Finding meaning and a sense of fulfilment inn your job crucial at best. For those operating businesses, this would result in growth and better outputs, if your staff genuinely loves working for you. It is natural to have anxiety about the pandemic, loss of job, or workplace rituals. Finding “meaning” in one’s lives from their work is an abstract idea but these three questions could help you figure out if this job you’re in is really for you;
Joy: Are there any moments of joy in your workday
So work is not always fun, that’s precisely why it is called work, right? Sure there are many corporate and businesses houses portray themselves as “funhouses” with foosball tables, massage chairs, rest lounges and trampolines – but that’s just great marketing to lure employees. Ask yourself if you don’t just have job satisfaction but actually experience real joy at your workplace. Recall working with your teammates, or training with colleagues and thinking that this situation is fun. You may also experience joy when you meet a target, solve a complex problem or ace a project you were leading. If these moments are far and few, then introspect if you need to look at working in a different light.
Impact: Is there a multiplying effect?
Yes, Impact is one of those jargon-y buzzwords that the bosses like to use and it could mean different things to different people. But ask yourself if your work has a multiplying effect on people and on the company. Is your action empowering and enabling people to do their work better and more than what they would if you weren’t there. Have you contributed to their growth and output? If you are a frontline worker, then your impact would be more visible, otherwise, you would need to really think deeply about these questions.
For instance if you’re making AI robots that function at warehouses, you help speeding up the distribution system and deal with increased volume. This results in increased sales and demand being met, who your work has impacted the business and customers and has a multiplying effect.So, congratulations, you goals have been met!
Learning: Are you smarter than what you were yesterday?
Sure you have training and degrees from college and the best universities and these milestones are important when you’re building a career and you can frame and hand them in your office to take pride in. But when it comes to finding meaning in your work, it’s the learning you receive every day and not just book-ish knowledge that will come to your rescue. Looking back, have you been able to absorb the on-the-job knowledge and learning that goes on around you everyday? Have you become better at your work since every day because you learnt something new? Certainly, everybody has something new to absorb and learning something new is invigorating, and just going about the same routine day-after-day, year-after-year is demotivating. If you feel that you feel you’re caught in a rut, try to learn something new outside the job which would help in your overall development.