The first thought-provoking entry asks you to ponder on, 'If we were to experience work as genuinely significant, there would be value to be found in the work itself, some inner sense, not only paying for it (Svendsen, 2016, p.10).
Jobs can be viewed as having a difference
because one needs to take care of what he or she does to make a meaningful job. For a meaningful function, thus, work should be used as an indication of who the individual is to determine the personality of the individual. In many of the people I've met, work appears to be tedious, and people say they're working because they want to make money. Since I started learning this unit my perception of work changed and I knew that people want more from work than money. If people love their work, it will give them happiness, drive, and clarity to all aspects of their lives. When the work is meaningful, workers will be more likely to stick with it in the long run (Svendsen 10).
Research has shown that to find meaning in one’s work enhances personal fulfillment, individual performance, job satisfaction, career development, empowerment, engagement, and motivation.
For work to be truly meaningful, some intrinsic meaning has to be present in the job itself. After studying this unit, I realized that most workers of today are asked to self-manage by using their experience and intelligence to control their work activities to achieve fundamental organizational purposes. A sense of meaningfulness is an intrinsic reward that entails the importance of the reason an employee is trying to fulfill. It makes an individual feel as if he has an opportunity to accomplish something of real value. Moreover, a sense of meaningfulness enables a worker to feel that they are doing something that is worth their energy and time. People work for various reasons like working for professional and personal fulfillment, and some work for their love of the work (Dik et al. 363).
I now am aware that a sense of choice is an intrinsic reward that makes work to be more meaningful.
The sense of choice enables an individual to feel free to choose or decide how to accomplish his work to the best of his judgment. Furthermore, when people have a sense of choice in their work, they feel ownership of their work, feel responsible for their actions and believe in the approach they take. The control of a person’s work inspires motivation as the sense of choice entails components such as the ability to set measurable and clear goals, and to have an impact on decisions. Autonomy in a job helps workers to find work meaningful as it allows them to be their boss at any job. This unit has taught me that making our own decision invigorates us, but when our decisions are controlled by others can drain our energy. For instance, when a person decides to start a business, they take on new roles and explore other possibilities at work; thus they take their destiny fully into their hands. A greater autonomy leads to a greater responsibility and greater flexibility to do what one loves most (Ford and Woodrow 23)
Studying this unit has changed my perception of work
, and I have known that a sense of competence also makes work to be meaningful. A sense of competence instills the feeling that one is handling their work activities in a good way and that their performance of these tasks meets the required standards. Besides, the opportunity for growth and development is a motivational aspect that makes work meaningful. Growth and development enhance competence, and it includes succession planning, education, and training (Svendsen 12). The direct connection between reward and effort also makes work meaningful. I have learned that we all need some rewards apart from money such as positive feeling and satisfaction to find work purposeful. If the work done by a person indicates signs progress, it encourages that someone’s efforts are accomplishing something. The worker feels that his work is on track and progresses in the right direction. This sense of progress gives convincing signs that things are working out as needed, making an individual confident in the choices made. Furthermore, complexity at work helps people to find job meaningful as workers feel challenged but in control. I have also learned that in work and life, there are obstacles to overcome. Obstacles are what makes us discover our passion and grow in life. Nothing exists like the satisfaction of that comes as a result of achieving something difficult. I am now aware that life would be so boring if we knew the result of everything even before we begin, if we never get rejected, or if we do not fail. Thus, for work to be meaningful, it should come with some challenges. From experience of what my friend went through at work made me understand that work has to entail something intrinsic for workers to experience its meaning. He was the first person in their family to complete college and landed a well-paying job at a major consulting firm. His parents thought that their son had won an occupational lottery. However, John still felt something was missing as he was not so passionate about the tasks he was to perform every day. He could not see how his work was contributing to any meaningful purpose in life as he was not intrinsically motivated and that made him quit after two years. John’s parents were dumbfounded when he broke the news of quitting the job. His parents did not know that a fulfilling career is not just about the number of zeroes on the paycheck, but one has to feel truly motivated when their work aligns with the core values and allow them an opportunity to express their passions and strengths (Csikszentmihalyi 185). In conclusion, organizations should develop best practices to foster intrinsic motivation in the tasks for every worker to find meaning in their job. The degree of a sense of purpose, mastery, and autonomy is directly related to the extent a company chooses to provide. Therefore, workers should demand intrinsic motivation at work as a prerequisite for satisfaction and contentment at work. Intrinsic motivation at work come with happiness and fulfillment. John’s case mads me to discover that the act of work itself can be meaningful. I now know that motivation to do good work does not need to be directly linked to huge perks. However, it does not mean that people should continue to be trapped in low-wage jobs. Some jobs such as job crafting where an individual visualize what they want in a job and an attempt to reshape the job to make it more meaningful. What people want from work is situational and varies from person to person, but their needs and rewards that are meaningful to them, give people what they want from the job (Macey and Schneider 7).
Works Cited
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. "Intrinsic motivation and effective teaching." Applications of flow in human development and education. Springer Netherlands, (2014): 173-187. Dik, Bryan J., et al. "Cultivating meaningfulness at work." The experience of meaning in life. Springer, Dordrecht, (2013): 363-377. Ford, Robert C., and Woodrow D. Richardson. "Ethical decision making: A review of the empirical literature." Citation classics from the Journal of Business Ethics. Springer Netherlands, (2013): 19-44. Macey, William H., and Benjamin Schneider. "The meaning of employee engagement." Industrial and organizational Psychology 1.1 (2008): 3-30. Svendsen, FH 2016, Work, 2nd edn, Routledge, New York.
