Value of Work – It is a Personal Thing

I received a call today from a former colleague. We had not spoken for some months and the call was prompted by the article I posted yesterday talking about Idealism and Career Choices. 

We spoke for some time and on conclusion, my thoughts turned to the different ways we value ourselves and our work, and what we are prepared to endure, overlook or enjoy in return for remuneration.

From time to time we may feel increased levels of workplace frustration. We might blame this on process or workplace changes, staff movements or just the sheer tedium our role may have evolved too. It may also be due to loss of belief in what we are doing or in the broader corporate culture. It may be a Leader trust matter.

Imagine you are experiencing one of more of these emotions when you receive advice of an immediate 15% pay rise. How does this change how you feel about your job and employer?

In many cases, your mood, attitude and general feeling about your role will revert to the positive and enthusiastic.

Let’s now reverse it.

You have enjoyed a sustained period of high engagement with your role. You are enthusiastic for each day, derive much satisfaction from what you do and are part of a high performing ethically aligned team.

Your Leader enjoys your trust and you theirs’s. There is scope for development and you have a clear pathway. To top it all off, the overall Culture is one you can easily buy in to and contribute too.

You are called in to a meeting where it is announced their will be a 15% pay cut? How do you feel now?

These two scenarios can be simplified in to two questions:

1. Would you happily accept a significant pay rise to do something you don’t like with an employer you don’t believe in working with a Leader you may not trust?
2. Would you work for an organisation you believe with Trusted Leaders, in a role that fulfilled, enthused, motivated and satisfied you for less money?

There is no correct answer, there is only our answer, there is only your answer.

If you ask yourself this question, answer it honestly and retain the answer as a consistent reference point, you will have made progress towards understanding why you do what you do, where you do it and with the people you do it with. You will also have removed the seemingly ever-present issue of remuneration, from your work/life/happiness equation.

Ask yourself the question, write down the answer and keep it as a handy self centreing tool.

I dare you.