Abstract

The past two years have revealed widespread dissatisfaction among employees in the U.S. labor market. This situation is inconsistent with a joyful workforce. W. Edwards Deming stated that people were entitled to joy in work and argued that American management was abusing its workers. Deming’s idea of joy centered on the workers’ understanding of their role, place, and worth to the organization. In Scripture, joy is derived from occasions celebrating the worthiness of events or people. This value of the individual comes from God as the creator of humanity in His own image. The love that Jesus expressed through the crucifixion for humanity’s salvation signified man’s worth to God. Love of God and of others are the two greatest commandments of God, and they also seem to be the most neglected. Thus, Jesus and the apostles had to remind their followers often to love each other since self-love is sinful. The origin of self-love goes back to the early days following creation when Cain jealously murdered his brother Abel. Many contemporary organizational leaders operate from the motive of self-love, resulting in misery for many workers. Loving leaders recognize the value of their followers as individuals. Such knowledge contributes to employee joy. Joyful workers are happier, have better social relationships, and give discretionary effort. Organizational outcomes also improve from joyful workers through better productivity, financial performance, and customer satisfaction.