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.