This is how you give meaning to your work

Preparing a balance sheet

Every year from Nov. 13 to 16, extra attention is drawn to "stress at work" through work stress week. Some people see this as nonsensical because it does not address the problem at its core, but serves more as symptom relief. That might be true. But you can also use this week to take stock. Actually, it's always a good idea to take stock on a regular basis.

It is interesting to ask yourself whether you are satisfied or dissatisfied with your job. When in doubt, you can find out where that doubt comes from. For example, do you doubt the usefulness of your work? Or do you lack sufficient challenge? These are important questions that play into maintaining the right balance when it comes to stress. Because too much stress is by no means always necessary.

You can give more meaning to your work yourself, and as a result, you will find that you experience less stress. With this, you will regain the enthusiasm you need.

Fulfillment from work

Work is one of the ways people can satisfy their innate psychological needs. For example, we need autonomy (control over our own behavior), competence (sense of accomplishment) and connection with others. Work that meets these needs makes people more motivated, happier, physically fitter, mentally healthier and more productive, according to numerous studies.

Moreover, only then can you become passionate and inspired, making work even a source of happiness. Conversely, work can more often lead to burnout if we have no idea what we are actually doing it for. This is what clinical psychologist Jaap van den Broek experiences daily in his practice: burnt-out people who no longer see the point of their work and have lost themselves. Van den Broek is affiliated with ArbeidsPsychologie Amsterdam (APA).

Four basic ingredients

What type of work feels like meaningful is different for everyone. Some seek it in helping their fellow man (social motivation); others just want to make a lot of money (practical motivation). So it does not necessarily have to be idealistic work: making a popular commercial product can also be very satisfying. Nor does the utility have to be socially responsible. 'You can pack cookies very meaningfully and be meaningless Secretary General of NATO,' says Van den Broek.

Each person will attach importance to different aspects of their work. But the following basic ingredients apply to everyone:

1. A rich task
   This consists of the following five characteristics (described in 1980 by American psychologists/sociologists Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham):
   • varied activities,
   • involvement in the entire work process (and not just one part),
   • importance of the work for others,
   • sufficient freedom to perform the tasks yourself and decision-making authority (rather than following instructions)
   • good feedback (to improve performance).
2. Match between work and employee
   The importance of person-job fit is repeatedly emphasized in occupational psychology literature. Two areas are distinguished
   First, the job must match a person's abilities and competencies; "If there is a click between what you can do and what you do, you can achieve great things," says Van den Broek.
   Second, the work must meet the needs of the employee in all kinds of areas. For example, someone who enjoys working with others will languish in a solitary job. This also means that the employee's own values and standards must be in line with those of the organization: a job at a slaughterhouse will not be very meaningful for an avid animal lover.
   However, it is not the case that if your own values differ greatly from those of the company, there is always no reason to do the work, says Arnold Bakker, professor of occupational and organizational psychology at Erasmus University Rotterdam. According to him, a job does not have to be a perfect match in order to find meaning in it. One fit, or click, is already good.
3. 
   Perspective For many people, it can be very demotivating when they are unable to develop themselves. This can be achieved by taking on new challenges or, for example, by following a training course. This is different for everyone. However, it is important to realize how this works best for you and to discuss this with your managers.
4. Connect with colleagues and managers
   The 'social complex' is also a very important part of your job satisfaction: nice people around you, recognition, appreciation, support, and understanding from both colleagues and managers. Is this not being addressed by those around you? Perhaps you can do something about it yourself, or at least indicate that it is important to you? Only when you indicate this will people know what it means to you.

In control

It is possible to give meaning to any job, no matter how boring, by making adjustments on your own initiative that make your task or work environment more challenging and appropriate. This process is called job crafting. Job crafting involves adapting the job content to the employee's knowledge, skills, talents, interests and needs. Anyone can do it, although enterprising optimists who are confident in their own abilities often succeed better than people who are insecure and doubtful.

Anyone who doubts whether their job will still offer sufficient satisfaction five years from now should job craft, believes Wilmar Schaufeli, professor of occupational and organizational psychology at Utrecht University. He says: "Now. Not in five years. By then you may be so jaded and alienated from your job that you lack the energy to make any more changes."

Task crafting

If you do not derive sufficient satisfaction from your current performance, it is possible, for example, to take on new tasks and phase out old ones or fill them out differently (task crafting). Suppose you are a history teacher and love music. Then you can become the conductor of the school orchestra or make lessons more fun for yourself by discussing the nineteenth century using musical excerpts. But even tedious administrative chores might be divisible or delegated. It is important to know what your own talents are, but certainly also to know what the talents of your colleagues are. DISC's method can certainly help with this.

Relational crafting

Interestingly, you can also make your job more meaningful to yourself by improving relationships with people at or around your work (relational crafting). You do this by intensifying contact with people you admire or deepening the contact in terms of content (substantive conversations about work, sharing private information, giving support and advice). You can also organize activities, which you will carry out together with colleagues. You can think of an action aimed at a good cause. Or playing sports together.

Cognitive crafting

Finally, you can also change the way you look at your job (cognitive crafting). Seeing it not as a set of separate tasks and activities, but as part of a bigger picture, is one way to change the way you view your job without physically changing anything. As a welfare policy officer, you may have had it a little bit with writing all those municipal memos and plans.

But when you see in practice how well problematic young people are taken care of and when they tell you what it has meant to them, you have a view of the larger purpose of your activities and your part in it becomes more meaningful. Or you can focus on aspects of your work that do give you satisfaction. For example, by keeping the creative aspects in mind: beautiful writing, coming up with new angles. This makes the boring part much less demanding.

The importance of enthusiasm

By combining these three crafting variations, you create a lot of enthusiasm and satisfaction. This was demonstrated in a University of Michigan study with a group of cleaners at an American hospital. In-depth interviews were conducted with all 28 members of the cleaning crew about the nature of their work. Based on their answers, the group could be divided into proactive and passive cleaners.

The first group did extra chores and sought contact with patients, visitors and hospital staff. The second category did nothing extra and also hardly talked to others. For the proactive cleaners, the cleaning job had much more meaning than for the passive ones. They considered themselves skilled, loved their profession, saw themselves as members of the department and felt that their scrubbing work contributed to the healing of patients. For the passive scrubbers, the same job was meaningless.

You don't have to take a job crafting course to do it. Think about it: most people do it of their own accord to keep their work exciting, otherwise they wouldn't last. But a moment's reflection every now and then on what your contribution is and where you get satisfaction is already very important. And if you can do this, the week of work stress will be a valuable week.

By the way, did you know that Simple Check offers many workshops and coaching programs aimed at increasing personal leadership and focused on discovering your unique talents and motivations. Would you like to know more about this? Feel free to contact us!

Source: Psychology Magazine