Rethinking Your Work

We all know about the impact of absenteeism on the workplace and productivity. But have you heard about “presenteeism”? Presenteeism is a term used to describe people who show up to work, but do not perform to their capacity.

Presenteeism was first used by Dr. Cary Cooper, an organizational psychology and health professor at Manchester University in the UK to describe the overwork and feelings of job insecurity resulting from downsizing and restructuring in the 1990s. When they feel at risk of losing their job, employees feel an overwhelming need to be putting in more hours, or at least appear to be working long hours.

Perhaps you have an employee or a colleague who continually shows up to work coughing and sneezing and spreading their germs. This is another form of presenteeism. Employees who come to work despite illnesses (asthma, migraines, back troubles, depression) are less productivity and may even cause a colleague to get sick. A study completed by Desjardins Financial Security indicated that 42% or Canadian workers went to work sick or exhausted at least once in 2007. Why? Concern about looming deadlines, workload pile-up, overloading colleagues and loss of income. In many organizations, missing work is frowned upon.

Presenteeism is also related to disengagement. Employees who are moderately engaged in or actively disengaged from their work show up, but do not produce. This has a significant impact on morale and productivity. Towers Perrin found that companies with the highest level of employee engagement achieve better financial results and are more successful in keeping their valued employees than those companies with lower levels of engagement. The reverse is also true.

Presenteeism is more common in tough economic times and when unemployment is high, likely because people are afraid to lose their jobs. A long-term study showed that absenteeism declines as unemployment rates increase, while presenteeism increases. Even though employees may be dissatisfied with their jobs and lack commitment to their organization, they will show up if they fear that they will lose their job. This doesn’t mean that they will work.

Researchers say that presenteeism can cut productivity by one-third or more. In fact, presenteeism has been shown to be more costly than its cousin absenteeism or disability. Some researchers believe that the cost of presenteeism could be around 7-9 times more than that of absenteeism.

It is time to rethink work. Rather than cutting back, forward thinking employers are spending to save. They know that employees want to be engaged. They want to feel good about the work they do and the contribution they make. They want to work for a secure organization that allows them to grow and develop a career. They want to work for an employer that they can feel good about. Forward thinking companies are helping employees become engaged.

How do you engage employees? Help employees discover spirit at work. We have found that employees can develop spirit at work and become fully engaged in their work simply by rethinking their work – which by the way is the title of my book. Here are some ideas to get you started:

o Get to the heart of what matters about your work. Be clear about what you are here for, who you are serving and the real point of your work. Connect to the deeper purpose of your work.

o Appreciate who you are and the contribution you (and your colleagues) make through work.

o See your work as an act of service. Who are you serving and why? How can you best help your client, customer or patient? After all, it is about them, not us.

o Refill your cup. Manage your energy. Take time to replenish and rejuvenate.

The responsibility for fostering spirit at work is shared between the employee and the employer. While several organizational conditions contribute to or impede spirit at work, we have found that the key is inspired leadership. It is the leader who sets the tone, creates the culture, inspires the vision and purpose, and recognizes the contribution of employees. More about this in another blog.

I work with employees and organizations to cultivate SAW and we have found that work attitudes improve, absenteeism and turnover go down, and as you would expect, presenteeism also decreases. Start rethinking your work today for a better tomorrow.

Want to learn more? Sign up for our monthly newsletter where we will explore this topic in more detail. Read the book Rethinking Your Work and learn how to create spirit at work.

Val Kinjerski, PhD, is a leading authority in the field of employee engagement and on the topic of “spirit at work.” A consultant, agent of change and professional speaker, she helps companies and organizations increase employee retention and boost productivity by reigniting employees’ love for their work. Check out her Spirit at Work Program and Inspired Leadership training at www.kaizensolutions.org. Val is the author of Rethinking Your Work and Rethinking Your Work Guidebook. Available now at www.rethinkingyourwork.com.

Research is showing us that what drives engagement is different for different groups, whether that be generations, sector, gender, or position. However, a study completed by the Kingston University for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), found that two factors were most important in driving up engagement, for all groups.  and employee voice emerged as the most important drivers, regardless of group or sector. The third most important driver was the way in which senior managers communicate with employees.

Meaningfulness of work

Here are three ways to increase employee engagement:

1. Connect to the meaning underlying the work

We want to know that our work matters. That we are making a difference. That someone or something is benefiting. Understanding the meaning underlying our work is key to being fully engaged and to experiencing spirit at work.

All work has meaning. While it is easier to see the meaning underlying a public sector position or a job of service such as teaching, nursing or social work, it is important to dig for the meaning in all jobs. Employers can help employees make the link between their work and the broader organizational goals and to connect with the organization’s deeper purpose.

Appreciating the contribution we make through our work goes a long way to increase our spirit at work and our sense of well-being. In my workshops, I help employees uncover the deeper meaning of their work, why it matters to them, and to appreciate themselves and their contribution. I also help them make the connection between their work and the deeper purpose of the organization.

2. Ensure that employee’s have a voice.

Regardless of what role we play within the organization, we want to be acknowledged and heard. Not surprisingly, being heard and having the ability to share your views upwards was the second engagement driver. We want to be involved. To participate. To be able to express our views. And to know that our opinions will be taken seriously by our immediate supervisor and senior managers.

There are several ways to give employees a voice. The most important is to create an environment where employees feel like they can contribute openly and honestly and that their opinions matter. Then, ask for their opinion and ideas. Give them an opportunity to participate in planning sessions. Ask for advice in meetings. Make sure that you let them know they are being heard.

3. Share the vision and make communication a priority.

I believe that the key role of senior management in any organization is to create a compelling vision for the organization. What is the purpose of this organization? What do we stand for? Where are we going? The next step is to share the vision and deeper purpose of the organization with employees and to inspire employees to fulfill that purpose and achieve the vision. To connect with the vision and see how their work contributes.

Communication is key. Almost every employee survey points to concern with communication. Yet, for employees to be fully engaged, they need to experience communication. Both ways. Earlier we spoke about the need for employees to have a voice. Here we are talking about information coming to the employee and senior management being open, approachable and transparent.

Want to learn more? Sign up for our monthly newsletter where we will explore this topic in more detail. Read the book Rethinking Your Work (link below) and learn how to create spirit at work.

Val Kinjerski, PhD, is a leading authority in the field of employee engagement and on the topic of “spirit at work.” A consultant, agent of change and professional speaker, she helps companies and organizations increase employee retention and boost productivity by reigniting employees’ love for their work. Check out her Spirit at Work Program and Inspired Leadership training at www.kaizensolutions.org. Val is the author of Rethinking Your Work and Rethinking Your Work Guidebook. Available now at www.rethinkingyourwork.com.

It seems that most professions have a code of ethics – teachers, nurses, social workers, accountants, lawyers.  Whether every professional follows the code is a different matter. But the fact is, the profession has an expectation about how members are to conduct themselves.

Codes of ethics can be viewed as an inspirational guide to members of the profession. They also form a basis for disciplinary action when the conduct of the professional falls below minimum standards. Codes of ethics define the type of ethical conduct the public has a right to expect.

But what about business ethics? What guides the behaviour of business professionals? On what basis are decisions made? What type of ethical conduct can the public expect?

A class of University of Alberta students were so frustrated with the lack of business ethics today – white-collar crimes, abuse of power, and immoral missteps – that they wrote a code of integrity. They also created the university’s first Business Ethics Awareness Day which takes place today, Thursday, November 26^th.

On this day they will take the oath they created and are inviting others to take the oath online at: http://tinyurl.com/bringintegrityback. I took the oath and I am hoping that you will too. Here it is:

Oath of Integrity

I promise to act with the utmost integrity in balancing the ethics of societal well-being, individual rights, tenets of justice, and principles of care in my efforts to manage the resources of the enterprises I endeavor to serve.

I understand that integrity is defined as the quality of being whole and undivided in my thoughts and in my actions. It requires that I act in a state of being consistently of sound moral principles such that:

• I promise to act with honesty.
• I promise to be helpful to stakeholders when called upon.
• I promise to act with competence throughout my career.
• I promise to be fair to people and to treat them with respect.
• I promise to uphold the principles of honour and promise-keeping.
• I will foster an attitude of action orientation whenever possible.
• I will strive to create sustainable organizational, environmental, social, and technological prosperity balancing both short and long term interests.

I make this oath freely and sincerely, and upon my honour.

Imagine a world where we all took the oath of integrity – the store clerk, the plumber, the cab driver, the CEO, the administrative assistant, the professional – and practiced it.

It is time to rethink work and how we do it.

Val Kinjerski, PhD, is a leading authority in the field of employee engagement and on the topic of “spirit at work.” A consultant, agent of change and inspirational speaker, she helps companies and organizations increase employee retention and boost productivity by reigniting employees’ love for their work. Check out her Spirit at Work Program and Inspired Leadership training at www.kaizensolutions.org. Val is the author of Rethinking Your Work and Rethinking Your Work Guidebook. Available now at www.rethinkingyourwork.com and www.amazon.com .

Nowhere is it more important to find meaning in one’s work than in health care. The emotional stress experienced by health care employees to provide quality of care during times of staff shortages and administrative demands to perform with fewer resources is taking its toll. The demands of the health care environment have resulted in the need for nurses to find coping mechanisms to decrease the stresses of their work. One such way is to find meaning and fulfillment in their work.

The literature suggests that nurses are most fulfilled when they feel they are making a difference in the lives of others, when they are able to complete a job to the best of their ability, and when they are helping other people learn.

I have found that not only does finding meaning and fulfillment in one’s work – something I call spirit at work – take the bite out of stress, it contributes to a sense of well-being, increases job satisfaction and commitment to one’s work and organization. At the same time, absenteeism and turnover goes down. All of which are good for the employee, the patient, and the bottom line.

The research of Rhonda Bell, PhD, Health Care Management Consultant provides additional support. Rhonda examined the relationship between spirituality and job satisfaction among registered nurses and licensed practical nurses. She had hoped to gain an understanding of the relationship between the elements of spirituality (purpose and meaning in life, innerness or inner resources, unifying interconnectedness, and transcendence) and job satisfaction (general job satisfaction, intrinsic satisfaction, and extrinsic satisfaction) levels among nursing professionals.         

As expected, Dr. Bell’s research showed a significant correlation between spirituality and job satisfaction. The more nursing staff felt that they had purpose and meaning in their life, had inner resources to draw upon, and experienced a sense of connection and transcendence, the more satisfied they were with their work.  

The relationship between spirituality and intrinsic job satisfaction was even stronger which suggests that nurses may be more satisfied with the intrinsic factors of job satisfaction when they are more spiritually oriented.

So how can we apply these findings in health care?

Employee retention is key to resolving the nursing shortage issue. Introducing a spirit-at-work program will go a long way to reconnecting nurses to their work, the patient, their colleagues, and their organizations. How? We take employees through a process of rethinking their work. The program helps them to find meaning and fulfillment by getting to the deeper purpose of their work. Discovering how they make a difference in the lives of others. Developing a sense of community with their colleagues where they feel that they belong and share a common purpose. Connecting to something larger than self.  That is spirit at work and when we experience it, everything changes.

Val Kinjerski, PhD, is a leading authority in the field of employee engagement and on the topic of “spirit at work.” A consultant, agent of change and inspirational speaker, she helps companies and organizations increase employee retention and boost productivity by reigniting employees’ love for their work. Check out her Spirit at Work Program and Inspired Leadership training at http://www.kaizensolutions.org/. Val is the author of Rethinking Your Work and Rethinking Your Work Guidebook. Available now at http://www.rethinkingyourwork.com/.

Have we lost our way? Have we forgotten why we entered our profession in the first place?  Why our organizations were created? Current research on engagement and commitment at work says ‘yes’. We are losing our satisfaction and joy at work; our organizations are struggling; and our patients, clients, and customers are not receiving the service they deserve. What would happen if we adopted a Patient First or Client First or Customer First philosophy?

In October, the Government of Saskatchewan released “For Patients’ Sake,” a report by Tony Dagnone, Saskatchewan’s Patient First Review Commissioner. This review was commissioned by Don McMorris, the Minister of Health with the intent to improve both the patient experience and the efficiency and effectiveness of the health system.

The key message of the review is to put patients first. The Commissioner recommends a health care system designed to make the patient the centre of care and not the people who deliver the care – as he says it currently is. Thus, the first recommendation is that the Saskatchewan health system makes patient- and family-centred care the foundation and principal aim.

Tony Dagnone says,

“Patient First” must be embedded as a core value in health care and ingrained in the “DNA” of all health care organizations. The health system has lost its focus on the patient and lost sight of the fact that health care is a service industry. The best interests of patients and families must be the primary driver of policy decisions, collective agreements, priority setting and resource allocation decisions, and the operation of workplaces.

The intention is to make the Patient First philosophy a reality in all work places. But where does one start?

What is important here is that one does start. It is time for action, not words. Start with the employees, the leaders and the organization. Start everywhere. Create a momentum. Here are some places to start:

Organization. Design strategies to strengthen the capacity to achieve a patient-centred organization. Communicate the patient first philosophy to every member of the organization and in every document. Get leaders on board. Create Patient’s First Filter and test every decision or policy against it. Evaluate the effectiveness of all initiatives. Recognize and reward a patient first philosophy. Walk the talk.

Leaders. Inspire your leaders.  Have a clear vision and mission. Teach leaders how to inspire their managers and staff. Reward a patient first philosophy. Build your teams with this shared purpose. Evaluate your leaders against the Patient First Filter.  Support them.

Employees. Engage employees. Foster their spirit at work. Create the conditions for them to put the patient first. Help them to reconnect with the deeper purpose of their work and see their work as an act of service. Reward a patient first philosophy. Build their teams with this shared purpose. Listen.

The Commissioner sums up this new direction by stating that “Patient First” cannot be a mere lapel pin, button, or logo; it must be a way of doing business…

What would it take to have a renewed commitment to putting the patient or client or customer first?

Val Kinjerski, PhD, is a leading authority in the field of employee engagement and on the topic of “spirit at work.” A consultant, agent of change and inspirational speaker, she helps companies and organizations increase employee retention and boost productivity by reigniting employees’ love for their work. Check out her Spirit at Work Program and Inspired Leadership training at www.kaizensolutions.org. Val is the author of Rethinking Your Work and Rethinking Your Work Guidebook. Available now at www.rethinkingyourwork.com.

Tags: For Patients’ Sake, Tony Dagnone, Val Kinjerski, Don McMorris, Patient First, customer service, Patient First Review Commissioner, spirit at work, inspired leadership, service, employee engagement

How long do employees stay in your organization? Aberdeen found that 86% of employees make the decision to stay or leave in the first 6 months. In Canada, one-fifth of teachers leave in the first five years; this number increases to one-half in the US.  In the service industry – call centres, retail, fast food, etc. – 50% of employees turnover in the first 90 days! In the US, nearly 80% of jobs are service jobs. What is your tipping point – the point when most employees leave your organization?

Why do they leave so quickly? At first glance we might think it is about the new recruit’s personality. A wrong fit with the work or the organization. Not so says a study by the University of Florida. A study with over 1000 professionals in eight organizations found that the three reasons employees left within the first 30 days are:

• relationships with supervisors
• relationships with colleagues
• reassignment of projects

On the flip-side, Towers Perrin found the top three global reasons people stay are:

• organizations’ reputation as a great place to work
• satisfaction with organization’s people decisions
• good relationship with supervisor

Relationships matter. And no relationship is more important in the workplace than the one we have with our immediate supervisor. In an online survey conducted in 2007, Leadership IQ found that 32% of an employee’s decision to remain with the organization is based on the trust that employee has with his or her immediate supervisor.  Respect, fair and equitable treatment and connecting on a personal and work level are important contributors to trust.

How might you improve relationships with your supervisors and the people who report to you?

Val Kinjerski, PhD, is a leading authority in the field of employee engagement and on the topic of “spirit at work.” An inspirational speaker, consultant and writer, she helps companies and organizations increase employee retention and boost productivity by reigniting employees’ love for their work. She is the author of Rethinking Your Work and Rethinking Your Work Guidebook. Available now.

Is your company or organization reacting to the current economic situation or is it responding? Is it playing defence or offence? There is a difference. When we take into account the situation we are in, along with our vision and goals, we are able to step back and choose to act. Act, rather than just react to the latest challenge facing us.

Aberdeen’s recent study: “Mid-Year Insights 2009” point to the development of existing talent as a top priority for the coming year. Organizations need to ensure that the workforce has the skills and ability to face the challenges and uncertainty of the future. These development opportunities can benefit both employees and employers.

Opportunities to improve skills and capabilities and challenging work assignments that broaden one’s skills have been shown to drive engagement. Not only do engaged employees plan to stay with their current employer, a correlation between high levels of engagement and strong business performance have been demonstrated.

It is time for companies to rethink how they are developing existing talent. Here are some questions to get you started:

• What is the company’s deeper purpose?
• What is the vision for the future?
• What are the desired outcomes?
• What needs to change in order to achieve these outcomes?
• What are the goals?
• What is no longer needed and can be let go?
• What skills and abilities need to be developed to achieve the vision, goals, and outcomes?
• What training or development is required and how does that fit with the new direction?
• How can employees become more engaged?

Development of existing talent is a key factor in employee wellness, retention and productivity. But it cannot be done in isolation. Organizations who help employees to become more engaged and develop talent that is in alignment with the organization’s deeper purpose, vision and strategic plan will realize remarkable results.

Val Kinjerski, PhD, is a leading authority in the field of employee engagement and on the topic of “spirit at work.” An inspirational speaker, consultant and writer, she helps companies and organizations increase employee retention and boost productivity by reigniting employees’ love for their work. She is the author of Rethinking Your Work and Rethinking Your Work Guidebook.

Writing a book where seeing your work as an act of service is a central theme has a way of bringing one’s attention to customer service. I really lucked out when I chose Hignell Printing from Winnipeg, Manitoba.  

Hignell Printing is a small Canadian company that has been in business for over 100 years.  I suspect that they have been in business for this length of time because they know something about being of service. So what did they do?

1. Provided a personal touch. I submitted several requests by email for quotes on printing my book. Herb Krushel, the Account Manager, immediately phoned me to talk about my books and the printing process. Only Hignell and one other printing company contacted me by phone.

 2. They walk the talk. Many companies speak about the value of service in their literature or in their mission statement, but are incongruent in their behaviour. Highnell walks the talk. As part of the footer, Hignell writes:

 At Hignell we offer the best in service and quality work at competitive prices. We are caring and responsive and have hundreds of satisfied customers throughout N. America. 

 Herb closes his correspondence with,

Thank you, and please do not hesitate to call with questions. I look forward to being of service to you.

And I experienced that to be true. Given that this is my first time self-publishing, I had many questions. Not once did I feel that my questions were silly.

 3. It takes a whole company to provide service. When Herb was away on holidays, Dave Friesen, Client Services, took over in order to keep the process going. Rather than just cover off for Herb, Dave also called and developed a relationship with me.

 4. They demonstrate flexibility. My father-in-law passed away during this process and his memorial was held during the same time that I was getting my book ready for print. I also committed to having the book ready for Amazon by October 1^st. Talk about  competing priorities. When I shared this with Cori Jones, the Customer Service Rep, she said,

I will try and make this as easy as possible for you.  . . . .
Let me know if you need anything further.

Rather than having to send everything back by courier, I was able to send my changes and approval via email.

5. Everyone is interested. Even though my project was transferred to Cori for production, today, I received the following email from Dave.

I happened to walk by the printed covers for your book a couple of days ago, and I read the back cover. WOW, looks like this will be a great book ! Congrats !

 So what can we learn about service from this printing company?

1. Provide a personal touch. Take time to reach out by phone.
2. Get interested in your clients or customers.
3. Demonstrate alignment between what your company says you believe in and how you deliver services.
4. Give employees the flexibility to respond to customers’ needs.
5. Help all members of your company or organization see how they contribute to excellent customer service.

It is time to rethink our work and how we are serving others through our work.

Val Kinjerski, PhD, is a leading authority in the field of employee engagement and on the topic of “spirit at work.” An inspirational speaker, consultant and writer, she helps companies and organizations increase employee retention and boost productivity by reigniting employees’ love for their work. She is the author of Rethinking Your Work and Rethinking Your Work Guidebook.

In our challenging economic times, many organizations are opting for saving money over saving and nurturing their talent. But at what cost? A study on the effect of organizational downsizing on the health of employees found that employees who survive major job cuts are twice as likely to take sick leave. They also reflect a fivefold increase in backaches and muscle problems and are five times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease within the next four years than employees who work for companies who do not undergo major job loss.

In addition to downsizing, many of these companies have reduced their training and learning budgets. The Learning and Development Survey, recently released by the Conference Board of Canada, states that “spending on training, learning and development continues to decline slowly in Canadian organizations.” The report indicates that in 2008, Canadian companies “spent an average of $787 per employee on training, learning and development.” In real dollar terms, this level of expenditure is 40 per cent less than what was spent in the mid 90s.

Why? One reason offered is that Canadian organizations are now learning more informally. Another is that organizations are reducing training budgets to save money. Decisions that often cost more money in terms of emotion, talent, engagement and the bottom line.

Successful organizations are typified by those that have a long-term focus on employee development. A recent study by the Cranfield School of Management found that successful organizations are those that identify, develop and maximize the effectiveness of their employees. The study results showed that nurturing talent has the benefits of improved motivation, lower staff turnover and being more cost effective – factors that increase productivity and improve the bottom line. Yet despite the benefits highlighted in the study, only a third of employers have a formal training strategy.

There are lessons to be drawn from those firms that clearly set out to nurture their talent by strategically planning their training. The outcome shows, for example, that successful organizations are typified by using formal training policies to nurture talent, while less successful organizations are more likely to train staff on an ad hoc basis.

Despite the uncertain economic situation, the development of workers is necessary to engage employees and remain competitive. I would argue that nurturing talent is saving money.  It is time to rethink work and begin nurturing our talent by helping employees become more engaged.

Val Kinjerski, PhD, is a leading authority in the field of employee engagement and on the topic of “spirit at work.” An inspirational speaker, consultant and writer, she helps companies and organizations increase employee retention and boost productivity by reigniting employees’ love for their work. She is the author of Rethinking Your Work and Rethinking Your Work Guidebook.

While the music of Blink-182 may not be your favourite, this band’s story illustrates how a brush with personal disaster can transform our experience of work. Faced with a personal crisis, we have a tendency to re-evaluate our priorities and our way of being, putting us on what I call, the transformative events path to spirit at work. When we have spirit at work, we are fully engaged in our work, we find meaning and fulfillment in that which we do and we see how our work makes a difference in the lives of others.

Here is Blink’s story. Having sold some 13 million albums, the pop punk trio was at the height of their music career. Then due to extraordinary pressure and irresolvable differences, the band took a time out, resulting in a four-year hiatus. Last year, drummer Travis Barker nearly died in a plane crash – a crash which took the lives of his assistant and bodyguard. It was that event that led the group’s singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge to re-evaluate his priorities and break the radio silence toward his band mates. In an interview, DeLonge said that “It was very clear to me after Travis’s (near-death) that all these forces of nature were pushing for (a reunion) to happen.” The group decided to put aside their differences and come together to play again. Blink-182 is now on a 50-date North American comeback tour. But it took a near-death experience to get them there.

My research has shown that there are four paths to spirit at work: always there, coming together, contextually sensitive, and transformative events. Members of Blink-182 are on the path of transformative events.

What is the path of transformative events?  Stuff happens. We get sick. We are diagnosed with a debilitating disease, maybe one that is terminal. Our marriage ends in divorce. Our children make bad choices with negative and long-lasting results. The company we work for downsizes or goes under, and our spouse loses his or her job. We lose a loved one. The path of transformative events occurs in response to a crisis or spiritual awakening and can precipitate spirit at work.

A personal crisis (as Blink experienced) demands a response before it results in spirit at work. It requires that we do something. Individuals often begin to question their values, life priorities and lifestyle, a process sure to affect their relationship with work. Often, they begin to question the meaning of their work: Why are they doing it? Who is it helping? What is the contribution? How does it related to their deeper purpose? This response can turn a difficult event into a transformative event.

Why should we be interested? The recession has led to an increase in job loss, organizational takeovers, and downsizing – a significant life event for those impacted by such a decision. But even how we respond to events that are unrelated to our work – such as serious accidents, divorce or the loss of a loved one – will impact how we do our work. Thus, all of these events become opportunities as well as challenges. Once the necessary grieving has taken place – and that is important – times of crisis offer the potential for growth, change and spirit at work. A personal crisis gives us the opportunity to rethink our work – if we take it.

What is the next step? It is important for employers to realize how actions taken during the recession – some necessary for the survival of the company – have impacted employee spirit, job satisfaction and commitment. Action needs to be taken to rebuild relationships and help employees gain a renewed enthusiasm for their work and increased job satisfaction. At the same time, employees need to take steps to foster their spirit at work – the first being rethinking work. Everything changes when we rethink our work.