Last Friday we dropped a question into Twitter – “What do you love about your job?”
We found two themes in the answers that came back: people and learning. Neither of these was a surprise – but the dominance of those two strands was unexpected. The other aspect that came through was that of sharing knowledge with others, and helping others.
Here are some of the responses we received:
And our own:
It strikes me that people are almost always a major factor when we talk about what we love about our work. Given that we are, at our most primitive level, designed to be part of a tribe, this makes absolute sense. Companies that really get this fact and provide their people with the means to improve their ability to work with others at the same time as they acquire other skills, are onto a winning people strategy. Of course we all need our people to become experts in their particular field, but often these technical or operational skills are not matched with the ability to work comfortably with others.
There are many ways companies can incorporate people skills into their development programmes:
- Workshops on topics like communication and team working
- incorporating questions on team dynamics and relationships with line managers into employee surveys when they are conducted
- Using 360 degree feedback to create awareness for individuals on how their behaviours impact on those in their circle of influence.
- Providing access to coaching either through external coaches or by training staff to act as coaches.
Hopefully, as more companies get that message, we’ll have more people talking about what they love about work.
We’d really like to hear more what you love about your job. Either Twitter me or leave a comment.
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Article by Vandy Massey
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