When Is A Job Not A Job?

Much has been written lately about the need to find meaningful work and the benefits that can come from it. Research states that meaningful work can lead to stronger engagement, greater results and even longer lives.

Decades of research has now filtered out the 6 key characteristics that can lead to a more meaningful career. These are:

• Authenticity – are the company vision and values aligned with yours? Is it the right platform for you to be you?
• Agency – are you able to be pro-active and make a difference at your workplace?
• Self-Worth – do you feel valuable?
• Purpose – is what you are doing moving you towards a goal?
• Belonging – do you feel that you are a part of something? Is there a shared identity amongst who you work with?
• Transcendence – are you working towards a greater cause? 

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs from 1970 bares a striking resemblance to these characteristics as you will see here:

Most importantly, who is responsible for fulfilling these things; is it the company; or is it you?

Why is nobody developing me?

Personal development is a key benefit from many of these characteristics, but why do so many not take advantage of opportunities that are presented to them? Or why can we be so passive when approaching this subject in our own personal situation?

Employers believe that employees should be in charge of their destiny and employees look to their employers for guidance on what they could become. I guess that it’s a classic causality dilemma – who moves first – the chicken or the egg?

Many employers offer several ways to increase personal growth, business knowledge and fostering a culture of learning. As Richard Branson has said often on my various timelines and so subtly broadcast across 1,000 memes, ‘Train people well enough so that they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to’.

Yet so many employees remain in their comfort zone unsure of where their next step is. As businesses are we creating (and refining) working conditions that will enable our people to excel and grow?

….and now the fun part

So back to the original question – when is a job not a job? 

According to the aforementioned research, it is when you have a direction that makes a difference, when you can share that experience with others and that the outcome will be valued by yourself and others. 

But is this really the answer? Do these factors alone provide fulfillment and a recognition that you are ‘adding to the fabric’ of your organisation?

A quote from James A Michener seems a possible answer to this question:

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both. ”

A 2015 study on Competitive Advantage found that happier employees were up to 20% more productive than their counterparts. 

In addition to this, fun breeds a more engaged workforce and creativity that leads to a buzz of excitement as challenges are faced and exceeded. This buzz can lead to discoveries that might never have been uncovered without being in the right environment.

So, if the apparent result of fun is so great – why isn’t everyone doing it?

• Are we too busy looking at what our competitors are doing and forgetting about what we need to do? (Authenticity)
• Do we have a fear to challenge what we should be doing? (Agency)
• Are we worried about backlash from peers? (Self-Worth)
• Are we focused too much on the ‘How’ and ‘What’ we do as opposed to the reasons ‘Why’ we are doing them? (Purpose)
• Is there a worry of judgement? If I am the only one that says something, what will that mean? (Belonging)
• What if we make a mistake? What if we don’t make the company great? (Transcendence)

I’d love to know how (or if) you have fun at work – are there ball pits, tube slides and free coffee? Or, is there the buzz of creativity from working with a group of colleagues all working towards the same goal?

Personally, my ‘fun’ comes from the challenge of individual growth and working towards ‘what’s next?’ Without this, I know that I become complacent and dissatisfied.  

At some point we must all realise that the creation of opportunity must be done by ourselves and acknowledge that we have the power to write our own stories and the ability to influence our workplaces

But getting back to the core of the subject - do you think of your job as a ‘job’ or is it so inextricably linked to you and your values that it is simply what you do?

Please comment below as I would love to know.