What's Important at Work Part 3 of 4

In the previous two posts I used research to define the twelve factors that are Important at Work.

But once I looked at all the things that contribute to those factors, then it began to look a bit complex. All sorts of things make up each factor. So within any factor any given employer is going to be good at some and worse at others. If you wanted to measure each part of each factor, you’d need to ask an awful lot of questions. Once you start to do that, you start to affect response in quantity and quality.

I’ve been at real pains so far not to have a pop at engagement surveys in these blogs (but you SHOULD read what this guy has to say). But surveys recognise this issue – so they tend to sacrifice absolute precision for brevity. And that means that they each have a different definition and scoring of engagement/What’s Important at Work. If you use them you need to make a decision on their validity. For me, they can still provide a very good starting point for understanding what’s good/bad/indifferent in your organisation. 

And if I’m totally honest there’s an inherent issue with my own twelve factors. They are comprehensive (but some will still want to add to them). But as much as how I’ve bundled things is logical, I could have done it in a different way. It’s quite obvious that you could make a factor of Communication by itself. Instead I overlap it into Leadership and Vision, Management and Support, Expectations and Focus – and others. And almost all the factors have an influence on many of the others. If the Environment and Process isn’t working, then I have lost the chance for Accomplishment and Control, so I won’t be as supportive towards other People and Teams. 

So, do we throw our hands up and say it’s all too difficult to understand? No. Not a bit of it. It just requires a little more effort. Look at those factors and what constitutes them. What combinations work well here? What’s less good? What’s simply less relevant? How do they interact and one facilitate another? How does our culture, heritage and future direction influence What’s Important?

Ultimately, how does it all come together as a narrative?

I believe that your organisation is unique, and that this process will help you make your own definition of What’s Important At OUR Work?

In the next post, I’ll talk about what you might do with that.

What's Important At Work - Part 2 of 4

In my last post I used to research to define the twelve factors that are Important at Work. But I also concluded that simply measuring them was, well, not that simple. Why not?

Well for starters, there’s an “and” in each one. They’re all about more than one thing. In fact, I think that they’re all about several things:

1. Status and Reputation
   Prestige and stability and of the product, service, innovation or the employer itself, giving employees a level of belief and pride in working there
2. Integrity and Values
   Consistency, fairness and doing the right thing on CSR, inclusion, diversity, safety, customer satisfaction, wellbeing
3. Leadership and Vision
   Very clear direction and narrative for the organisation, which has an understood meaning. Delivered by trusted and authentic leaders
4. Management and Support
   Day to day direct input from a manager that supports, feeds back, coaches, stretches, trusts, listens to and respects the employee
5. Expectations and Focus
   Clearly communicated expectations that balance employer, employee and customer, so that everyone is clear how they can contribute
6. Voice and Contribution
   Employees who have a voice, and are able to participate in decisions, show creativity and contribute to changing what is done or how
7. Accomplishment and Control
   The quantity of tasks, how interesting and stimulating they are, and the level of empowerment in how to perform them and see them through
8. Recognition and Value
   The level to which employees’ contributions are seen and appreciated, and the chances that they have to show their expertise
9. Learning and Progress
   The chances to be challenged, to use and develop skills and competencies, and to move on or up in the organisation
10. Time and Place
    The degree of flexibility for where and when the job is done, and a culture that supports and allows a work-life balance
11. People and Teams
    The levels of teamwork, support, respect, help, expertise and social interaction that the people that employees work with, or for, provide
12. Environment and Process
    The physical environment that employees work in, the resources and tools that they are given to do their job, and the structural and people processes

To understand and measure these 12 factors could become pretty complex. But hopefully in my next post, I’ll show that it isn’t. And instead that this apparent complexity is actually your tool to creating something unique for your organisation.

What's Important At Work? Part 1 of 4

Often, I ask people “What do you look for in your next job?” or “What are the best bits about working here?” or “What do you think working there would be like?” The risk is that I get a front-of-mind answer. It may not reflect what’s truly important; it might not represent their full experience or aspirations. After I ask broad, open questions, I often need to prompt to make sure that all aspects of work are considered.

I need to have a good grasp on – generally – What’s Important at Work? Then they can respond to prompts and start to rank what’s important to them or what’s delivered well or what’s perceived to be delivered well.

So, I’ve repeated an exercise I did a while ago, and researched What’s Important at Work?

I wanted the exercise to be rigorous, so I looked at a lot of the academic research. I checked what Engage 4 Success, CIPD or SHRM had to say on the matter – and the research they employed. I looked at engagement and other surveys. I reviewed definitions from consultancies and some of the recognised experts in their fields. In this way, I got hard fact as well as advised opinion – crucial when you deal with human behaviour and motivation.

Some might call heresy, but I’ve looked at employer brand, employee engagement and organisational culture interchangeably. They’re all just different takes on What’s Important at Work? When you look at how people define and measure them, they cover the same ground – just from different angles. And whichever angle you take, one affects the other. Employer perception is affected by levels of engagement, is affected by behaviour, is affected by communication, is affected by who you attract. Etc etc and so on.

And I’ve arrived at a dozen factors that define What’s Important at Work:

1. Status and Reputation
2. Integrity and Values
3. Leadership and Vision
4. Management and Support
5. Expectations and Focus
6. Voice and Contribution
7. Accomplishment and Control
8. Recognition and Value
9. Learning and Progress
10. Time and Place
11. People and Teams
12. Environment and Process

So there we have it. All done and dusted. Simply apply one or two probing questions to each of those and off you go. You can measure the perception of any employer internally or externally. Set some benchmarks if you like. You have confidence that understanding these 12 factors will give you the full picture.

Only, as much as I love simplicity, it isn’t quite a simple as that. I’ll explain why in my next blog