We spend a huge chunk of our lives working. What happens at work
influences how we feel outside work hours, and can change who we
are. Even academics now acknowledge that work is a major
contributor to our psychological health and wellbeing - something
the rest of us have known for a very long time! One of the feminist
revolution's major contributions to women's lives was to foster a
deep understanding that access to gainful paid work represented one
of the key means for women's empowerment.
This feedback, sent to me a while back from one of our readers,
illustrates the importance of work to women's wellbeing
beautifully:
I thought of you the other day when I was at a
lunch with our recruitment consultants. I spoke to a lovely older
woman at my table who told me how frustrated and disappointed she
had been 33 years ago to be forced to give up work when she had her
baby daughter even though she was good at her job and earned more
than her husband. She says she would so love to have had the
choices women do today and I came away feeling very grateful that
society has evolved and changed so much. I think I sometimes focus
too much on what still needs to change so it was good to have the
reminder of the progress made.
Now we take it for granted that we could, if we wanted, be
gainfully employed and have a career (or multiple careers) that
span our lifetime. And so we should. Growing up, the expectation in
my family was that I would go to University, become a professional
and work for my entire adult life. I must say I have similar
expectations for my own daughter. But it is more important to me
that she find happiness and wellbeing in her work than just focus
on professional success and a high income. That is quite different
to the aspirations my parents had for me.
There are many reasons for this. We live longer, and so we work
longer. We now know that the kind of work we do and the companies
we work for have a significant impact on our physical,
psychological and, yes, spiritual wellbeing. Ignoring that can lead
to disastrous consequences, like relationship breakdowns and health
issues. Most now accept that we can no longer compartmentalise the
various aspects of our lives.
Throughout my own working life, and specifically as an ethics
manager, an executive coach and an interviewer for
Professionelle.co.nz, I have always been very interested in what
those who seemed to me to be truly happy in their working lives all
had in common. I have spent many hours talking to people, reading
research and listening to leaders in the field of psychology and
ethics. I'd like to share my observations and conclusions with you
and see whether you agree or not!
Living our Values
I only really began consciously thinking about values when I was
appointed Fonterra's Ethics Manager, under the wonderful guidance
of Doctor Simon Longstaff of the St James Ethics
Centre in Sydney In developing the programme with Dr Longstaff
and the Ethics Committee, I had to spend a lot of time reading,
listening and thinking about ethics, values and work. I was truly
heartened when I conducted workshops with employees throughout the
organisation and saw people's eyes light up when we explored what
values are and what role they play in our working lives. Since then
I've come to realise that most of us want to work for companies we
are proud of, companies whose values align with our own.
So what are values? The definition that I use is,
"Values are the things that are GOOD to have. They are the
essence of what we stand for, and should underpin our behaviours,
decisions and actions". Ultimately, personal values are
implicitly related to choice; we use our values to guide our
decisions.
Increasingly, employees are becoming more aware of their values
and seek to find companies whose values align with their own.
Indeed, my first observation about people who are truly happy in
their professional lives is that they ALL work for companies where
they feel this alignment exists. And sadly, the reverse is also
true. I have come across individuals who have fabulous-sounding
roles in big companies, but who are very unhappy. In all of these
cases, after in-depth conversations with them, it became apparent
that they feel there is a misalignment between their own personal
values and those of the company they work for.
However, it is not always the case that if you work for a
company where there is a perfect values alignment you'll be happy.
And that's where Positive Psychology lends a helping hand.
Using your signature strengths
Positive Psychology focuses on what works and on enhancing our
functioning and wellbeing. You can read a more in-depth review of Positive
Psychology in Professionelle's feature archive. Core to this
work is an authoritative classification and measurement system of
human strengths. The leaders of this field have developed
twenty-four signature strengths.
In his seminal book, Authentic Happiness, Professor
Martin Seligman's key recommendation to finding happiness and
wellbeing at work is being able to use your signature strengths at
work every day. You can measure your own signature strengths on
Seligman's site and do a quick assessment on whether you get to
use your five core signature strengths at work every day!
Indeed, it is my observation that ALL the people I've met who
are happy in their work share this in common. They get to do things
they love doing and which they are really good at. I do believe
that when you are working for a company where your values align and
you get to use your signature strengths, chances are you are better
adjusted and experience higher levels of wellbeing than most!
Helen Mackay is the General Counsel of New Zealand Oil
and Gas. She's also the immediate past president of
Corporate Lawyers Association of New Zealand (CLANZ), and a mother
of two young boys with another one on the way. She's also one of
the most content women I've ever met. When we discussed what makes
her happy and content at work, she reported that using her
signature strengths was very much a key to it.
"For me, [happiness and contentment at work]
probably came when my signature strengths were employed and values
alignment was present."
To some of us, this may be all that is required. However, for
those of us extroverts as well as those of us who are insecure
over-achievers, there is a final ingredient to make it all really
work.
Being Appreciated
In my first professional role, I worked for a brilliant company
whose values I really shared and was proud to be part of. I was
also able to use my signature strengths every day. Trouble was, my
signature strengths weren't that highly valued! What made things
even worse was that the focus at that time was very much on
addressing 'gaps' in development. So the focus was on the things I
wasn't good at, and there was very little attention given by most
managers around me to the things I was good at. I wasn't happy
there, despite getting to do some great work and learning exciting
things.
I didn't stay that long. To me being appreciated is very
important. And, again, it is my observation that that's important
to many others.
So, here they are, the three core ingredients to happiness and
wellbeing at work:
I have interviewed Caroline Quay, General Counsel of
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, and a working mother
herself, on a number of occasions. Caroline is someone who is
absolutely engaged and loves what she does. In one of these
conversations she summed up the formula for flourishing perfectly
for me:
" I AM really happy at my work. I get to work for
a company that manufactures something I believe in, doing something
I am passionate about. They (the company) allow me to employ my
strengths in areas where I can add value and they appreciate my
contribution."
I hope this article has got you thinking about how much you are
able to flourish at your work. Professionelle would love to hear
from you about your perspective and whether you agree or not. One
thing's for sure, all of us should aim to be happy at our work and
maximise our wellbeing and full potential.
© Professionelle Limited 2008