Posted by
Nerdus Maximus on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 11:07:15 AM
Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers identifies three elements that are critical to work being meaningful and satisfying.
- Autonomy
- Complexity
- Connection (a perceptible connection between effort and reward)
This resonates with me and describes pretty well the place I work and what I try to make the norm there. What it doesn't describe is most production line manufacturing jobs.
This is likely why production workers seek wages and benefits that exceed the value added by their activity.
If there is no satisfaction from doing the job, the satisfaction has to come from the economic incentives, both monetary and non-monetary, resulting from the job. This is where unions gain a foothold. Once that has happened the existence of the union now depends on keeping the job itself from becoming fulfilling and meaningful. Like any other organism, the union does what it needs to do to survive. My observations are that this is done by insuring that the only satisfaction that can come from its members' jobs are economic and dependent on the union. Sowing discontent with the members' jobs and the companies they work for is also a useful survival strategy for unions. The incentives for the union as an organization/organism are diametrically opposed to the best interests of the worker, the company and the consumer. This explains a lot of union behavior and why it will take actions that will eventually kill the companies on which the union members' jobs ultimately depend. It also explains why the same company can run a non-union shop with lower economic incentives to the workers where the workers report higher job satisfaction than in the same company's union shops.
Understanding how to build autonomy (worker involvement), complexity (variety and/or challenge) and connections between effort and reward into every job would simultaneously build and union-proof a business. Figuring out how to do this in your own job will allow you to be satisfied even when those around you are not.