Meaningful Work Criteria

Did you know that over the course of your adult life, you'll spend approximately 90,000 hours at work? That's a significant portion of your life dedicated to your career. Is your "good" job truly good enough to justify 90,000 hours of your life? Consider this: 𝟭. 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Are you passionate about what you do? Does your work give you a sense of purpose and fulfillment? These elements are crucial for long-term satisfaction and happiness. If your job feels like just a paycheck, it might be time to reassess your career path. 𝟮. 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Is your current role helping you grow professionally and personally? A good job should challenge you, provide opportunities for learning, and help you develop new skills. If you feel stagnant, it may be worth exploring opportunities that offer more growth potential. 𝟯. 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸-𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: How does your job impact your overall quality of life? A good job should support a healthy work-life balance, allowing you to spend time with loved ones and pursue personal interests. If your job consistently leaves you drained and stressed, it might not be as ""good"" as you think. 𝟰. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Do you feel like you're making a meaningful impact through your work? Whether it's contributing to your company's success, helping others, or making a difference in your community, a sense of contribution can make your job more rewarding. 𝟱. 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀: Does your job align with your personal values and beliefs? Working for an organization whose mission and culture resonate with you can significantly enhance your job satisfaction. 𝟲. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀: While passion and fulfillment are vital, fair compensation and benefits are also crucial. Ensure that your job provides financial stability and the benefits you need to support your well-being. 𝟳. 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀: Do you have positive relationships with your colleagues? A supportive and collaborative work environment can make a huge difference in your job satisfaction. 𝟴. 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀: Does your job offer a clear path for advancement? Knowing that there are future opportunities can keep you motivated and engaged. What steps are you taking to ensure your job is worth your time? #CareerDevelopment #JobSatisfaction #WorkLifeBalance #ProfessionalGrowth #CareerAdvice

If it’s the first week back to work, and maybe you’re reading this, searching for the fulfilled feeling at work it might be that your three legged meaning stool is a little out of balance. I’d like to explain. Research has identified three components that create meaning in our lives. When all three are intact, you feel fulfilled. When even one wobbles, you might feel it. This is what I like to call the three legged stool. The three legs are coherence, purpose and significance 1. Coherence This is when you are living aligned to your values. This is the 'does my life make sense?' leg of the stool. The feeling when coherence is wobbly is 'I cannot be authentic here.' For example, you might say health matters. You believe it deeply. Yet, you might skip meals, avoid exercise, work through weekends. That gap between what you value and how you live? That is coherence wobbling. In leadership: Your organisation has values on the wall. Beautiful words about integrity, innovation, people-first culture. If the team notices leaders contradict those values daily, coherence might be missing. 2. Purpose This is understanding direction and the why behind your work. This is the 'where am I heading?' leg. The feeling when purpose wobbles is 'am I just going through the motions?' Organisations set targets. Teams know what to deliver. Purpose comes from is more than hitting numbers. Purpose is understanding why your work matters and how it connects to something larger. Example: You are working on a project that made sense six months ago. Direction shifted. Or maybe you just lost sight of why it matters. Now you go through the motions: emails, meetings, tasks. You feel you’re no longer connected the bigger picture. 3. Significance (Mattering) This is how your contribution creates value. This is the 'do I matter?' leg of the stool. The feeling when significance wobbles is the sense that 'I am invisible.' Your work can have a small impact and provide that feeling that what you do makes some kind of difference to someone, somewhere. Example: You completed 47 tasks this week. You worked hard. Do you feel that any of it matters? Did your work improve an outcome? Did anyone notice? Does your contribution actually make a difference? In leadership: When team executes flawlessly, do they see the impact of their work? Can you help them see the value of what they create, beyond operational tasks? What actually happens when one leg wobbles: - You can love your job and still feel hollow. - You can hit targets and still feel unfulfilled. - You can believe in your organisation's mission and still feel disconnected. Because meaning is built on three legs working together. Often, two are fine. When one is wobbly. And that is enough to throw everything off balance. So the three-legged stool gives you the diagnostic language. Which leg of the stool perhaps feels wobbly for you this week? Xx

🌟 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥? Meaningful work isn’t a “nice to have.” It shapes commitment, persistence, engagement, and overall wellbeing. Some studies even show it outranks pay, promotion, and working conditions in what people value most. One of the best writers on this topic is Professor Katie Bailey of King's College London. Her research shows that meaningful work is linked to: • Pride • Achievement • Recognition But she also highlights two less-discussed aspects: 𝟏) 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 It’s shaped by how people interpret their work and its contribution to something that matters to them. 𝟐) 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐜 It often emerges in unplanned moments, such as a conversation, a breakthrough, a grateful customer, a moment of impact that lands differently. (This is why an Employee Experience lens is so important: it helps leaders design the 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 under which those moments are more likely to occur.) 🔍 𝐒𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥? The psychologist Michael Steger offers two helpful frameworks: 🌱 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 (𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥) These factors shape how people themselves experience meaning: 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐬: Use what you’re good at 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Connect work to your experience 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Align tasks with your values 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: Link your work and organisational goals 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: Understand how your work benefits others 🏛️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐀 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 (𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 & 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥) These factors shape the 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 for meaningful work: 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲: A clear mission and purpose 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲: Leaders modelling what they say 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭: Support, care, and psychological safety 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: Work output that’s valued 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲: Freedom to make decisions and craft jobs Together, SPIRE and CARMA provide a powerful lens for designing meaningful work at both the individual and organisational level. (I have put some resources in the comments.) 💬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤? Have you experienced moments where work felt deeply meaningful? Or the opposite — when it felt empty or disconnected? 🚴 Enjoy posts like this? 👉 Click 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 to get my quarterly roundup

For ambitious introverts who want meaningful work, not just impressive jobs — here are my 3 criteria. We've all been there... The job that looked perfect on paper. But felt misaligned in practice. At 5 o'clock, you're drained. Recently, I've been thinking about what makes a good job that you won't find in a job description. Through conversations with mentors and journaling, I've realized these under-the-radar aspects matter more than the bullets in the job description. 𝟭) 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝘀 & 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 (𝟳𝟱/𝟮𝟱 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲) 👉 75% of the time in your strength zone. ↳ Where you're capable and competent. 👉 25% of the time in your growth zone. ↳ Where you're stretched to diversify your skills. Too much comfort = stagnation. Too much stretch = burnout. A good job balances both. —— 𝟮) 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗷𝗼𝘆 At least one part of your job should light you up. • A project that lifts your energy. • A teammate that makes you laugh. • A moment that reminds you: your work matters. Joy isn’t a luxury. It’s fuel. —— 𝟯) 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 I'll admit I need external validation. • Thank you for a job well done. • Recognition of unique skills I bring to the table. • Honest acknowledgement when things aren't great. Few things feel better at work than a supportive team. —— These are my 3 criteria for fulfilling work: 1. Right amount of challenge 2. Sources of joy 3. Supportive team What parts of a job make it meaningful for you — that people won't find in your job description?

Last week, after a keynote at a multi-national firm, someone asked me a great question: “How do you help people feel their work actually matters?” It’s a deceptively simple question, but one every leader should sit with. According to a 2023 Harvard Business Review study, meaning ranked as the single most important factor for employees, outweighing salary, promotions, or working conditions. When people don’t see how their work matters, even the best perks fall flat. But when they do? They go further than any mandate requires. The mistake we often make is assuming that meaning trickles down from mission statements or culture decks. But meaning isn’t inherited. It’s built, reinforced, and modeled. And much of that building happens in the ordinary moments: - The way you talk to your team - The moments you celebrate - The behaviors you tolerate - The actions you choose to reward Leaders who help others feel their work matters do it with specificity. They connect effort to outcomes. They remind people: This is who you’re helping. And this is why it counts. In high-pressure environments, meaning is a psychological buffer. It lowers burnout, and it increases loyalty. We need to be needed. Work becomes meaningful when it combines earned success with service to others. If people know their work matters, they show up like it does. So the better question for leaders might be: Can the people you lead see why their work matters, and who is better off because of it?

Pizza parties can't mask poor management. Real change requires leadership, not lunch. Companies keep throwing money at surface-level fixes while missing the core issues. We've focused on the flashy stuff. But the best people keep leaving. Without drama. Without notice. Workplace culture isn't about having cool offices. It's about creating genuine trust and strong leadership. What really drives employee satisfaction: ➜ 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 – Give people control over their projects and decisions. ➜ 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 – Pay what the role is actually worth in today's market. ➜ 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 – Let them decide when and where they're most productive. ➜ 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 – Celebrate the work, not just the wins. ➜ 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 – Show them a clear path forward. ➜ 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽– Lead with clarity, understanding, and honesty. The fundamentals matter more than the extras. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: 𝟭/ 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 – Create space where people can share honest feedback without fear. 𝟮/ 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 – Set clear goals, then step back and let them figure out how to get there. 𝟯/ 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 – Give people the authority to make decisions that affect their work. 𝟰/ 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 – Be direct about what's important and follow through on what you say. 𝟱/ 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 & 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 - Make sure everyone, including leadership, is held accountable for their actions. 𝟲/ 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 – Help people see how their daily tasks connect to something bigger. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲: Stop thinking "What benefits can we add?" Start asking "What barriers can we remove?" 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: What's one thing you could change tomorrow to make your team's work life better? Share this to remind leaders what really matters. Follow Adeline Tiah for more content on leadership and future of work.

🔍 New research: We've been getting employee engagement wrong 😬 I just finished my dissertation research on what actually drives people to show up engaged at work, and the findings surprised me. Spoiler ‼️ It's not just autonomy. When I tested the three pillars of Self-Determination Theory (autonomy, competence, and relatedness [relationships at work]), only ONE emerged as a significant predictor of engagement. Competence. Not flexibility. Not how much people liked their teams. The people who felt capable and effective in their roles? They were the ones truly engaged. Does that resonate with you? But here's one key thing I found: Psychological meaningfulness mediated everything. All three needs only influenced engagement through one pathway - whether people found their work meaningful. So what does this mean for leaders and HR professionals? ❌ Stop assuming autonomy is the silver bullet ✅ Start investing in competence-building ✅ Make meaningfulness explicit (don't assume people see the impact of their work) ✅ Build feedback structures that actually develop capability This matters because low engagement costs organisations in turnover, performance, and wellbeing. But most engagement strategies are built on outdated assumptions about what motivates people. I've written up the full findings and practical implications in an article 👇 At Bailey & French, this is exactly the work we do - helping organisations design psychology-based solutions that build real capability and embed meaningful work. Evidence-based approaches that actually work. Worth a read if you're rethinking your engagement strategy for 2025. 😉 Feel free to drop me a message/add if you'd like more info. #EmployeeEngagement #OrganisationalPsychology #Leadership #HumanResources #PeopleAndCulture #WorkplaceCulture #LearningAndDevelopment

There is a myth around #purpose: it's the idea that we only have ONE core purpose. If we discover it, we win. If we don't, we are hopeless. But purpose is far more nuanced and complex. It's rooted in the experience of #meaning. And where and how we find meaning isn't singular or straightforward. Marjolein Lips-Wiersma – a Professor of Ethics and Sustainability Leadership at Auckland University of Technology – has been researching meaning for decades. Her work combines a #managerial lens and a #humanities lens: the first looks at how leadership and organizational culture provide and manage for a sense of meaning – and the latter looks at how the will to find meaning is an inherent part of being human. I came across Marjolein's work in my research for an upcoming column. She has created a “Map of Meaning” which outlines four pathways to experiencing meaning: ⚡️ Integrity with Self - the meaning we get from living and working in alignment with our most authentic values 🤝 Unity with Others - the meaning we get from belonging to a community or team where we feel supported and joyful 💎 Expressing Full Potential - the meaning we experience when our creativity is sparked and we are able to create and accomplish things 🫶 Service to Others - the meaning we experience when we contribute to the wellbeing of the world and those around us Considering where we are right now – living through economic uncertainty and what some call the “Great Wait” (a moment when employees and employers are waiting to see who makes the first move in terms of layoffs versus resignations) – focusing on these pathways is more important than ever. According to a recent Work Watch Report from Monster, 45% of employees are considering leaving their jobs within the next year due to dissatisfaction with their role. While the departures may not happen tomorrow or even next month, for many workers, the decision is already made. Employers will want to look at how they engage and retain their talent. This includes looking at everything this model gives nod to: #values, #teams, #inclusion, #creativity, #potential, and focusing on more than the bottom line. This model also takes into account what any leader knows well: the tension between #self and #other - and between #being and #doing. These tensions are at the root of what so many of my coaching clients struggle with: #boundaries, #balance, #rest, #selfcare and of course, their #legacy.

📊 What do people want from work and how has it changed over time? The US General Social Survey is a nationally representative survey of American adults that's been running since 1972. Many of its items have changed since it began, with new ones added and others dropped. But a handful have been asked again and again. One of them gives people a card listing five things they might want from a job, and asks them to rank all five from most to least preferred: high income, job security, short working hours, chances for advancement, and work that is meaningful. Ranking data can be tricky to analyse. It's easy enough to just examine which item people rank highest, but doing that throws away most of what people told you. It can also be tempting to treat the rankings as if they were separate Likert ratings, but this violates a number of statistical assumptions, because the ranking of one option depends on the ranking of the others. So here I use the awesomely-named exploded logit model. It estimates the probability of a given option being ranked first, then the conditional probability of each remaining option being ranked second, and so on down the list. It uses all of the data, and it respects the ranking process that generated it. The analysis produces estimates of "utilities", which reflect the relative importance of each attribute. Their absolute value isn't important. What matters is how they compare to each other. The results are shown in the figure below. Here's what I found: 1️⃣ The ordering has been remarkably stable. Meaningful work sits on top in every single wave. Short working hours and job security sit at the bottom throughout, which doesn't mean people don't care about them, only that people choose other attributes when forced to decide. The one change in the order came in the early 1990s, when high income overtook chances for advancement. It hasn't given the position back since. 2️⃣ What has changed is the level of consensus. From the early 1990s to the mid 2000s the lines move in toward zero, and the gap between the most and least valued attribute narrowed. You can see the same thing in the raw first-place votes. Across the waves up to 1994, 49 per cent of respondents put meaningful work first, seven per cent job security and four per cent short working hours. Since 2006 that's 42, 10 and six per cent. People are spread more evenly across the options than they used to be, though the lines do fan out again a little by 2014. 3️⃣ The exception to that is high income. It started in the middle of the pack in the 1970s and has climbed ever since. In 1973, 18 per cent of people ranked a high income first and 42 per cent put it in their top two. By 2014 that was 28 per cent and 55 per cent. It is now a close second to meaningful work, and the two are nearly tied. Check out more research insights like this here: https://lnkd.in/gnbvqG-b #PeopleAnalytics #OrganisationalPsychology #FutureOfWork #JobDesign

Busy isn't what burns us out. Meaningless does. We've all been there... The calendar's packed. The checklist's full. The days blur. And yet, the exhaustion doesn't come from the hours. It comes from doing too little of what actually matters. 📊 Recent research reveals: • Meaningful work drives 4x higher engagement • Increases retention 2.x (McKinsey, 2023) When our days are filled with misaligned work, burnout shows up faster no matter how skilled or passionate we are. So how do we change it? We build purpose into the rhythm of work. Not once a year at an offsite. But daily. 🎯 Team Strategies That Work: 1. Impact Fridays ↳ Schedule 2-hour blocks for teams to share real user impact stories 2. Purpose Mapping ↳ Start meetings by connecting tasks to mission 3. Meaning Metrics ↳ Track purpose markers monthly: • Customer testimonials • Mission milestones 💡 Individual Power Moves: 1. Task Crafting ↳ Redesign 20% of your role around strengths 2. Legacy Hours ↳ Block 30 minutes weekly to mentor others and share learnings 3. The 3P Method ↳ Plan: Set clear intentions ↳ Purpose: Link to bigger picture ↳ Proof: Capture the impact ✨ Pro Tip: The 5-Minute Purpose Pause Take a moment each morning to write: "Today's work matters because..." Because when people feel connected to what they're doing... they don't just perform. They thrive. How do you bring more meaning into your work or team culture? Drop a thought below. ♻️ Repost to help others in your network. 🌠 Follow Holly Moe for more insights on purposeful leadership.