Harvard Business Review's Designing Work That People Love covers data showing that companies should change their approach to job design and performance management to take advantage of each employee's unique skills and passions.
Key quote:
... in ADPRI's most recent 50,000-person surveys of stratified random samples of working populations around the world, the most powerful predictors of retention, performance, engagement, resilience, and inclusion did not include pay or liking one's colleagues or work location or even a strong belief in the mission of the organization. All those provided some explanatory power, but none was as significant as these three items:
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Was I excited to work every day last week?
- Did I have a chance to use my strengths every day?
- At work, do I get a chance to do what I'm good at and something I love?
The article suggests that employers:
- view their employees as the key stakeholders in the organization;
- move away from standardization in performance management tools;
- trust their employees to accomplish their performance goals the way they see fit.
In other words, employers should provide their employees with a work experience much more like the experience many independent workers (freelancers, self-employed, etc.) have.
Most independent workers report having some level of work autonomy, flexibility, and control.
They can do work they like, when, where, and how they see fit (within commercial constraints).
Because of this, they do work they're good at and enjoy. And this leads to them being excited by and satisfied with their work.
Of course, many independent workers don't have work autonomy, flexibility and controls. And independent workers who report not having these attributes are, on average, dissatisfied with their work.
But most independent workers report having at least one of these attributes, and even one of these attributes leads to most reporting being satisfied with their work.
This article caught our eye because we recently wrote an HBR article that suggests employers need to make traditional full-time jobs more appealing.
And we also suggested that employers give their workers more autonomy, control, and flexibility.
The Great Resignation - or whatever you want to call it - has been a wake-up call for employers. They need to make their jobs better for their employees.
Providing some of the attributes of self-employment - and coupling it with predictable income, decent benefits, and reasonable job security - will lead to more engaged and productive employees.
