Do you LOVE your job? Rediscovering passion at work.

What keeps puzzling me is how some people are passionate about their work and some are not. Look at the healthcare workers who dropped everything to go and help the victims in Haiti. There are scientists who spend nights at their labs to find a new solution to our energy crisis and Olympic athletes who sacrifice their normal youth for one chance to be number one. But these jobs are so alluring and have a higher purpose, we say. But what about the lady at my grocery store who packs my purchases faster than anyone else? She sorts them by kind to make it easier to unpack, and does all this with a smile. You can tell she is proud of her work. And I know software developers who love coding so much they take their laptops to bed. There are also doctors, scientists, media personalities and athletes who are not passionate about what they do. My claim is that it’s not about the job; it’s something else.

In the old days, we used to have artisans and craftsmen, who learned their profession through apprenticeship and years of practice. They even assumed their last names based on their trade. They marked their work with their initials and made sure it was well done. In the age of mass production and standardization, employees can still carry the mark of ownership and pride to their work. This is a personal choice. You can be today’s craftsman of your own trade.

We also have our natural skills and talents. Some of them are more obvious and transferable to a career than others. The greatest gift parents can do for their children is to let them explore their gifts and interests and guide them to the right path, not necessarily the one they had in mind in the first place. If we get to do something that comes easy for us, the passion follows. Maybe it’s not the whole job, but a part of your job.

When we talk about a calling, it has to do with making a difference. If I work for a charitable organization or an emergency room, the impact is easy to see. However, every organization is necessary and has a purpose in its own way. Find out how your company’s products are used, how customers experience the solutions, and what is needed to strive towards the company’s vision. Make sure you see the connection between your line of work and why your company exists. Then decide to be the best that you can be.

The most intense moments of recorded happiness are experienced at work during flow. When we set challenging goals for ourselves, avoid interruptions and give our best, our chances to get into the flow increase. That is passion. It can happen in any job.

In today’s economy, it may sound a bit arbitrary to talk about passion. Those who don’t have a job feel stuck and forced to take whichever job they may get. Those who are already in a rut are painted in a corner and can’t leave in the fear of not finding a more fulfilling position. Even in this situation, job passion can be achieved. Make a long term plan to get to your final destination that matches your natural gifts and the work environment you desire. In the meanwhile, create opportunities to get into the flow and take pride in whatever you do in your current trade.

###

If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to Forte Consulting RSS Feed.

Copyright 2010 Liisa Pursiheimo-Marcks, all rights reserved.
SVPGMGDX8TEC

Crystal clear goal setting

If you haven’t done so already, hurry up and huddle up with your team to clarify this year’s priorities and set goals. Goals give direction. Goals give purpose. Goals improve productivity. Managers are absolutely critical in goal setting. Their role is to create a crystal clear line of sight between the company strategy and the individual team member’s daily work. This not only ensures that company resources are aligned to drive the highest priorities, but it also improves employee engagement.

After the company has announced its top priorities for the year, it is the business units’ and functions’ turn to align their key strategies to make sure that the company goals will be achieved. Once the business unit goals are clear, the department or the team gets together to decide how they can best rally behind the unit goals. The team meeting should include robust debate and discussion on how to best use the existing resources. With the leadership of the team manager, the team will come up with their own goals. The team goals must drive the achievement of the higher level goals.

Now, the team members should see the alignment all the way to the top. They should understand why these particular team goals were selected as the highest priorities. Individual goals are needed to execute the team goals. If the roles in the team are similar, it is possible that all team members set the same goals. If the talents are different, the goals will vary.

Let’s review SMART goal setting: It is Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Specific goals drive performance better than “do your best” goals. If the employee can describe the success, it is more likely to happen. Measurable and Time-Bound refer to your agreement on how and when or how often you will review the goal completion. If you are not prepared to review, don’t make it a goal. To have goals that drive performance and motivate, they must be challenging. Employees find intrinsic motivation in work that has clear and challenging goals, sometimes so much that they can get in the Flow. Goals that are perceived as unrealistic disillusion employees from trying to meet them. Goals will be Relevant, when you use the cascade process to align them.

As a rule of thumb, basic job expectations should not be goals. A goal is a part of a company priority to take it to the next level. Everybody just doing the bare minimum is not going to cut it. To set a goal is raising the bar. When you meet your goal, it’s an accomplishment. Set the goals accordingly. Don’t set them to fail. Set them to be proud.

###

If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to Forte Consulting RSS Feed.

Copyright 2010 Liisa Pursiheimo-Marcks, all rights reserved.
SVPGMGDX8TEC

Are your employees in the Flow?

Dr. Mihály Csíkszentmihályi first described the phenomenon called the Flow in the nineties. It is deep engagement in an activity, where you get so engrossed that you may lose your sense of time. People report deep satisfaction when getting to experience the Flow. Often, they experience it at work, but it can happen during leisure time as well, for example while reading or skiing.

Some call it the High, the Rush, the Groove at work. They would do it for free, and then again, you couldn’t pay enough to force anyone into the Flow. However, you can create an environment conducive to Flow.

Based on Dr. Csíkszentmihályi’s research, the Flow is more likely to emerge in the following conditions: There is a clear goal, a challenge that is commensurate to the skill level of the employee, light amount of pressure, immediate feedback on progress to goal, and no distractions.

Let’s look at distractions. How many of your employees are able to take even a couple of hours to work on a task, and not be expected to return calls, e-mails, IM’s, text messages. Uninterrupted work time is becoming a rarity. With it, we sacrifice the Flow, which is the most creative, the most productive and the happiest time among our workforce. How much Flow time can you afford to lose? You can start by scheduling some on the team calendar.

Clear goals do not equal dictatorial micromanagement, but sharing a clear vision and a clear purpose. When the manager knows the strengths and hold-ups of the employee, it is easier to work together to select the right level of challenges. Good Flow goals gently stretch the earlier limits of the employee’s capabilities, but are not too unrealistic. A light amount of pressure seems to help with the Flow, so “Take all the time that you need”  and “I need it by yesterday” are both extremes that will not help.

Immediate feedback on progress does not mean “Good job!” from the manager on frequent intervals. In fact, evaluative feedback is not helpful. Useful feedback in the Flow shows the employee how the work is progressing. This means metrics, charts, user comments etc. For a software developer, the code itself shows feedback on progress. The painter gets the immediate feedback on the canvas. The finance specialist sees it in the summary reports. The manager can simply help the employee to plan how to get to see the ongoing progress, if the link is not as clear.

What about rewards? For the employee, the intrinsic reward of getting to work in the Flow is the best reward of all. There are numerous studies that have proven that dangling an extrinsic reward such as a cash award in front of the employee makes them focus on the reward and find the least effort path – not necessarily the best path – to complete the task. As a side effect, they lose part of the intrinsic motivation for the task itself.

Switching your company culture to a more Flow culture will not happen overnight. You may need to teach your employees concentration skills, help wean them out from constant multi-tasking and gently push them to dare to stretch their limits. This will be a paradigm shift for your managers as well. The pay-off will be amazing creative solutions, completed in intense Flows, and employees who LOVE their jobs and your company.

###

If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to Forte Consulting RSS Feed.

Copyright 2010 Liisa Pursiheimo-Marcks, all rights reserved.
SVPGMGDX8TEC