Employee engagement/participation and “warm fuzzies”

I was first exposed to the “The Warm Fuzzy Tale” by Claude M. Steiner (1969)  in my first organizational psychology course at Murray State Univesity in 1990.  At the time, with zero actual field experience in safety, I thought it was hyperbole, academic nonsense, etc.  But once I got into fieldwork, beginning with my first internship, I began to see the point the tale was trying to make.  Companies are always trying to figure out how to engage their workforce in all aspects of their business. Still, safety seems to be the main vehicle where “engagement” is paramount to success.  The tale demonstrates how a social psychological model called Transactional Analysis plays out within an organization’s culture.  The tale is clearly for adults but written as a fairy tale.  See if you can find similarities to how your culture works.  Who is the “witch” in your culture? 

As you read the tale, remember, POSITIVE RECOGNITION for desired behaviors is 3-5X more effective at influencing behaviors and attitudes than correcting undesired behaviors.

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