I was talking to some colleagues the other day and the subject of morale came up. There is a general consensus that morale in our agency is bad. But it’s not just our agency, I find that is true in other agencies too. Why is that? Any ideas?
In a recent survey of EMS employees, 60% of the participants said their personal morale was good. The interesting twist was the same respondents said that only 40% of the department’s morale was good. How is it possible that the majority of individuals in an agency have a good morale, but the agency as a whole does not?
Bad is Stronger than Good
Baumeister et al (2001) said that people are more likely to remember bad things than good things. It has a stronger psychological effect. We spend more brain power processing bad news than we do good news. Therefore, we remember negative experiences with more clarity.
Remembering bad things longer than the good is actually adaptive (Baumeister et al, 2001). In other words, we need to remember bad things so we can survive. It signals a need to change, a need to adjust our behavior or avoid situations that caused the bad emotion or outcome. That is why the mind takes more time to process bad experiences. It wants us to be safer the next time we encounter a similar situation. If we only remember the good, we are more likely to repeat the things that put us at risk.
So it is not unusual when we go around talking with each other that the conversation 
centers around the negative experiences we have. The problem is this becomes our perception of the whole rather than simply an interpretation of singular events. Have you ever tuned into the daily news expecting to hear only good things? It just doesn’t happen. There may be a few human interest stories, but overall the news is bad. And the job contributes to our overall negative perception because we see the bad things that happen to people up close and personal. Bad becomes normal.
Change the Focus
I encourage you to conduct a personal experiment. Deliberately look for the good things about the job. Focus on the ways you have helped your patients; how your coworkers work well together. Look for the positive supports from your supervisors and administration. (Yes, it is there!) Make a list so you can remember.
Then, when you talk about the bad experiences, counter it with something good you have
noticed. When a coworker relates something bad, listen and then add a positive note. Not in a judgmental way, but just as a “by-the-way” statement.
If we take a positive focus instead of being led down the negative path, I wonder if the agency-wide morale will improve. At least the perception of it. Based on the statistics I have seen, it is probably pretty good already. We just cannot see it past the bad news that hides it.
What is your perception of morale? Add to the conversation by leaving a comment below.
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Thanks for reading!
Reference
Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenauer, C., & Vohs, K. D. (2001). Bad is stronger than good. Review of General Psychology, 5(4), 323-370. doi:10.1037//1089-2680.5.4.323
January 7, 2017 © 2017 Resilient Medic