Three signs of a miserable job
Patrick Lencioni believes that the way employees are treated at work can have a large societal impact.
“Fulfilled employees treat
their families, neighbors, and
communities better at the end of
the work day,” says the CEO of the
Table Group and author of The
Three Signs of a Miserable Job.
“No one is immune to job misery
it touches every profession
imaginable from restaurant service
worker, to middle manager,
to NBA superstar,” says Lencioni.
A recent USA Today poll found
that the number of people unhappy
with their jobs is at an all
time high. Lencioni offers a practical
solution for managers to end
job misery.
The book follows a fictional
character, Brian Bailey, a retired
CEO who sets out to discover the
X factor in high-achieving organizations.
What Brian learns is that
a fulfilled workforce, with low
turnover and high job satisfaction,
is the key.
The three signs may appear
simple at first glance, but often
managers simply aren’t giving
people what they need to succeed,
Lencioni contends. He urges
managers to address the following
three areas with employees:
Anonymity
People cannot be fulfilled in
their work if they are not known.
All human beings need to be understood
and appreciated for
their unique qualities by someone
in a position of authority.
Irrelevance
Everyone needs to know their
job matters to someone. Anyone.
Without seeing a connection between
the work and the satisfaction
of another person or group
of people, an employee simply
will not find lasting fulfillment.
Immeasurement
Employees must be able to
gauge their progress and level
of contribution for themselves.
They cannot be fulfilled in their
work if their success depends on
the opinions or whims of another
person.