06 Feb How can you find meaning at work?
Many of us assume that success leads to happiness. We believe that we’ll be happy once we achieve a certain position, salary or status. But research tells us that these moments of happiness are short lived, a temporary spike.
One of the key elements to lasting happiness at work is finding meaning and purpose in what we do.
For some people, work is a means to an end, and the work itself isn’t a source of happiness. However recent examples of ‘The great resignation’ and ‘Quiet quitting’ depict a shift in how we look at work. Many more people today recognize that happiness at work really matters.
In my research during the pandemic, one category of people quitting their jobs were the ones who felt unfulfilled at work. They wanted to live their best lives, so they quit. The threat of life inspired many people to change jobs even careers, move closer to their families, or work on something they always wanted to do.
Changing jobs and careers is a big decision and a huge change. If the workplace is toxic, it makes sense. In fact, research by Donald Sull and team from MIT Sloan School of Management found that corporate culture is a much more reliable predictor of employee attrition than anything else. In fact it is 10 times more important than compensation.
If toxicity is not the case and you are finding work unfulfilling, before you take a leap consider wearing your creative hat and conduct small experiments to find meaning at work.
Here is a method that you can follow:
- Raise your self-awareness – First tune into yourself and listen to what really excites you about work. Is it meeting new people or brainstorming ideas or coding or something else?
- Get creative – Next look for opportunities where you can do more of what you enjoy doing or do things a little differently even if it is outside your comfort zone. For example, Can you have walking meetings? Can you connect with people from different departments to know them and their work better? Can you introduce novel ideas to make those boring meetings interesting? It could be even as simple as helping your colleague at a task they are struggling with or being generous with sharing your knowledge.
- Finally test – Run these experiments for a period of time and check-in how you feel about it. If it works great, else go back to your lab to pick a new experiment.
Managers can also help their employees find meaning, here is how:
- Observe to learn – Observe your employees to learn more about them at a deeper level. Notice when your employees are truly alive and excited at work and what puts them off?
- Create a safe environment – Create a psychologically safe environment where employees can talk about the work they deeply care about.
- Ask good questions – How interested and willing are you to understand the motivations and challenges of your people? Have honest two way conversations about what at work is meaningful for them. People find meaning when they see a clear connection between what they highly value and what they spend time doing. Help employees connect their work to the organization’s higher mission and communicate how they are playing a role in achieving it.
Julian De Freitas with Michael Prinzing and Barbara Fredrickson, a professor at the University of North Carolina, in a study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, “The Ordinary Concept of a Meaningful Life,” found that meaningfulness really can come from the little things, even seemingly pointless ones, as long as they bring fulfillment. De Freitas in a Harvard business school article says “Although we should strive to lead a life that both makes us happy and creates positive impact, each on its own still helps toward making your life seem more meaningful”.
No Comments