02 Sep Enjoy more happiness at work WITHOUT changing your job!
Unhappy at work? Change your job while you're still in it!
As soon as I saw this headline from the Positive Psychology News Daily website I knew I was going to enjoy this article…
by Eleanor Chin
When we are dissatisfied with our jobs, often our first instinct is to say to ourselves, “Get out!” Just as often, the very next thought is, “I can’t!” Then we feel stuck, and the emotional downward spiral begins.
For many reasons, it’s hard to get out or at least to change jobs quickly enough to bring some relief to our immediate pain. Whether the pain comes from overload, work that seems pointless, a demanding boss, or undesirable co-workers, there is something we can do that is more effective than simply enduring the pain while stewing in resentment. In the short term, we can try re-crafting our job or work environment until we can create a longer-term solution.
In a recent NY Times article, hope researcher Shane Lopez, PhD, talks about Job Crafting, a concept designed by Jane Dutton, Amy Wrzesniewski, and Justin Berg at the University of Michigan. Lopez starts by citing what the research says about four common characteristics of people who love their jobs:
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They use their strengths every day.
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They feel that they are in important part of their organization’s future.
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They are surrounded by colleagues who care about their overall well-being.
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They are excited about the future because of a leader’s enthusiasm and vision.
Using any of these criteria to make changes in your job will help you experience some relief from the stresses. You may feel that you are not able to change jobs in the short-term. But changing the way you approach to your current job can change your relationship to it. Here are some examples.
Are you aware of your strengths, and are you using them?
Tip: To find your strengths, make a list of the things that you feel you do well and get energy from doing well. Think about past successes and happy moments of accomplishments at work. What characterized your contributions to those moments: Ideas? Execution? Collaboration? If you can’t think of any, ask others. Then ask yourself, how can I apply these strengths with what I currently do? Knowing your strengths and trying to do more with them in your current work can eventually change the boundaries of your job and help you approach your work differently.
If this seems a bit overwhelming, think about taking small steps. Could you increase the time you spend actively applying your own particular strengths by 30 minutes a week? If you rate your satisfaction with your own performance at 4 out of 10, what could you do to take the rating to 5?
At the IPPA Congress, Fredrike Bannink suggested that a supervisor ask the person being reviewed to tell a story about a sparkling moment at work and to listen carefully for the strengths displayed by the person in the story. The supervisor then talks about the strengths implied by the story, increasing mutual insight into the individual’s strengths. Is there someone who could listen to your story of a sparkling moment and reflect your strengths back to you?
How much do you understand about the future of your organization and your place in it?
“A strong narrative that provides a clear, shared vision for the organisation is at the heart of employee engagement. Employees need to understand not only the purpose of the organisation they work for but also how their individual role contributes to that purpose.” MacLeod and Clarke in their report to the British government on employee engagement.
Tip: Talk to your manager or a friendly mentor..
…keep reading the full & original article HERE