Understanding our meaning of work is hard! So while we figure it all out, what can we do in the meantime to make our situations better?
What can we do in our groups or teams to perhaps make individuals more engaged and satisfied with their role and responsibilities that doesn’t require much time or resources?
Managers/supervisors can start by having informal conversations with individuals about what they don’t find meaningful in their job, or what aspects of their job does not provide any meaning. What even might be demeaning to them? What areas are they not satisfied with? What about their current work setting/job do they dislike?
Then ask them why, and what would make it better?
It’s important during this meeting to not get defensive and to not attack each other personally because you as the manager want to build trust to have these kind of open and honest conversations. Ultimately, you want the individuals in your group/team to be engaged in their job. It benefits them to decrease stress and frustration so they are happier and healthier. It benefits the organization because they’ll be engaged and performance will be increased. As the manager, you need to practice or role play these conversations ahead of time so that you can respond appropriately and not get defensive. You are probing and actively listening during these conversations. You are trying to understand your employees situation and how to make it better.
Remember, language is extremely important!
Individuals that are meeting with their manager regarding this type of conversation should plan ahead what they want to say, and how they want to say it. Think about the language that you can use so that you are not ‘personally’ attacking your manager. Think about your areas of dissatisfaction or lack of meaning in terms of processes, structures, and systems. We often can’t change someone else’s behavior, but we can change or improve upon processes, systems, and structures within an organization or even department. How you frame these areas for improvement is critical! You want action, you don’t want your manager to stop listening.
Have specific examples of each of these areas as well, so you can make sure the manager fully understands what you are explaining. Brainstorm and do some research on how YOU would address it to make it better. Give yourself a voice in the solution! Make your manager easily see the need and importance of the improvement.
Then discuss together what you all have control over improving or changing, and then prioritize the list. There will ultimately be changes that stem from the organizational level, but for the time being we want to focus on what we can work on NOW.
The goal is to have some action items that can start being improved. By having these open and honest conversations, trust is built—and a voice is given to employees on how to improve their jobs. There is a lot of satisfaction in being listened to, realizing your manager cares, and having a voice in the solution.