Reciprocity is defined in the Britannica dictionary as “a situation or relationship in which two people or groups agree to do something similar for each other, to allow each other to have the same rights”. In the professional world I think this is an invaluable characteristic. I have broadly encountered two types of lawyers (and indeed other professionals) in my working life. The first are prepared to help a colleague and share their time, knowledge and experience without expectation of any reward or recognition, but perhaps on the basis of generally improving the relationship. The second tend to want to keep their knowledge and experience close to their chests, and will only volunteer to help if they can see some form of immediate personal benefit. In the long run I suggest the first approach has more lasting benefits because it encourages a culture of sharing which is reciprocated over time to the overall benefit of the individuals concerned and the organisation they belong to.
See this blog The Principle Of Reciprocity Can Work For You which says “There exists a natural human tendency to repay someone in kind for something received, to return a favor. This is the psychological principle of reciprocity.” It then qualifies this by saying “generating such a reaction will be impossible if there seems to be an expectation of repayment attached to your initial action. Genuinely perform your acts of kindness without expecting anything in return.”It suggests workplace gratitude can be as simple as a thank you, specific [positive] feedback or an offer to help.
I once discussed the challenges of work allocation with a partner in a global law firm. He said that their rewards system had proved a problem because if you introduced one of say your UK clients to a colleague in another country, they had no means of recognising the value of their contribution. All the billable hours recorded were attributed to the UK partner for the purposes of determining success and distributions. This did not mean that the overseas colleagues would not help, just that they were not incentivised to do so. So they changed the reward system to reflect the contributions from the law which in turn encouraged a culture of reciprocity and sharing.
Developing this sort of sharing culture goes further than “I’ll help you if you help me”. See this blog Creating a Culture of Reciprocity which cites the reciprocity ring concept developed by Professor Wayne Baker, a sociologist at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and his wife Cheryl Baker, CEO of Humax. This works on the basis of generalised reciprocity which “is triggered when a person receives help from someone else, but instead of paying it back to the person who helped them, they help someone else or “pay it forward””. According to this research Paying It Forward vs. Rewarding Reputation: Mechanisms of Generalized Reciprocity “the simple act of helping someone else compels the person receiving help to help others.”
In Adam Grant’s book Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives our Success which I am just reading he divides workers into givers, takers and matchers. Givers proactively help others, matchers have a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" attitude, and takers are more out for what they can get. He suggests that givers can be more successful in the long run as while they may not receive any immediate benefit in return, they will ultimately benefit from the relationships they create and foster.
He cites some interesting quotes on the subject:
When I was younger I worked for one such leader who created a team spirit through reciprocity which still manifests itself in organising alumni lunches. He was replaced by someone who whilst equally intelligent and good at his job somehow never fostered the same atmosphere and team cohesion or spirit.
This also has to be open and genuine which was definitely the case with my first boss above. He was genuinely interested in the people working for him and their development. This article Unlocking Reciprocity: How Gratitude Transforms Workplace Culture cites Benjamin Laker, a leadership professor at the Henley Business School whose view was “that organizations that lead with gratitude foster a very special brand of thankfulness—reciprocity.” For reciprocity to be effective it has to be “authentic, balanced, and thoughtful”. The key takeaway is that “Nurturing a culture of gratitude in the workplace ultimately creates a powerful ecosystem of mutual appreciation and continuous goodwill. Grounded in our human nature, this approach empowers leaders to cultivate team cohesion, collaboration, and trust.” As such “Reciprocity unlocks a cascade of holistic benefits.”
As Confucius said
See this blog The Principle Of Reciprocity Can Work For You which says “There exists a natural human tendency to repay someone in kind for something received, to return a favor. This is the psychological principle of reciprocity.” It then qualifies this by saying “generating such a reaction will be impossible if there seems to be an expectation of repayment attached to your initial action. Genuinely perform your acts of kindness without expecting anything in return.”It suggests workplace gratitude can be as simple as a thank you, specific [positive] feedback or an offer to help.
I once discussed the challenges of work allocation with a partner in a global law firm. He said that their rewards system had proved a problem because if you introduced one of say your UK clients to a colleague in another country, they had no means of recognising the value of their contribution. All the billable hours recorded were attributed to the UK partner for the purposes of determining success and distributions. This did not mean that the overseas colleagues would not help, just that they were not incentivised to do so. So they changed the reward system to reflect the contributions from the law which in turn encouraged a culture of reciprocity and sharing.
Developing this sort of sharing culture goes further than “I’ll help you if you help me”. See this blog Creating a Culture of Reciprocity which cites the reciprocity ring concept developed by Professor Wayne Baker, a sociologist at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and his wife Cheryl Baker, CEO of Humax. This works on the basis of generalised reciprocity which “is triggered when a person receives help from someone else, but instead of paying it back to the person who helped them, they help someone else or “pay it forward””. According to this research Paying It Forward vs. Rewarding Reputation: Mechanisms of Generalized Reciprocity “the simple act of helping someone else compels the person receiving help to help others.”
In Adam Grant’s book Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives our Success which I am just reading he divides workers into givers, takers and matchers. Givers proactively help others, matchers have a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" attitude, and takers are more out for what they can get. He suggests that givers can be more successful in the long run as while they may not receive any immediate benefit in return, they will ultimately benefit from the relationships they create and foster.
He cites some interesting quotes on the subject:
- Martin Luther King Jr. “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
- Samuel Johnstone “The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.”
- and the Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam “I’ll do this for you without expecting anything specific back from you, in the confident expectation that someone else will do something for me down the road.”
When I was younger I worked for one such leader who created a team spirit through reciprocity which still manifests itself in organising alumni lunches. He was replaced by someone who whilst equally intelligent and good at his job somehow never fostered the same atmosphere and team cohesion or spirit.
This also has to be open and genuine which was definitely the case with my first boss above. He was genuinely interested in the people working for him and their development. This article Unlocking Reciprocity: How Gratitude Transforms Workplace Culture cites Benjamin Laker, a leadership professor at the Henley Business School whose view was “that organizations that lead with gratitude foster a very special brand of thankfulness—reciprocity.” For reciprocity to be effective it has to be “authentic, balanced, and thoughtful”. The key takeaway is that “Nurturing a culture of gratitude in the workplace ultimately creates a powerful ecosystem of mutual appreciation and continuous goodwill. Grounded in our human nature, this approach empowers leaders to cultivate team cohesion, collaboration, and trust.” As such “Reciprocity unlocks a cascade of holistic benefits.”
As Confucius said
- “There is one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one’s life – reciprocity.” and
- “When a man is guided by the principles of reciprocity and consciousness, he is not far from the moral law. Whatever you don't wish for yourself don't do unto others.”
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