How to Create Meaning and Engage Employees

The following is taken from a new book by David and Wendy Ulrich, The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations that Win, which will be available from McGraw Hill in June.

Dave Ulrich is a Professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and partner at the RBL Group ( www.rbl.net), dedicated to improving leadership, talent, and human resources.  He has written over 20 books and received many professional honors, including #1 Management Guru by Business Week.

Wendy Ulrich, Ph.D., M.B.A., is a practicing psychologist and founder of Sixteen Stones Center for Growth in Alpine, Utah (www.sixteenstones.net).  She has consulted for a variety of business organizations and is the author of 2 books on personal change.

The authors take every opportunity to interview people (even strangers in airports) to gauge their job satisfaction.  They have found that finding meaning in one’s work has little to do with the kind of work one does, and little to do with prestige, position, salary, or even safety.  However, it does appear that it takes more than luck to find satisfaction at work.  In fact, it takes skill and practice.

“When leaders help employees create meaning at work, employees tend to work harder, more creatively, and with more tenacity, giving the companies that employ them a leg up in the marketplace.  When people make sense of their jobs they also make cents for their companies, a bottom line leaders can’t ignore.  Study after study shows that when employees experience meaning, they are more productive, customers more committed, and investors more likely to invest.  Indeed, leaders who are meaning makers build sustainable and competitive organizations.”

An activity at work becomes meaningful when it “resonates with chosen values, connects [employees] with people they like, raises their sense of competence, or gives them an “ah-ha” moment of insight.”  The ability to create meaning at work is enhanced by the following:

• A challenge that is surmountable with effort
• Emotional safety
• Autonomy
• Learning from those who have succeeded at creating meaning

Leaders who can inspire the employees under them to find meaning and satisfaction in their work are very valuable.  There are methods these leaders can employ as they seek to inspire their employees:

• Help employees identify and creatively use their character strengths
• Help employees visualize the favorable results of their work
• Foster friendships and relationship-building skills at work
• Promote a positive work environment
• Customize the job to the unique work experience of the employee
• Instead of punishing failure, create a situation wherein all employees learn constructively from setbacks
• Personalize and civilize the workplace with small perks and competitions; celebrate the little things