This is based on research findings across different careers/job groups. Are you a facilitator of meaningful pr meaningless work? Authors: Catherine Bailey & Adrian Madden.

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LDI
Leadership
Development
Institute

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What Makes Work Meaningful…
…Or Meaningless?

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• Interviewed 135 people.
• Ten different occupational groups: priests, garbage collectors, scientists,
entrepreneurs, nurses, soldiers, stonemasons, etc.
• The interview: “Please tell us stories about incidents or times when you found
work to be meaningful and, conversely, times when you asked yourself, “What’s
the point of doing this job?”
The Research Process

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• Meaningfulness at work tends to be something employees
discover for themselves.
• Meaninglessness at work is often a result of how employees
are treated.
• The quality of leadership received virtually no mention when people described
meaningful moments at work, but poor management was the top destroyer of
meaningfulness.
• The challenge for leaders is to create an environment conducive to
meaningfulness.
The Findings

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• Self-Transcendent
• Poignant
• Episodic
• Reflective
• Personal
The Five of Qualities of Meaningful Work

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• When their work matters to others more than just themselves.
• Impact on other individuals, groups or wider environment.
• Garbage collectors: refuse to recycle.
Self-Transcendent

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• The experience of coping with very difficult circumstances
over extended periods of time and being triumphant.
• Soldiers/civilians, lawyers/clients, nurses/patients, etc.
Poignant

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• Meaningfulness arises episodically rather than in a sustained way.
• Feeling of euphoria connected to singular event.
• Peak experience that is highly memorable and part
of their life narrative.
Episodic

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• Meaningfulness rarely experienced in the moment, but rather
in reflection when people connect achievements to bigger
meaning.
• Entrepreneur/holiday party, garbage collectors/street
cleaning for community events.
Reflective

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• Unique and specific to an individual.
• Prideful about a job well done and recognized by family
and/or members of the community.
Personal

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• Experiences that actively led people to ask, “Why am I doing this?”
• Generally a function of how they were treated by managers/leaders.
Meaninglessness: The Seven Deadly Sins

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• The major cause of futility and meaninglessness.
• Tension between organizational focus on bottom line and individual’s
focus on quality or professionalism.
• Nurses/sending patients home early, profits vs. helping customers.
Disconnect People From Their Values

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• Lack of recognition for job well done.
• Lack of recognition for extra effort invested.
• Leads to feelings of pointlessness.
Take Your Employees for Granted

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• Being told to do things that don’t fit with their job and not
given a reason.
• Swooping in with directives that is disruptive to the flow of
work and not connected to prioritized objectives.
Giving People Pointless Work To Do

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• Bullying
• Commitments not kept.
• Opportunities not equally distributed.
Treat People Unfairly

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• Disempowerment over how work is done.
• Their opinions and experience did not seem to matter.
• THEIR VOICE CONSISTENTLY NOT HEARD.
Override People’s Better Judgment

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• Feelings of isolation or marginalization.
• Lack of camaraderie and sense of team.
Disconnect People From Supportive Relationships

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• Unnecessary exposure to risk.
• Safety standards lacking best practices.
Putting People at Risk of Physical or Emotional Harm

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Elements of a Meaningfulness Ecosystem

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Organizational Meaningfulness
• Likely to thrive when employees understand the broad purpose of the organization.
• Typically involves articulating the following:
 What does organization aim to contribute?
 What is its core business?
 What values underpin its way of doing business.
 How will leaders model the way?

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Job Meaningfulness
• Encouraging employees to see how their job fits with the organization’s broader
purpose or wider social benefit.
• Helping employees recraft their roles to make them more impactful/meaningful.
• Leaders acknowledging the problematic or negative sides of the job.

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Task Meaningfulness
• Help people understand how their tasks contribute to the
organization as a whole.
• Connect the dots from internal to external.

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Interactional Meaningfulness
• Organize teams so that people are in contact with others who
benefit from their work.
• Create environment of supportive interpersonal relationships.

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For Further Information, Contact
Jeff Lugerner at
Jeff@contactldi.com