The challenge – A lot of people don’t find their work satisfying.
The science – One of the strongest aspects of satisfying work is the amount of personal meaning it provides.
The solution – Craft your work so that it has meaning for you, or find work that has.
What’s the point of turning up to work? Because you want income, job security, good working hours? Maybe, but nope, not really. Research tells us that people really want purpose in what they are doing, they want to make a difference, and make a difference to others. This holds true regardless of job role, level, or industry.
So what saps the meaning out of work? Well we know that answer to that one too. Take away employees autonomy, limit their variety and challenges available, withhold performance feedback, and limit their potential impact, and you are likely to end up with disengaged employees who ask themselves daily “What’s the point of turning up to work?”.
Now it gets a bit more complicated. It also depends on how much you job impacts on others. There is a difference between being a bean counter and a firefighter, so to speak. The single biggest impact on meaningfulness is the belief that your job can and does have a positive impact on others. As previously mentioned in my first blog on connections and relationships, “other people matter”. People want what they do on a daily basis to benefit others and society.
So now for the good news. You can make your job more meaningful. Think about the value chain. If you’re a long way from the end users of your company’s products and services, you need to connect directly with them in some way so you can see your impact. Here is an example, in one study when radiologists saw a patient’s x-rays but also a photo of the patient, they wrote 29% longer reports and made 46 percent more accurate diagnoses. Seeing how their work made an impact on others made the difference in outcome. Get to the cold face and see what’s happening, and by seeing the consequences of your work for others, you can find meaning.
Now it’s also true that some jobs have less opportunity than other to do this. In these cases you need to craft your job. This involves mapping out ways to make your job and interactions with others more meaningful and contribute more to others. Over and above job crafting, the bigger picture is that you can draw meaning from multiple sources, including family and love, work, religion, and various personal projects – work is but one aspect.
So take time out in your busy day to contemplate your impact. You may find thinking about your meaning and purpose, and how it applies in your work, pays dividends in the wellbeing stakes.
For more information:
Dik, B. J., Byrne, Z. S., & Steger, M. F. (2013). Purpose and meaning in the workplace (Eds.). Washington: APA Books.
The science – One of the strongest aspects of satisfying work is the amount of personal meaning it provides.
The solution – Craft your work so that it has meaning for you, or find work that has.
What’s the point of turning up to work? Because you want income, job security, good working hours? Maybe, but nope, not really. Research tells us that people really want purpose in what they are doing, they want to make a difference, and make a difference to others. This holds true regardless of job role, level, or industry.
So what saps the meaning out of work? Well we know that answer to that one too. Take away employees autonomy, limit their variety and challenges available, withhold performance feedback, and limit their potential impact, and you are likely to end up with disengaged employees who ask themselves daily “What’s the point of turning up to work?”.
Now it gets a bit more complicated. It also depends on how much you job impacts on others. There is a difference between being a bean counter and a firefighter, so to speak. The single biggest impact on meaningfulness is the belief that your job can and does have a positive impact on others. As previously mentioned in my first blog on connections and relationships, “other people matter”. People want what they do on a daily basis to benefit others and society.
So now for the good news. You can make your job more meaningful. Think about the value chain. If you’re a long way from the end users of your company’s products and services, you need to connect directly with them in some way so you can see your impact. Here is an example, in one study when radiologists saw a patient’s x-rays but also a photo of the patient, they wrote 29% longer reports and made 46 percent more accurate diagnoses. Seeing how their work made an impact on others made the difference in outcome. Get to the cold face and see what’s happening, and by seeing the consequences of your work for others, you can find meaning.
Now it’s also true that some jobs have less opportunity than other to do this. In these cases you need to craft your job. This involves mapping out ways to make your job and interactions with others more meaningful and contribute more to others. Over and above job crafting, the bigger picture is that you can draw meaning from multiple sources, including family and love, work, religion, and various personal projects – work is but one aspect.
So take time out in your busy day to contemplate your impact. You may find thinking about your meaning and purpose, and how it applies in your work, pays dividends in the wellbeing stakes.
For more information:
Dik, B. J., Byrne, Z. S., & Steger, M. F. (2013). Purpose and meaning in the workplace (Eds.). Washington: APA Books.
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