It is great to see a person shift from being unhappy in their job to feeling excited and fulfilled.
Jane was at a workshop I was running on the Map of Meaning®. She had come with a clear agenda: to decide whether or not to stay in her job. She did not decide just then, but when I met her, a couple of months later, she was radiant. So what happened?
“I realised that the things I didn’t like about my job were things I could influence. So I did something about them. I reconnected with what had originally inspired me about my profession; I got out into the organisation and shared that with others, telling them how I could help them. I met a lot of fantastic people, so now I have colleagues I find exciting – and inspiring lunches. It took some courage and some honest self appraisal but people don’t recognise me now. I don’t recognise myself now!”
What had made the difference was that in the Map of Meaning® she found a simple way to make sense of why she was unhappy, and a framework for working out what she could do to make her work meaningful again.
Each time I run a workshop on meaningful work people have experiences similar to Jane’s. They grasp the reasons for feeling dissatisfied at work, and come up with ways to remedy this. And this insight applies to all stages of the employee life cycle, the day-to-day HR practices of hiring, developing and retaining good workers.
In this article I go through the stages of the employee life cycle and show how an understanding of meaningful work can add value to individuals in organisations and also to and HR and OD practitioners.
The Map of Meaning®, the work of Dr Marjolein Lips-Wiersma, brings together in one simple framework the intrinsic drivers that together make work meaningful for human beings, both at an individual and organisational level.
When people go to work they want their labour to be worth their time and effort. We all long for work that provides: a sense of connection with the people with whom we work, a chance to express our full potential, an environment in which we can be authentic, and work that makes a positive difference to others and the planet. We want work to be an expression of what inspires us, and produce results in the real world. And we need all these factors to be alive in our work to feel fulfilled. We are aware when meaningfulness is lost, because when it goes we also lose energy, focus and passion. Meaningful work is relevant to us as individuals from the moment we consider an organisation as a potential employer to the moment we leave, and so it is also relevant to the organisations in which we work.
Attraction
People want to work for organisations that allow them to fulfil their need for meaningful work, so consciously or not, this is what they look for when they begin to search for a job.
In a quick survey of US and NZ companies voted Best Employer, the elements of meaningful work are highlighted as reasons for satisfaction.
Service to others – “Employees get the chance to see the people they help every day”
Unity with others -“When you come here you are joining a family”
Developing the Inner Self – “I can be me here.”
Exprimer son plein potentiel -” When I was hired I had the freedom to make my job what I wanted it to be and contribute in the way that I can contribute best”
Sara Broadhurst, was General Manager Human Resources at Chorus, when in 2013, Chorus were named one of three organisations voted best employer in the Aon Hewitt survey in New Zealand. Sara pointed out the importance of being a sought after employer, “If you work in a place that is recognised externally as a great place to be, then that really drives people’s connection to it. People are pretty smart when they look at a new job and will check out a prospective employer first. People vote with their feet.”
The Map of Meaning® provides a clear framework to assess how an organisation provides opportunities for meaningful work, and therefore their attractiveness to potential employees.
Recruitment and selection.
The challenge in recruitment is to get the right fit.
Of course there are many ways to do this, but the Map of Meaning® helps people pinpoint not only the individual things that matter to them, but also the mix that is important, so that they make more complete decisions.
Alan has learned over the years that he wants to work in an inspirational organisation. Working with the Map of Meaning® and asking the question, ‘what is non-negotiable in your work’, helped him to see that he also needed to get beyond the rhetoric – and find out whether the mission and vision actually were part of the daily focus of organisations he was seeking to work with. This led him to be more probing in his interviews and finally select a company where the gap between espoused and lived values could be openly explored. It saved him from joining, and being disruptive in, an organisation which did not have such openness.
Working through the need for meaningful work at the job interview stage can set up the relationship not just for the successful deployment of skills, but for the fulfilment of the whole person, with all that offers both them and the organisation.
Appointment.
Using the Map of Meaning can allow for a very clear contract between the organisation and the new employee based on a clear acknowledgement of what’s important to both sides and each party’s ability to provide this.
One organisation with a large volunteer workforce has explored how the Map of Meaning® can form a way of clarifying volunteers’ sometimes romanticised initial motivation; exploring this against the reality of working in the organisation. They saw this as a way to increase job satisfaction through more deeply clarifying expectations, then using this as the basis for future performance appraisal conversations.
Induction.
This is a time to align individual purpose and goals, with organisational goals and purpose, and to realistically anchor people in what they are coming to. As well as remind them of their own ability to create and maintain meaningful work.
One appointee, who had worked with the Map of Meaning® for some years, noticed just how resourceful she felt in her new position. “I know that it is not perfect, nowhere will be. But I have already been able to create peer support, explore ways that I can continue to challenge myself, and am now working out how I can best contribute my talents here.” Having a way to take control of creating meaningful work empowered her, and increased her engagement and resourcefulness in this new situation.
Training and career development
Once a person is settled into the job there is the task of not only doing the job they are employed to do, but increasing their capacity, equipping them with skills and developing their potential.
Linking training to an increased ability to maintain meaningfulness in their work has real relevance for participants, as well as to the organisation. For example, loss of meaning can arise from staff creating an initiative only to have it blocked in some way by organisational policies, procedures or personalities. In order to bridge this gap between Inspiration and Reality of Self and Circumstances people often need to develop communication and leadership skills. Offering these in the context of being in charge of increasing the meaningfulness of their work has led staff to create some bottom-up initiatives that have opened up new opportunities for business and inspired senior management.
Performance appraisal
If the initial contract includes the elements of meaningful work, as we can see with the example of the volunteers, performance appraisal can become a much deeper conversation about how the job is going. People can prepare by looking at where work has been meaningful during the period, and where it has not, and why.
This gives more scope for honest conversations, and can breathe life into what otherwise can feel like just another organisational requirement, acknowledging that meaning and its absence is vital not only to the individual but also to the organisation.
Life work balance
People with a clear understanding of what makes their work meaningful can see the imbalances in their work and lives, and then decide what to do. For example, the need to take a bit more time for themselves – often from the demands of family as well as work – because they so clearly understand that this time for self is an essential part of being able to contribute, and serve others. The benefit to the organisation is people returning with fresh energy, feeling empowered and resourceful.
Retention, Rewards and recognition
Meaningful work is its own reward. There is less need to focus on monetary rewards when people’s work is meaningful, so as long as this is not exploited and people are treated well. With a clear grasp of this, other ways of rewarding and recognising people can be found, often by the people themselves; for example, time for extra training, the opportunity to shadow a skilled colleague, being seconded to a more interesting role, being supported to develop a new initiative.
Transition
Transition can mark a time when tension between the individual and the organisation can be at its highest. How can we best acknowledge this and make it constructive, without denying or minimising the potential upset and challenges?
If the person has sufficient understanding of meaningful work, although they may not be clear on the steps ahead, they have a confidence about being able to make wise decisions in whatever circumstances they find themselves.
We can see this is the case of Jane, who I spoke to again when she was facing possible redundancy. I asked her how she was coping and she replied, “Well, I am anxious, of course. But I definitely feel quite resourceful as well. My experience over the past eighteen months makes me aware that I can create work that is satisfying, probably in a range of different situations, so I feel quite resilient.”
When people who have a clear sense of the meaningfulness of their work decide to leave, it can be done with dignity and good will on both sides. One woman attending a course realised that her family was the most important thing to her and has resigned from her management role. But she was so valued by the organisation employing her they offered her a three day a week contract position which allowed her to do the work she loves, while having the energy she wants for her family.
Meaningful work is of vital significance to every employee and there are direct pay-backs to the organisation in paying attention to this as people who find their work meaningful are happier, healthier and are more likely to stay in their job. They are more likely to become an advocate for the organisation, part of attracting future talented employees thus bringing us back to the first step in the employee life cycle.
For more information about the Map of Meaning® go to:
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