Our waking hours find us more often at work than they find us at home. Research shows that we tend to spend between 45 to 50 waking hours with our business associates during the work week as compared with 25 to 30 hours with our family of friends. This is one of the key reasons employers and candidates strive to ensure there will be a “fit” between their skills, experience and personality and the culture and people of the organisation they are going to work for.
One of my American colleagues from MRINetwork, recently sent Talent Partners an email that originated from The Public Agenda Foundation who published a report titled “Ten Qualities I Want in a Job Today”. The most popular qualities listed were as follows:
1. Work with people who treat me with respect
2. Interesting work
3. Recognition for good work
4. Chance to develop skills
5. Work for people who listen if you have ideas about doing things better
6. A chance to think for myself rather than just carrying out instructions
7. Seeing the end result of my work
8. Working for efficient managers
9. A job that is not to easy
10. Feeling well informed about what is going on
For those in leadership positions the obvious question is are we providing an environment for our personnel to utilise their skills and potential and do we value their opinions. If so I would suggest you are on your way to building a more productive and profitable workforce.
But it is not a one way street. Too often employees sit back and play the blame game. In doing so they divert their responsibilities and energies (and those of some team members) away from the task at hand, and the result is a less productive and harmonious work environment. In today’s business environment we need individuals to bind together for the common good and in doing so we expect strong results and success to follow.
I mentioned in the second paragraph that the research was published by the Public Agenda Foundation; what I didn’t say was when! The “ten qualities I want in a job today” that are listed above came from research that was carried our in 1983. That begs the question, are you surprised? Personally I wasn’t, because regardless of your status as a Gen X, Gen Y, or a baby boomer, we all want to work in a business that epitomises these values in our “home away from home”.
