Over the summer in every direction I turn I keep hearing the phrase “living my best life”. While I can’t deny that this is an admirable aspiration I have to be honest and say I’m not sure what achieving this in our day-to-day life actually looks like. However I decided not to be daunted, or even worse cynical, but determined to approach this elephant one bite at a time. Naturally, my first thoughts turned to being happy at work.
We spend a huge amount of our life at work so it would figure that if we are aiming to 'live our best life' one of the most important things we can do is 'work our best work.'
I also reflected on a comment that Rob Fyfe made when I heard him speak a number of years ago - “People no longer just want a job - they want a great job.”
This is so true.
When I talk to friends or candidates what I consistently hear is that people want to be happy in their work and the undeniable reality is that being happy at work is important for personal success and organisational success. Win-win.
So what does being happy at work look like?
And what does a 'great job' actually mean? I don’t think it means the same thing to everyone and even across one person’s career it can mean different things.
The NZ Council of Trade Unions defines good jobs as “well paid, secure, satisfying and offering work-life balance."
Alternatively, Uber’s guiding principles for quality work are “Access, Flexibility, Protection and Opportunity”.
What I can add from my own interactions in recruitment is that people want to work somewhere that reflects their values, recognises their contribution, enables their passions and where they can get along with a good bunch of people.
Further Reading
If you want to read a little more about this then I enjoyed the following articles
By Emily Bisset, Intepeople Talent Partner