The One Thing We All Want from Work: Meaningfulness (Part Three)

As I discussed in Part One, people are simply spending far too much time within careers where they don’t derive much meaning from at all. Relatively few people are finding careers that align with their person values, a vast majority aren’t engaged in their work, and going to work daily is something which far too many people simply hate to do. Human resources practitioners, and even leaders within the organization who realize that engagement is everyone’s responsibility, are perhaps more focused on creating a productive, motivational workplaces than anything else. The truth is that people who find meaning within their careers will naturally find the intrinsic motivation required to be satisfied with their careers and be fully present in their work.

Again, these people make up a smaller portion of the workforce than anyone would like to admit and there are a number of factors at play. In Part Two, I went in-depth about how attitudes towards work, comfortability in their current role, societal pressure or gain, the lack of skills needed to do something new, and fear all can contribute to why people stay, or even feel stuck in meaningless careers they don’t find much pleasure in. These aspects make finding the meaning in your work much more difficult, but not impossible.

Changing your current situation is often times a choice which starts with the acknowledging a level of dissatisfaction with what the present is like right now, being honest with what you desire, and being willing to put in the effort it takes to start the change process. Because the large investment of our time, as well as many other things, throughout a lifetime that we put in our careers, one of the returns we should get is a better quality of life that isn’t measured just in monetary terms. We should feel like we truly accomplished something important in the end of our day, week, year, and over the course of our professional live. There are many things we can do to creating meaningfulness in our careers and below are a few action steps that can be taken:

Switch Roles – Sometimes, it’s not the overall mission that we are working towards in the organization that doesn’t give us meaning. The problem may be the role which way play. While every job is critical in making sure the company operates as it should, we need to personally feel our contribution matters as well. Finding more meaning in your work may be as simple as moving over to a new department. It might just be time to explore new opportunities where you work for a fresh start.

Join a New Company – It might also be that what you’re doing functionally in an organization does provide you with a sense of purpose, however, the mission of the organization itself simply doesn’t mesh with you. At this point, it probably is time to begin to looking for a new company. Before starting your job search, make sure you’re fully aware of what you are looking to do and what you’re not willing to do and set your focus on ensuring your needs are being met. The last thing any job seeker wants to do is to leave one company they’re unhappy at only to find themselves in the same circumstance somewhere else only a few months later.

Transition into a New Career – It’s a difficult conclusion to reach and a harder strategy to implement but sometimes, a complete career transition is necessary. According to The New York Times, a New York University study concluded that the average NYC professional had three career changes over the course of their lifetime with less than a third expecting a lifelong career. This trend is increasing among younger generations who are notorious for demanding more in terms of benefits, perks, and work-life balance from their employers. Again, self-awareness is a requirement to make a successful transition but it certainly is possible and actually quite common.

Appreciate What’s Already There – It probably sounds cliché, and maybe it even sounds like totally useless advice, but finding meaningfulness in what you do may be as small as changing perspective and putting more of your attention on what could fit within your definition of meaningfulness. Selling your product could actually be viewed as helping someone, seeing your co-workers daily could be a source of important human connection for you, and a parts of your role could be key driving factors at the foundation of the company’s success. It may not change everything about your job or your company but if you look for meaningfulness in smaller places, it could change a lot about how you view your work.

Start Change Yourself – There’s always the possibility that, by speaking up, you may be able to start change right where you are. Other people may hold similar sentiments and are simply just waiting for someone else to say something. Being the first to go out on a limb to get the change process going might actually amount to it taking place. It can also amount to absolutely nothing. However, if you believe in a vision and it’s something meaningful to you, you can always take the step to make it happen, even if it means it becomes a project outside of work or even a full-fledge entrepreneurial venture. Most innovation takes place simply because one person had a different idea that they were passionate about enough to see that it came to fruition no matter what it took. If creating a meaningful career is that important to you and you have feel like you have to also create that career yourself, you wouldn’t be the first or last to do it.