“A new study shows that in cohesive and cooperative work teams, employees may be more motivated by team spirit and the desire to help their coworkers than by money,” writes Laura Walter, Senior Editor of EHS Today in a recent article that appears on the EHS Today website.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Iowa, found that when employees work towards building a team and are instilled with a “sense of closeness”, they tend to behave in ways that promote pleasing the team and avoid disappointing the team.
The results of the study are not that surprising in light of the fact that most people fall into the temperament category known as “Guardian.” We examined the various temperament types last year in a series on building and leading a sustainable safety culture, and there we saw that Guardians greatly value community and a sense of belonging. Since most people are Guardians, then it makes sense that they would be motivated by a desire to please and not disappoint.
But even beyond that, the importance of relationships transcends temperament types, period. This is in fact the guiding principle upon which sustainable safety cultures are built. Behaviors of people are driven by the core values they hold, and nearly without exception those core values will have something to do with their relationships to the people they care about most.
The complete EHS Today article can be accessed here.
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