According to recent studies, the average full-time worker spends 47 hours on the job per week. Approximately 39 percent spend greater than 50 hours on the job.1
The average American worker spends more time on the job than with their families—especially when you subtract the time needed for sleep. Your time is valuable, so how and where are you going to spend it?
If you are going to spend this much time at the office one would assume the office environment would be a place you enjoy going to; it would be a place where you felt satisfaction and fulfillment with your contributions, and you probably would want to be recognized for your contributions.
Surprisingly only 39 percent of the US workforce feel they are fulfilled with their jobs.2 Is this a money problem in most cases? Not always. Employees want to be engaged in their jobs by having an opportunity to contribute in a way that supports the goals of the company while using their skills and knowledge to their fullest potential. Personal recognition ranks high among employees as a motivator. Are you being invested in at your workplace at the level you would expect? Great leaders invest in those for whom they are responsible.
In the article “The 7 Secrets for Sustaining Motivation,”3 author and Proctor & Gamble executive, Scott Mautz writes, “The answer to winning back the disengaged, (and keeping the engaged, engaged) isn’t pay, perks, or promotions. It’s meaning – that is – giving work a greater sense of significance, and thus, making work matter. Finding meaning in and at work produces engagement, fulfillment, and performance that sustains over the long haul- it is the motivational tour de force of our times.”
Are you leading in a way that engages your workforce regardless of the level you are at? Are you investing in your employees, and how? And to employees, are you working where the intersection of your knowledge and skill sets allow you to be fulfilled and optimally engaged?
These are all questions I hope business owners and their employees are asking in a respectful and responsible way so everyone benefits. A win-win for all, including the customer.
1www.gallup.com/poll/175286/hour-workweek-actually-longer-seven-hours.aspx
2www.gallup.com/poll/181289/majority-employees-not-engaged-despite-gains-2014.aspx
3www.switchandshift.com/the-7-secrets-for-sustaining-motivation
