How to make work more interesting and challenging.
In my previous column, I began exploring the seven individual attributes of the RESPECT (Recognition, Exciting Work, Security, Pay, Education and Career Growth, Conditions, and Truth) model, starting with recognition. In this column, I examine the first “E” of the model, which represents exciting work).
To employees, exciting work means being an effective performer on the job, or as one employee told me, having the “opportunity to use the talents and skills I possess.” It includes having a sense of responsibility and autonomy for the work outcome or product. An exciting job is filled with work assignments that give employees a sense of accomplishment or, as another employee stated, “I want the pleasure of working on something that satisfies me.”
Exciting work is fundamentally about having a satisfying job, a job that matches well with one’s skills and abilities and provides a sense of accomplishment. If employees don’t like the kind of work they do, we can’t expect them to be excited and enthusiastic about their job. We also cannot expect them to stay, especially if other jobs are easy to find.
KEY CONTRIBUTORS
There are several key contributors to job satisfaction and work excitement; among the most important are:
- Clear expectations. Setting realistic expectations is always important, particularly with new employees or when the nature of an existing position changes. Job overload, excessive duties, and incompatible demands are major contributors to job dissatisfaction.
- Identification with the work. Employees are more satisfied when they identify with their work and see it as central to their identity. Similarly, when employees clearly understand their employer’s strategic direction, or value their employer’s mission, they are more likely to exert discretionary effort.
- Sense of accomplishment. Employees who can see the results of their efforts are more satisfied. Also, employees who work on the “whole” product or service enjoy a greater sense of accomplishment than those who only work on a part. Most employees have a strong desire to be efficient and productive and become frustrated when they encounter senseless obstacles.
- Reasonability. When employees feel responsible for their work, including being able to make decisions that affect their work, they experience higher levels of job satisfaction.
- Feedback and knowledge of results. Employees should be informed of the extent to which they are doing the job correctly and effectively. When properly delivered, feedback reinforces what people do well and helps them improve and achieve higher levels of job performance.
BASIC PRINCIPLES
Some basic principles that underlie any effective action aimed at improving work excitement and job satisfaction include:
- Job fit. People’s skills, interests, and abilities should match their job requirements. Being in a job where you are ill-suited and ill-prepared can be intimidating, frustrating, and demoralizing. Managers should take great care in placing people in jobs they will find challenging. This might be easier said than done and may even require moving employees out of one group and into another.
- Leadership and management. A manager’s job is to understand what motivates employees— what they like and don’t like about their work. Discussing what excites employees can be a significant first step in improving their satisfaction.
- Job design. As a general practice, managers should seek ways to enrich jobs by building in and reinforcing variety, autonomy, feedback, significance, and accomplishment. Enabling people to use all their skills and creativity to get things done is a reliable path to creating more exciting work.
This article originally appeared in Training Magazine.
Jack Wiley, Ph.D. is an award-winning organizational psychologist, researcher, and leadership consultant. He is the author of three books, The Employee-Centric Manager: 8 Keys to People-Management Effectiveness (2021), RESPECT: Delivering Results by Giving Employees What They Really Want (2012), and Strategic Employee Surveys: Evidence-Based Guidelines for Driving Organizational Success (2010). Dr. Wiley is president and CEO of both Employee Centricity LLC and Jack Wiley Consulting, LLC, and the Chief Scientific Officer at Engage2Excel.
Connect with him on LinkedIn.
