Going A Step Further – Beyond Job Satisfaction

by Georgia C. Stelluto

Are you happy in your job? Or just feel ho-hum? Satisfied with your career? Or just settling because it’s comfortable? Have you ever thought about taking it all a step further — and becoming fully engaged with what you do at work?

Nigel J.A. Bristow, a session speaker at IEEE-USA’s Annual Leadership Workshop, held in March in Tucson, Ariz., talked at length to attendees about going beyond job satisfaction and becoming fully engaged at work. Bristow said that instead of changing jobs when your job loses its challenge and becomes routine, consider “greening up your own grass.” Author of The Beyond Job Satisfaction Fieldbook: Tools and Templates for Maximizing Your Engagement and Vitality at Work, Bristow noted that the costs of changing jobs are many, and we often fail to factor them in to our career decisions — or sometimes we may discount them because of the excitement a new job promises.

Noting that 80 percent of the participants in his career management workshops reported satisfaction with their jobs, Bristow said that only 20 to 30 percent respond that they are fully developing or using their talents at work. “Being fully engaged at work means fully developing and utilizing one’s talent and energies on behalf of one's organization,” he said.

Happiness and Engagement Go Hand-in-Hand

The definition of happiness is "a state of mental and emotional well-being." And according to Bristow, engagement — or "having one’s mental and/or physical capabilities deeply occupied by work, hobbies or family activities" — is a component of happiness. He also cited using one’s strengths to serve a purpose greater than oneself (meaning), and having strong ties to other people (social connectedness) as two other core elements of happiness.

For true happiness at work, Bristow explained that individuals need to combine mental, emotional and social engagement, or personal engagement — to go beyond job satisfaction. “Personal engagement is having your personal resources fully utilized and focused on achieving those outcomes that matter to you and to the organization,” he said.

Mental engagement is being focused on using and developing your full capabilities to complete clearly identified, challenging and agreed upon responsibilities. It involves having work consistent with your talents and strengths; having challenging work and doing tasks that lack easy answers; being presented with opportunities to be innovative and creative; having the freedom to do work as you think best; being clear on your goals and knowing what is expected; using a variety of skills; doing new things; and breaking new ground.

Emotional engagement is being committed to using your personal resources (e.g. talents, skills, insights and time) to achieve outcomes that you care about and believe to be attainable. It involves making a difference, having autonomy, doing whole tasks from planning to closure, and having contact with customers.

And social engagement is being connected to supervisors, colleagues and customers in relationships of mutual trust, respect and support. It comes from management support or encouragement, good communication with management, good teamwork, contact with internal and external customers, and being recognized and appreciated.

According to Bristow, when you have all the elements that comprise personal engagement, “you achieve happiness, growth, business impact and sustainability.”

Three Keys to Engagement and Happiness at Work

In the session, Bristow explored three keys for those seeking true happiness and engagement at work:

1. Don’t pass the buck.
2. Find work and growth opportunities that fit.
3. Engage your full potential as a knowledge worker.

“When you don't take responsibility for what’s happening to you, the chances of finding an improved situation are slim,” he said. In Key One above, Bristow explained that personal engagement and happiness are not only our jobs, but also our most important responsibilities. He stressed that we know what makes us happy and what we need, and that we must educate our managers to let them know. Bristow said that all managers should have a strong interest in their employees’ engagement, as it is highly correlated to work performance.

Bristow said that you have a couple of options if you don’t feel sufficiently engaged at work: You can find a new job; or, you can engage your managers and others in conversations that will improve your mental, social and emotional engagement in your current job. Although sometimes the best option for achieving greater engagement is changing jobs, he recommends that people first consider approaches that can make their existing jobs more engaging.

In Key Two, finding work and growth opportunities that fit, Bristow said: “Full engagement is only possible when you focus your energies on finding and developing opportunities that truly fit. He advised participants to think about their best chance for doing work that makes them “shine,” and determine their highest priority learning needs. “Don’t equate talents with skills,” he said, “you can learn anything you put your mind to — but is it worth the effort?”

Engaging Your Full Potential as a Knowledge Worker

Bristow looked at the five roles of a knowledge worker in Key Three. In acquiring knowledge, we learn from others and from experience; move towards mastery; and act under direction from others. To apply knowledge, we complete important tasks independently; demonstrate mastery; and take initiative within established norms or parameters. As we create knowledge, we question the status quo; adapt existing knowledge to new uses; and invent (but not champion) new methods, products or technologies.

To share our knowledge, we build up others’ abilities and confidence by coaching, teaching, motivating, clarifying and giving feedback. And as we leverage our knowledge, we institutionalize it and build organization capability; champion new products, systems and work processes; and shape as well as make decisions that cross organizational boundaries.

Steps to Full Personal Engagement

Bristow outlined six steps for session attendees to achieve full personal engagement:

1. Identify what you need for full engagement
2. Identify what you can do for yourself
3. Identify those who can help
4. Plan to get your manager and others on board
5. Have the conversations to get your manager and others on board
6. Implement, follow through

In closing, Bristow gave attendees tools and templates to put the information in his session into play. He encouraged attendees to follow the steps and plan things out to get their managers on board with any changes they would like to make. “Making great things happen always requires great planning,” he said, "and nothing truly great happens in any organization until we do something outside of our job description.”

Bristow’s book, The Beyond Job Satisfaction Fieldbook, contains tools and templates designed to maximize your engagement and vitality at work. Regularly sold for $59.95, the book is available to IEEE members for $29.95. You can purchase it at www.ieeeusa.org/careers/fieldbook.asp.

Georgia C. Stelluto is IEEE-USA’s Publishing Manager and Managing Editor of IEEE-USA Today’s Engineer quarterly print digest. Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.