Motivation: The Care and Feeding of Library & Information Science Professionals
When managers treat people well, they will be more likely to stay with the organization, which is good for the organization and good for the employees. Good management skills may appear to be common sense; however, there is ample evidence to support the need for further research on effective management practices.
Seeking to understand how to make hierarchy work more effectively and humanely is a challenge for managers in any organization. Self-directed team management (SDTM) is one approach, and it has been practiced since 1998 in the Ohio State University Health Sciences Library (OSU HSL) by their Reference and Information Services Team (RIST). This organization is one of the first to publish an account of their experiences and observations of SDTM. According to Bradigan and Powell’s paper about the RIST,
No longer did any librarian have the working title “Reference Librarian”; instead, librarians received titles reflecting their responsibility for managing a department or coordinating a service. The organizational structure was considerably ‘flattened,’ with four librarians reporting to the director. The librarians responsible for public services functions reported to the assistant director. The heads of reference and access services reported directly to the assistant director; the outreach services coordinator and the communications coordinator reported to the head of reference” (2004).
The important word is ‘flattened’; part of the experiment was to see if things would run more smoothly by reforming traditional library hierarchy, in which everyone in the reference department reported to Head of Reference. They needed to free up time and energy for more educational services, since they had no funding for an additional full-time position.
Some adjustments were required before the OSU HSL found SDTM to be a success. Their user education program has “significantly improved,” and their reference services are now more varied and better-managed. These successes even convinced the University to allocate funding for a part-time reference assistant (2004).
What contributed to the success of OSU HSL’s experiment?
First, the restructuring was carefully planned. The library director consulted with the assistant director and the head of reference, and the latter two wrote development proposals. These three consulted with OSU’s human resources department and received useful assistance and training. Secondly, after the RIST was formed, team members followed principles and guidelines from established literature, such as Pearce and Ravlin’s principles of a “self-regulating work group.” They found that regular meetings and participation on the team listserv were essential, and time spent on these things saved time overall.
One pitfall of SDTM was the controversy of its necessary exclusiveness. Not every librarian in the HSL could be a member of the Reference and Information Services Team, and the non-members were reasonably concerned about what decisions might be made in their absence. In response, team members made special efforts to listen to concerns and make team operations as transparent as possible. The RIST is now “generally accepted” in the HSL as an effective management force (2004).
The report still provides powerful evidence that alternatives to traditional professional hierarchy can work. A concern with hierarchy comes from the common knowledge that sharply concentrated power can breed professional distrust and miscommunication. A better understanding of the effects of interpersonal dynamics on organizational effectiveness might help to better understand the HSL model. We turn to a survey was conducted among teachers at a secondary school in the Netherlands.
This Dutch survey measured the effects of three factors on employee satisfaction: organizational commitment, employee empowerment and conflict with superiors. “Employee empowerment” is described as a “motivational process of feeling enabled” or “increased task motivation manifested in four cognitions: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact” (2004). Janssen hypothesized that “conflict with superiors has a barrier effect in the positive relationship between empowerment and organizational commitment.” Analysis of the aforementioned survey data supports this hypothesis, with limitations; one significant limitation is that “the study cannot provide an answer to the question of whether conflict with superiors affects empowered employees by preventing them from developing high levels of organizational commitment, or by diminishing positive cognitions and feelings regarding the organization, or by both” (2004). Nonetheless, we may conclude that conflict management is an important skill for managers and non-managers alike in any organization.
In Janssen’s study, conflict was looked at as a general job stressor, but Forsyth and Polzer-Debruyne zoom in further to one of many possible sources of conflict, that of work-life balance. The New Zealand Department of Labour takes work-life balance very seriously, defining it as “achieving integration between paid work, unpaid work and personal time” (2007). In this context, Forsyth and Polzer-Debruyne tested “the extent to which employees’ perception of the organization providing work–life balance support makes a difference to their leaving intention and self-rated performance.” Notice that perception is a major factor in the study, not necessarily policy, i.e., a company or organization could make policies intended to support work-life balance. But the important factor is whether employees perceive that they are being truly supported in this area.
A survey was conducted of 1187 individuals from 25 organizations in New Zealand. Results indicate that job satisfaction was increased, and work pressures were reduced by employees’ perceptions that employers were supporting individual’s work–life balance. Job satisfaction increased retention.
“Reduced work hours and work quantity may be a short-term cost to an employer providing work–life balance support to staff. Future studies might want to explore the impact of reduced work hours and self-reported work quantity has on organizational outcomes. . . Self-reported work quantity is not necessary equal to work quality, and that long work hours not necessarily result in high quality work, employers could still be gaining a net advantage. Likewise, given the demonstrated significant reductions in leaving intention, a possibly small short-term reduction in performance outputs could be outweighed by the benefit of keeping staff longer” (2007).
It is just as important for those in leadership positions to consider their own work-life balance. This point is underscored in Golian-Lui’s discussion of mentoring. This hard-working, dedicated librarian describes mentoring as a “passionate cycle of support” (2003), and argues that mentoring is absolutely necessary for the passing-on of the profession to newer, younger members. She recognizes that mentoring can be formal or informal, and is important along every step up the “leadership ladder”. Golian-Lui tells of a particular mentor who guided her first year as a library director, listened to questions and problems and provided feedback, encouragement, suggestions and solutions. “She used active listening skills to help me find the answers to my challenges. More importantly, she helped me begin to address how I could maintain a balanced professional life, with significant responsibilities and deadlines, as well as a healthy and happy personal life” (2003).
Motivating employees to accomplish at their optimal level involves empowering them to succeed at all levels in their work. And both managers and employees need to have balanced professional and personal lives in order to function effectively in their respective roles.
Works Cited
Bradigan, P. and Powell, C. 2004. The reference and information services team: an alternative model for managing reference services. Reference and User Services Quarterly [electronic version] 44(2). 143-148.
Forsyth, S. and Polzer-Debruyne, A. 2007. The organizational pay-offs for perceived work–life balance support. Asia-Pacific Journal of Human Resources [electronic version] 45(1). 113-123.
Golian-Lui, L. 2003. Fostering librarian leadership through mentoring. Adult Learning [electronic version] 14(1). 26-28.
Janssen, O. 2004. The barrier effect of conflict with superiors in the relationship between employee empowerment and organizational commitment. Work and Stress [electronic version] 18(1). 56-65.
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