The Search For Meaningful Employment

The number of people in today’s organizations asking questions such as: What am I doing here? What do I really want from my work? Is this the right career for me? or What would I rather be doing? seems to have increased in recent years, despite the recession’s dampening effect on job opportunities. Naturally, as the search for meaningful employment intensifies, people will not only continue to change jobs more frequently, they will do it with a vengeance in the next few years—in search of more meaningful employment.

Despite serious set backs in recent years, Hewlett-Packard’s corporate culture has been emulated for decades because the company’s work environment provides such meaningful work opportunities for its employees. In fact, the company’s commitment to providing employees with meaningful work opportunities is still both legendary and real, returning the company to the “most admired” and “best places to work” lists once again. Of course, being identified as one of the best places to work in the world makes it much easier to attract top talent, which will become an even greater competitive advantage in coming years.

When was the last time you asked your direct reports whether they considered their work meaningful and fulfilling? Do you find your own work meaningful, providing you with the sense of accomplishment you really want? What could you do to provide more meaningful work opportunities to your people while at the same time improving business results? What is the percentage of people in your organization that find their work highly meaningful and fulfilling? Somewhat meaningful? Not meaningful?

To learn more about how to create meaningful work opportunities and environments, join our Accountability Community at www.partnersinleadership.com, where you can review the accounts of actual companies.

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