Rethinking Your Work

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.

If you ever needed to be convinced about the value of promoting employee engagement (or what I call spirit at work), the results of a two-year research project completed by the Kingston Employee Engagement Consortium Project, Kingston University, for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) will do just that.

Released in January 2010, “Creating an Engaged Workforce” offers strategies for engagement and insights into the outcomes of engagement – for both the public and private sector. Here is a summary of the outcomes which clearly reinforces the importance of employee engagement.

Definitions of employee engagement are multiple. For the purposes of this study, employee engagement was defined as “being positively present during the performance of work by willingly contributing intellectual effort, experiencing positive emotions and meaningful connections to others.”

This is what I call spirit at work which is about finding meaning and fulfillment through work. Spirit at work involves profound feelings of wellbeing, a belief that one’s work makes a contribution, a sense of connection to others and common purpose, and an awareness of a connection to something larger than self.

The study demonstrates what we already know: Employee engagement is good for the employee and employer.

For the organization,

• Engaged employees perform better
• Engaged employees are more innovative than others
• Engaged employees are more likely to want to stay with their employer

For the individual,

• Engaged employees enjoy greater levels of personal well-being
• Engaged employees perceive their workload to be more sustainable than others

With this kind of information, why wouldn’t we want to promote employee engagement and spirit at work for ourselves and our employees?

Want to learn more? Sign up for our monthly newsletter (to the right) 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. 

Public health workers, including nurses, police, teachers, military, and bureaucrats at all levels of government, are suffering from depression at unprecedented rates. So much so, that mental health expert, Bill Wilkerson of Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Mental Health, says that depression has become the country’s biggest “public health crisis.”

Fatigue, stress and burnout are evident in all workplaces. Depression is becoming more obvious, especially in these difficult economic times. But nowhere is the problem greater than in the public service where the impact of mental distress has been called an epidemic.

Mental illness will strike one in every five Canadians at some point in their lives. Depression and anxiety represent up to 90 per cent of such illnesses and cause up to 35 million lost workdays a year in Canada. Experts claim that mental illness costs Canadian employers $51-billion a year (chiefly in lost productivity). It is the leading disability claim for insurers.

In Canada, between 30 to 40% of disability claims are for depression. Among public servants, mental health claims have doubled between 1991 and 2007 and now account for 45% of all disability claims. Given the impact of the recession, I cannot imagine what the numbers would be today.

Leaders such as Michael Kirby, first chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, predict that work overload, job insecurity and financial fears will spark a fresh wave of depression and other disorders. Psychiatrists across Canada are already reporting heavier caseloads. Studies show that about 75 per cent of federal executives feel they are on the verge of burnout or extreme fatigue.  

In my own work, I have found a relationship between depression and spirit at work. As spirit at work (that sense that our work is meaningful, we are able to make a contribution and we feel good about what we are doing) goes up, depression goes down. Emotional exhaustion also decreases.

The good news is that we can increase spirit at work!  Simply by rethinking your work.

Read an earlier blog about how to increase spirit at work: Happy at Home, Happy 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. 

Remember the days when we were all sent to time management courses? We were under the impression that all we had to do to be effective was better manage our time. Today, the message is managing your energy, not time is key to high performance and renewal.

The impact of the recession has resulted in most organizations expecting higher performance, but with fewer employees. The usual method – working harder and putting in more time – is no longer working. Many of us are exhausted, disenchanted and disengaged. And we are getting sick.

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

Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz wrote an excellent book: The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal. Although it was written in 2003, the concepts are still valid today – maybe even more so.

The central thesis is that performance, health and happiness are grounded in the skillful management of energy. The authors remind us that managing time efficiently is no guarantee that we will bring sufficient energy to whatever it is we are doing.

To be fully engaged – and I would say to have spirit at work – we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused, and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interest.

We know that energy diminishes with overuse. Too much energy expenditure and insufficient recovery leads to burnout and breakdown. The authors remind us that, “It is not the intensity of energy expenditure that produces burnout, impaired performance and physical breakdown, but rather the duration of expenditure without recovery.” We need to balance our energy expenditure with recovery time.

Here are a dozen tips to help you manage your energy:

Physical energy

1. Take a recovery break every 90 to 120 minutes.
2. Enhance your sleep by going to bed early and waking up early.
3. Notice signs of energy flagging: restlessness, yawning, hunger and difficulty focusing and concentrating.

Emotional energy

1. Use deep abdominal breathing to diffuse negative emotions such as impatience, anxiety, frustration, and irritability.
2. Express appreciation and gratitude to yourself and others on a regular basis.
3. Access pleasant and positive emotions such as enjoyment, adventure and opportunity.

Mental energy

1. Perform high-concentration tasks away from the phone and email and respond to emails and phone messages at designated times during the day.
2. Incorporate visualization and positive self-talk into your daily living.
3. Give your conscious thinking mind a rest.

Spiritual energy

1. Reconnect to your sense of purpose and live your deeper values.
2. Find ways to do more of what you are passionate about and brings you intrinsic reward.
3. See your work as an act of service. Remind yourself that work is not about you, but about the people you are serving.

Everything we do – thinking, interacting with others, making decisions – requires energy. It is time to rethink how we manage our energy and not just our time. Balancing our energy expenditure and energy recovery is key to our wellbeing and spirit at work.

What are the things you do to manage your energy? If you changed one thing, what would it be?

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 .

October 5^th is World Teachers’ Day. The UN is using this day to put the spotlight on the global teacher shortage and the challenges of being a teacher. But is there a shortage? Or is it more of an issue of retention? If we could retain those teachers who enter the profession, would we still have a shortage?

The turnover rate among teachers is generally higher than for other occupations. An alarming number of teachers leave the profession during the first few years of teaching. The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that nearly a third of American teachers leave in their first three years and half by the fifth year.  While this figure is lower in Canada (Alberta statistics show that 20 per cent of teachers leave the job within the first five years), it is still alarming.

Why are so many teachers escaping the profession? How can someone enter the profession enthused and excited and leave a few years later disenchanted or burned out? What needs to be done to maintain their enthusiasm?

My husband and I attended an orientation for parents when our son entered high school. I was very pleased with the principal’s take on things. He said that if he had his druthers, he would do away with marks. Although marks do count, especially in grade 12, this principal holds his teachers accountable for six things. The first three – belonging, competence, and confidence –show up consistently in the research as what really matters to student learning. When students feel like they belong and that someone cares, when they feel competent to do the work they are asked to do, and when they feel confident that they will be successful, the marks automatically take care of themselves. If they don’t have these things, there is little hope in improving marks.

A teacher spoke about the importance of the fourth principle which is “someone sees me.” He said “I care about these young people. The most important thing for me is to make a connection with the students, to get to know them and particularly to get to know them outside of school.” The last two principles were “involvement of the students” and the “creation of a positive team”. These six values, the principal says, spell success and living them is an expectation for every teacher who works in this school.

As I was thinking about the overlap between these six values and the creation of spirit at work and wondering what would happen if teachers had an opportunity to experience these, a woman stood up and quietly asked if she could say something. She looked to be in her early 40s and said,

“You probably don’t recognize me since it was a long time ago since you taught me grade 10. I was living with my family in Germany and attended the armed forces school. You were my teacher. I just wanted to say hi and what you are talking about – those four points – belonging, confidence, competence and someone sees me – those things that you say are so important to student success . . .  well, I experienced them with you as a teacher. And I want to tell you, THAT changed my life. I feel good about myself as a person and I am way more confident now. I just wanted to say thanks. I was very anxious about choosing a high school for my daughter, but when I found out that you were the principal here, I knew the decision was made. I want my daughter to experience high school like I did. To the rest of the parents she said, ‘You are all so lucky to have your kids attend a school run by a principal that demonstrates these values.’”

Wow! The principal was stunned. Full of emotion, he went over and gave this woman a hug. He could not have paid for better advertising for his school.

As I sat there, I quickly realized that this principal and these teachers had spirit at work. They loved what they were doing and they were making a difference in the lives of their students. Our kids and their experience of school mattered to them. I had a deep sigh of relief and knew that our son was going to be in good hands.

What I also learned is that not only did the principal experience spirit at work; as the leader of that school, he created the conditions for his staff to experience spirit at work, and in doing so, opened the doors for his students to have a positive high school experience.  And did I mention that retention is not an issue in this school?

We now have the opportunity to rethink work and rethink how we can engage teachers so that they will want to stay in the profession.

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.

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.

I am sitting here at the Edmonton Blues Festival with 2999 of my closest new friends and enjoying a week-end of blues music at an outdoor amphitheatre. What strikes me most about the performers is how obvious their spirit at work is. It doesn’t seem to matter if they are young or if they are old-timers like Slim Magic who has been on the scene since the 50s; they all share a passion for the blues . . . their work.

These musicians are connected to their music, their band and the audience. As a member of the audience, I quickly felt a part of this community. I was moved so much by what I saw and felt that I scrambled for pen and paper to write this blog. What is it about musicians and particularly blues musicians that set them apart? They follow their passion.  They live in alignment. They are true to their music. There is harmony between their inner selves and their work.

Is it easy? Not always.  Blues musicians have to work hard to make a living. Often traveling and playing to small crowds for not a lot of money. (Where can you go for a 3-day festival and see 13 groups from North American and abroad for under $100? You can’t even get into a two-hour rock concert for that.) Blues musicians don’t have a hope to make it rich like the pop or rock bands. Yet, they pursue. They play. They share their art. And they feel good about what they do.

We may not be musically inclined or even aspire to be a musician. But we can learn a lot from blues musicians about how to be fully engaged in our work.

There is more to work than putting in eight, ten or twelve hours a day. Work is much more than meeting deadlines and coming in under budget. And there is definitely more to work than a pay check and pension. Money isn’t everything and it certainly doesn’t buy the fulfillment many of us are seeking. Yes, we need money to put a roof over our head and food on the table, but once we have that, most of us find we are looking for more. That “more” is an opportunity to make the world a better place. To do meaningful work and make a difference in the lives of others.

What would it take to be so fully engaged in your work that it feels like you are playing? Doing what you love? And getting paid for it?

 Start rethinking your work today to enjoy a more rewarding tomorrow.

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.

Working for the public sector used to be considered a noble calling. Today, Statistics Canada reveals that employees in the federal public service have the highest rate of absenteeism in the country. They are followed by health-care and social service providers, provincial public servants and municipal employees. Absenteeism is lowest in the private sector.

Absenteeism rates have been rising in all sectors since the late 1990s. The average days lost to absenteeism due to sick leave, family demands, and other personal reasons has gone from 7.4 days per worker in 1997 to 10.2 days in 2007. For public service employees, the rated jumped to 16.2 days per worker per year on average.  These days are on top of vacation time, maternity leave and other scheduled time off.

Why the difference? Statistics Canada points to an aging workforce, increased women in the workforce, higher stress levels, and more generous sick and family-related leave policies in the public services.

Others point to low morale as the cause. In a recent poll by Angus Reid, one-third of Canadians think it is more honourable to work in the private sector as compared to 15 percent who believe the working for the government is more honourable. Given a choice, 43% of those surveyed said they would choose careers in the private sector, whereas only 33% would choose the public sector.

Those interested in the private sector are drawn by the creativity, salaries and mobility. Those attracted to the public sector say it is because of the generous benefits and job security. Only one-quarter say they were drawn by a “vocation of service.” I believe that this is the root of the absenteeism concern.

While benefits and job security are important, particularly as we weather the recession, they do not give us that deeper meaning and fulfillment so many of us are seeking. They do not give us the feeling that our work is honourable. We need to know that our work matters, that we are making a difference through our work – to have something we call spirit at work. Others call it work engagement, happiness at work or flow, but it all refers to feeling good about our work and the contribution we are making.

Spirit at work can be developed. I took a team of workers through the Spirit-at-Work Program and it dramatically reduced the rate of absenteeism and turnover. Not only did we see an improvement in retention, our research pointed to an increase in job satisfaction and commitment. Morale improved and the group began working together as a team. Why? Employees began to see their work as a noble calling. They appreciated themselves and the work they did. They began to think about their work differently.

I believe that the answer to high absenteeism rates lies in helping public servants see their work as a noble calling and to feel good about their work. How can they do that? By rethinking work. Here are four ways to begin rethinking your work:

1. Get to the heart of what matters about your work.
2. Be on purpose at work.
3. See your work as an act of service.
4. Cultivate a spiritual value-based life.

Absenteeism has a huge effect on morale, productivity and profitability. It can and should be halted. We will talk in more detail about these four ways in our subsequent blogs.

On July 11, 2009, Eric Lam of the Financial Post asked, “Whatever happened to touted work-life balance?” I say that it doesn’t exist, probably never did. I prefer that we aim for work-life integration. Work-life balance presumes a clear separation between work and the rest of our lives, which is impossible. Creating rigid boundaries often increases stress and a sense of being fragmented.

Work-life integration removes these boundaries. When we are integrated, we see how everything we do, including our work, is related to our deeper purpose. Everything is connected. It is not fixed. There is give and take. We accommodate. We integrate. So when we are called at work by the daycare to pick up a sick child, we pause our work and pick up our child or make alternative plans without guilt. We are clear that caring for our child is part of our deeper purpose. Similarly, when we need to bring some work home or stay late to finish a project, we expect to do so, because that too is part of our purpose. When we are integrated, there is an ebb and flow so that all priorities are accommodated. This is important because there needs to be room for all our priorities. If we focus all our energy and attention on one priority, we begin to cut ourselves off from the things that matter to us and we begin to lead a fragmented life.

This is not to say that we give equal attention to all priorities in our life all the time. That is the concern I have with the notion of living a balanced life. It assumes that everything is equal. When I think about balance, I think about trying to balance a teeter-totter. It is very difficult to get the exact balance where both sides of the teeter-totter are at the same height from the ground. One side is always higher than the other. And the energy expended in trying to make them equal can be enormous. Not to mention the frustration that goes along with “not being in balance” or the guilt about “not living a balanced life.” Not everything is in balance. Not all priorities carry equal weight. There are times in our life when we are called to give more attention to particular areas, be that raising children, helping elderly parents, developing our career, pursuing secondary education, living our passion or regaining health.

Practicing integration is different than striving for balance. People view family, work and personal interests, for example, as part of a larger and connected whole, rather than as separate and competing parts. Moreover, each of these life tasks provides an opportunity to fulfill our deeper purpose. Rather than attempting to maintain an equal balance, we need to give varying emphasis to each responsibility as need and priority dictates over time.

To the employee. Is your life fragmented or integrated? Is your work and the rest of your life separated or connected? Give yourself permission to let go of the need for a balanced life and live your life in line with what you have identified as your priorities. Honor what you know is important to you.

To the employer. During the economic recession, many employees are happy just to have a job. In these situations, they often put aside other priorities and focus solely on work. Some tolerate working conditions and expectations that are less than ideal. While this is understandable, it can and will take a toll – on both the employee and the company. The recession cannot be used as an excuse to take advantage of or ill-treat employees. Instead, companies need to find ways to support work-life integration. To show employees that they care. The number one driver of engagement is a sense that senior management is sincerely interested in employee wellbeing. It is time for employers to rethink work in spite of the economic situation. For more ideas about how to rethink work, order Rethinking Your Work: Getting to the Heart of What Matters.