A belief system, to me, is the knowledge and experiences that tend to govern our motives, our actions, how we live and how we work.
We have to be very, very aware of this because our belief system does “flavor” everything that we do.
An employee’s belief system can make a huge difference in their work because employees have different educational backgrounds, socio-economic backgrounds and social exposure, which ultimately influences each employee’s work ethic.
Belief systems make a powerful impact, especially when it comes to work situations.
All of us encounter challenges at work; we encounter adversities; we have accomplishments that we achieve at work. And all of these things—and how we relate to them—really do impact how successful we are.
There are two types of individuals when it comes to belief systems—you have people whose belief system makes them look at crisis as an opportunity to find a solution, and you have people whose belief system causes them to see only the crisis and miss the potential solution that is hidden within.
For example, if you’re in a situation at work where you have a deadline that needs to be met or you’re facing some kind of pressure or adversity, your belief system will have a huge impact on which type you fall into.
The Two Types of Employers
In general, employers are aware of how crippling non-productive belief systems can be.
There are two types of employers, as well:
- The first type of employer is one that understands how belief systems can impact the quality of work. These employers will begin to take steps toward training and developing employees to help not only identify each employee’s belief system, but find out the positive contributing factors of each employee’s belief system, how they process things and how these processes are incorporated into their daily work. The training will also help employees appreciate their uniqueness.
- Then you have those employers on the opposite end of the spectrum. These employers don’t have a clue when it comes to belief systems and how they affect an employee, the employee’s work and productivity overall.
For these employers, the problem is that they don’t know how to identify an employee’s belief system because the employer hasn’t identified his/her own belief system. You can’t teach your employees something you haven’t experienced yourself.
In the corporate climate, you’ll find that those employers who are really successful are successful because they understand and are in touch with their employees’ belief systems and how they affect their company’s culture.
This contributes to a healthy, productive corporate environment.
Today, you’ll find those companies that continue to be successful fall into the category of being in touch with employees, while companies not experiencing success are out of touch and have no idea what drives employees and employees’ behaviors.
Out-of-touch companies, unfortunately, tend to have a shorter lifecycle.
In my next Insight, I’ll give you some steps you can take to utilize the effect an employee’s belief system has on his/her work.