
The Social Science of Loving Your Job
Line up these 12 elements for ultimate engagement.
A job is a hard thing to get exactly right.
Some might say it’s impossible — is there such a thing as the perfect job? Touché, some. But that’s why I want to share these 12 research-backed elements that might be able to help you refine your thinking about what exactly makes a great job great (or a bad job bad) for you. Then, you’ll be armed with a better understanding to help you improve your current job or find a new one.
A job is so difficult to get right, in fact, that Gallup reported in 2013 that only 13 percent of the global workforce is actually engaged at work. How could this be? A full causal exploration will have to wait for another post, but clearly jobs are not providing for the everyday needs of people (surprise, surprise?).
It may be even worse than it sounds, since according to Gallup the opposite of engagement is not lack of engagement: It’s active disengagement. In this deranged state, employees actually go out of their way to mess with the company they work for.
But, you say, this can’t be very common. Well, Gallup estimates that actively disengaged employees account for 24 percent of the global workforce — almost double the number of those who are engaged. (The rest are in the category “not engaged”.) They estimate that in the US alone, these dissatisfied saboteurs cost the economy between US$450 and $550 billion per year.
Actively disengaged employees account for 24 percent of the global workforce — almost double the number of those who are engaged.
Gallup’s study includes individuals from 142 countries, and over the years they’ve researched engagement with data from over 25 million employees, so they appear to be one of the key sources when it comes to hard research on the topic. The result? These twelve elements that separate true job engagement from active disengagement.
Don’t let yourself or your coworkers get into the “actively disengaged” category. Gauge your response to these statements to help get a sense of where your job might be going wrong and what kind of changes might make it feel right.
To what extent is each of the following true for you?
- I know what is expected of me at work.
- I have the materials and equipment necessary to do my work right.
- At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
- In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
- My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
- There is someone at work who encourages my development.
- At work, my opinions seem to count.
- The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
- My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
- I have a best friend at work.
- In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
- This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.
From Gallup’s 2013 State of the Global Workplace report.
Now is the time to ask: On which of these elements does your job really excel? On which is it not up to snuff? If you actually rate yourself on a five point scale for each, you get bonus points.
Once you have a better idea of where your job stands, hopefully you can make the changes that will have you going into work like this.
Send answers directly to me at hi@christianpetroske.com. Employment-related GIFs are also welcome.
