6 Tips For Enriching Your Work Life

Job enrichment - the practice of enhancing individual jobs to make the responsibilities more rewarding and inspiring for the people who do them.

Are you in a job that you love?  That is stimulating, challenging and fun? 

Looking at Herzberg's theory, to apply it you need to adopt a two stage process to motivate people. Eliminate the dissatisfactions they're experiencing and provide them with satisfaction.  I am going to focus on job satisfaction or enrichment rather than dissatisfaction or hygiene factors.

Managers are expected to provide job enrichment - provide more stimulating and interesting work that adds variety and challenge to an employee's daily routine.
I’d like to turn this around and pose the question “what can YOU do to enrich your own career?”  Rather than waiting for someone else to do it for you.

I have 6 basic tips for you to consider which could enrich your career and in turn motivate others to achieve once you are in a management role:

1. Know who you are
2. Work with people that inspire you
3. Love what you do
4. Seek out opportunities
5. Communicate
6. Have a career roadmap - know where you are heading

1. Know who you are
Be aware of your own values, motivators, talents and preference areas.  If you are unsure of these, there are books, DVDs, on-line tools and career coaches who can unearth this information for you.

For example do you want a higher salary, opportunities for growth and advancement, expertise - or something else?

If you know what you value in your career, then you can find an organisation which has values that align with yours and you feel like you belong.  You are a stakeholder in the organisation rather than just a number.

2. Work with people that inspire you
We are all inspired in different ways by different people so knowing what motivates you is important.

Surround yourself with people that are inspirational.  Make a list of the people at the top of their game that you would really like to work for then target the organisations they work for.

If your manager does not inspire you find someone who does and ask them to be your mentor.  This person may not be in your organisation, in Wgtn or NZ – with technology your mentor could be working in Geneva for the UN, surfing in Bali or teaching book keeping in small African villages.

This leads into number 3…

3. Love what you do
Apply for jobs in an organisation that you believe in.

If you find the values, mission or strategic plan that once aligned with what you want to achieve in the world have shifted and you really don’t want to get out of bed in the morning not because it is just too cold, but because you hate your job, then it is time to do something about it.  It is your responsibility no one else’s.

However before you jump in and resign, look at ways where you can help to create a work environment that is positive, stimulating, productive and fun.  Are you just in the wrong job or working for a manager who does not get the best out of you?
 
4. Seek out opportunities
Rather than waiting for them to be handed to you.   

Take on extra responsibilities – ones that you think you may enjoy or provide you with personal growth. 

You could represent your team on an organisation wide project or share your knowledge by presenting to others, or propose a change to a process and volunteer to lead the transition.

It may mean asking about flexible working options, job sharing, furthering your education or moving to an office in another city. 

5. Communicate
Communication is one of the most basic ways a person can feel enrichment in their job.   

Create open communication channels if they don’t already exist.  If your manager appears to be challenged by giving feedback, teach them how by demonstrating how it can be done.

Tell them “what is working well, where your learning’s have been, what you are most proud of or how they can best support you” 

I would like to share a real example here.  John is a high performing member of his team and part of the leadership development programme within a global company based in Wgtn.  His manager is based in Akld and allows him to be extremely autonomous however, he rarely communicates with him and this has been frustrating John.  So John decided to provide his manager with a weekly progress report via email so he feels satisfied that his manager is aware of his workload and priorities.  His manager can then choose to speak with John regarding his work and let him know of he has any concerns.  John feels like he has opened the communication channel.

6. Have a career roadmap - know where you are heading
Have a career plan that you are working towards, one where YOU want to be.  This may mean having the guts to stand up to someone you care about and letting them know what your dream is.  Parents, teachers, friends and managers can limit our belief in our ability or squash our ambition simply because it is not theirs. 

So if you think about Herzberg’s theory your manager may be able to remove the ‘dissatisfying areas’ of a role but can they actually enrich your work life if the organisation or the role does not align with your career roadmap.

So there you have them - 6 tips on how you could enrich your own career:
1. Know who you are
2. Work with people that inspire you
3. Love what you do
4. Seek out opportunities
5. Communicate
6. Have a career roadmap - know where you are heading

In summary,
The practice of enhancing individual jobs to make the responsibilities more rewarding and inspiring for the people who do them.  Is this really the role of a manager or is it in the hands of the individual who is navigating their career roadmap?

Presented in September 2009 to the Management 101 students at Victoria University in Wellington.