisis situation because of management’s lack of planning or leadership. These initially highly motivated employees begin the suicidal process within three to five years after developing a solid record within the organization. The despair of not achieving what they want in what seems by now to be an absolutely hopeless situation has begun to undermine their self-confidence and bruise their egos.
These upwardly mobile employees suddenly reverse course. Their work begins to deteriorate. They lose interest and fail to keep up with new on-the-job developments. They develop physical complaint, many classically psychosomatic (migraine headaches, ulcers, high blood pressure, frequent colds or flu) and seem unable to change this downward spiral. Sometimes they quit on the flimsiest of pretexts and take another job beneath their capabilities. Many times they become disruptive, overstep policy bounds, or do things they surely know they will be fired for doing. In short, in many ways they rapidly and illogically destroy their careers and sometimes themselves.
What causes this apparent self-destruction? It is the result of a battle between specific characteristics of both the individual and the organizational environment. In the individual, problems have arisen in the satisfaction of basic needs common to all human beings. These basic needs described by Maslow as the “Hierarchy of Human” needs are recognition and a sense of self-esteem, growth and development (self-actualization), a sense of purpose and a structure from which to view the world. When people are unable to meet these needs in the organization they leave or become disruptive because they’re frustrated.
A frequent cause of professional suicide is that the behavior required for survival demands unacceptable violations of a person’s values. Not being able to be totally candid with individuals on projects is one example. On projects, the rule is that team effort is expected, but in the end individuals aren’t rewardedthe team is king. If an individual works only in team efforts they will seldom receive individual recognition. This lack of individual recognition begins to erode their egos and self-esteem. Sometimes people are asked to falsify records, or to sign off on unfinished projects. These requests leave them struggling with their ethical valuestheir responsibility toward colleagues pulls from one side and a sense of personal honesty and integrity pulls from the other.
If the way to survive in an organization requires individuals to be deceptive or surreptitious, they will either avoid doing what it takes to get head in that organization and retire in place, or do what it takes and feel guilty when they survive and progress. The degree to which the situation degrades, devalues, or shames the person is highly individual.
The organizational characteristics that create and foster professional suicide are in direct opposition to basic individual needs. These characteristics are manifested by management’s lack of setting specific goals and objectives or the ‘rules of the game’ are confusing. Cohesive work groups and teams are not fostered or are non-existent. Evaluation, feedback and individual performance reviews are carelessly managed or ineffective. Reward systems based on organizational results (merit increases) are non-existent or poorly defined. Anxiety, competition, and guilt, rather than a reward system are used as motivators. And ambiguous communication (or none at all) with employees is the norm rather than the exception.
This lack of clear communication provides a powerful scapegoat for managerial incompetence. If subordinates get into trouble when tasks were poorly defined they take the blame, after all, they were toldalbeit the communication was ambiguous.
Dr. Donald W. Cole, author of Professional Suicide, a Survival Kit for You and Your Job (1981, McGraw-Hill) conducted a study of corporate life. The style of corporate leadership he identified as necessary for keeping people healthy and productive offered a clear vision for the futureengage the employee in goal setting and planning; provide performance evaluations on a regular basis along with recognition and rewards. This style of management may seem self-evident as a good one, but it has proven remarkably difficult to implement.
It has long been known that people need to have a sense of direction. We need to have the security to anticipate what is going to occur as a result of the actions we plan to take or have taken. We need to know if what we are doing is important and valued. And finally, we want to have a sense of belonging to an organization that provides opportunity for growth and development.
When management doesn’t provide adequate information for employees to anticipate probable outcomes, anxiety ensues. Employees need to have feedback to stimulate growth and development. Without feedback people begin assuming the worst and the anxiety that results leads to reactive behavior, which is actually a protective response. This protective behavior occurs so the employee can survive in what s/he perceives as an unfriendly environment.
Thus, the once bright, creative and committed employee retires in place merely treading water until official retirement. The cycle of productive decay is the deterioration of the very skills we need to stop the spiral of productivity loss. These employees figuratively and literally get into a cycle of personal and professional suicide.
The threat posed by professional suicide to the employee and its equally dangerous threat to the organization is obviousindividuals lose their careers and the organization not only loses its best employees, but also incurs the expense of replacing them, which is estimated to be approximately $60,000 per person. In some organizations this could mean the difference between success and failure.
In order to prevent employees and the organizational structure from the suicidal cycle, we need managers and leaders with vision and the ability to set goals and define a purpose. Communication, feedback, support and encouragement provide a sense of personal worth and freedom from work overload.
Management can take the following steps to reduce the incidence of professional suicide and increase the effective management of highly motivated employees.
1. Establish specific organizational goals. This reduces the nebulous character of organizational objectives and establishes a framework against which personal goals can be set.
2. Develop a plan for meeting organization and personal goals and objectives.
3. Develop team building activities and manage by group commitment.
4. Implement formal and informal performance reviews at regular intervals. Initiate a reward system (merit pay) based on the achievements of the individual, thus avoiding rewarding psychological one-upmanship.
5. Implement training programs in interpersonal competence to improve communication and provide opportunities for more effective problem solving.
6. Executive management needs to assume responsibility for clarifying the rules of the game, the reward system and what it takes to get ahead.
7. Provide opportunities for decompression and periodic revitalization through sabbaticals, conferences, stress reduction programs and the like.
8. Reduce anxiety by goal setting and corporate clarity about purpose and function.
9. Establish skill inventory for each employee and maintain a workforce planning effort for career paths.
10. Conduct continuous studies to continually promote organization improvements and correct organizational deficiencies.
In addition to improving productivity and retaining highly motivated and talented employees, organizations can reduce the number of discrimination suits by taking these steps to prevent professional suicide. It has been established that the majority of discrimination lawsuits occur as a result of poor supervisor-to-employee relations. Poor relations derive from lack of communication, support, goal-setting and letting employees know they are valued. This being the casecorporate leaders are well advised to seek out, train, and reward those employees who have vision and can effectively communicate with their employees. Without this leadership we can only anticipate an escalation of professional suicide as we become more and more technologically advanced.
In looking for the signs of professional suicide one will often see nothing. It takes a keen eye and ear to detect the subtle behaviors that are the beginning stages of the suicidal process. These signs are often considered temporary and thus are not equated with the downward spiral of an individual’s performance. When the suicidal process begins it’s usually the little things that go unnoticed until the employee’s performance has slipped dramatically. At this point management recognizes that something is drastically wrong and confronts the employee, whose self-esteem has already deteriorated. When confronted the employee responds defensively while feeling both neglected and unworthy of attention at the same time.
The subtle signs of professional suicide begin with minor infractions of the established norm of the department, workgroup or organization. These infractions are often contrary to the established norm of the individual as well. Any behavior change in the employee is significant and needs to be noted to determine whether it is temporary or the beginning of a suicidal process. If the employee has had personal changes or difficulties that would explain a change in behavior or work habits, and agrees that a change is necessary, management can assume that the current infractions are only temporary.
However, close observation is important to note whether or not, after a reasonable period of time, the behavior remains on a positive course. If the employee’s behavior does not meet the established norm, then further discussion is warranted, for both the individual’s and the organizations sake.
These minor infractions are not alarming unless they become habitual or chronic. Management needs to tread a fine line between being nosy and noticing the beginning of a trend. It’s important for management to address reasons for the existence of minor infractions before they become habitual or chronic.
These bothersome and perhaps suicide indicative infractions include consistently arriving to work late with no explanation (or spouting poor excuses) long lunch breaks, coming late to or missing meetings, falling asleep during meetings, little or no participation in meetings, failure to return phone calls to customers, clients, or colleagues, missing deadlines, poor quality of work, and lack of enthusiasm and interest.
When management does not ask the employee what has caused his/her behavior to change, the employee may perceive that s/he’s not important or respected. Otherwise, the employee reasons, why are these infractions unnoticed? Whether the infraction is due to a personal problem or burnout, the employee wants to be noticed. If the infraction is not corrected within a reasonable length of time it is important that management contact the employee again. Thus, the unacceptable behavior is corrected before it deteriorates further. If management fails to handle the corrective process adequately, the second stage of the deterioration beginsdisruptive behavior, more serious infractions that are manifested as psychosomatic illness and deterioration in dress or appearance. The situation has reached a crisis, and the final stage of the suicidal process begins. This final stage is often manifested by severe self-destructive behavior, such as substance abuse, obesity, anorexia, accidents and inability to ‘get along’ wit the rest of the staff. In this last instance, the employee usually manages to find others to blame, therefore avoiding taking responsibility for their current situation. The final stage may last one to two years before the individual is fired, quits or succumbs to self-destruction.
The problem is often viewed as an individual’s inability to conform to the organization, which leads management to attempt to get the individual to conform. While this may be true in part, management needs to look at the needs of the individual. For most people a sense of self-worth is a bigger factor than the job and the contribution to the world. People want to grow and develop and have a sense of self-actualization. People need a safe and secure place from which to view their present, past and future in order to be creative and productive. When the management meets the needs of the individual, the individual can better meet the needs of the organization.
If you believe you are in an organization which fosters professional suicide, the following steps can prevent you from becoming a victim:
1. Negotiate with management to develop organizational and individual goals and objectives.
2. Establish good communication with management
3. Initiate establishing formal and informal performance reviews and goal setting
4. Develop a plan for meeting the goals and objectives
5. Initiate team building activities within your work group
6. Attend training programs in interpersonal competence
7. Engage in activities that provide decompression and periodic release of stress and frustration
8. Reduce your anxiety by checking information, with, management. Avoid assuming the worse
9. Establish your skill inventory and plan to manage your career goals
10. Conduct ongoing evaluations of your organization and how you can improve and correct organizational deficiencies.
Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Entrepreneur, personal and professional Life Coach has 25 years experience. She has consulted to Fortune 500 CEO’s, Vice Presidents, business owners, and people of all walks of life. http://www.drdorothy.net
