With Labor Day in the US quickly approaching, I thought it timely to share the 3rd of the 6 building blocks Iโve been using and refining across my coaching and advisory work: the โ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐คโ block.
The โ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐คโ block explores exactly what it sounds like โ how one feels about and experiences their work and all the goes into it.
And, I am reminded daily that itโs the most important and most urgent of the 6 blocks to focus on โ or to be building with โ as we move towards the future, or at least our โnextโ.
The innards of this block are complex, because how we feel about our work can be complex. And subjective. And variable. And deep. And personal.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ค, ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ, ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐. And that is what I help my clients dig into โ for themselves and, in the case of leaders, those they serve. The concept of โ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ โย is often at play here, which explores if an individual feels like they matter to others in their work life, like they are valued, and like they have value.
โ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐คโ is shaped by things like (in no particular order):ย
โกPurpose, vision, mission, values (mine & those of my company)
โกMy manager, my leader(s), my opportunity to lead
โกMy relationships, connections, network, peers, team
โกMy enablement (as in โ๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐คโ)
โกMy company & team culture, behaviors
โกTrust in me by others and in others by me
โกMy engagement, experience, satisfaction
โกMy sense of inclusion, belonging, equity
โกMy safety (physiological, physical)
โกMy growth potential (& investment) in role, in career
โกMy company & team norms, rituals
โกMy health, wellness
โกMy balance, flexibility
โกMy rewards, benefits, compensation
โกMy company & team performance management
โกMy company & team brand, reputation, credibility
โกMy onboarding, offboarding
So, why does this matter?
My work teaches me that itโs the sense of value that enables an individualโs engagement in their work, their satisfaction, their willingness to stay, to be a net-promoter, to be an alumni-advocate once moving on, and so on. The absence of a sense of value makes these difficult, if not impossible, to fulfil.
Employers hire employees wanting them to, at minimum, be engaged in their work. Employees join employers intending to, at minimum, be valued in their work.
And while I tend to talk about these 6 building blocks in the positive, I see lots of signals today that building with โHow I feel about my workโ is not a focus of some companies EVEN THOUGH it is a focus of their employees. I see RTO mandates as one of these signals, and I see prevalence of very low engagement scores across the workforce as another.
So, I am curiousโฆhow do you feel about your work?
#harnessingnext
#myworksignals