PSYCHOLOGY
Great Job, Impressive Career, Simply a Calling
by Sulynn Choong

APR 2012 | When I think of work, I think along these lines:
1. Do I get the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
2. Am I capitalising on my strengths, interests/passions, and abilities?
3. Is my work intrinsically fulfilling?

Thankfully, I can answer with a resounding ‘yes’ to each of these. Are there more perspectives? Of course there are. So why do I only focus on these three?

Gallup Organisation (read Now, Discover your Strengths by Buckingham and Clifton) found that asking the simple question “Do you get to do what you do best every day?” yields interesting information about people in organisations. If you answered with a clear yes, it is quite likely that you love what you do.

Organisations that allow their people to do what they do best every day would reap significant rewards. Their people are more productive, more enthusiastic and engaged, more resilient and loyal when compared to employees in organisations that do not allow such a fit. The positive impact includes financial growth as well as lower turnover and absenteeism.

The method is simple – leverage on strengths and manage around weaknesses, for significantly quicker and better results. The Gallup definition of strength is consistent near perfect performance in an activity where Talent + Knowledge + Skills = Strength. Indeed strength-based talent management feeds the human need for achievement and significance.

Paper qualifications do not reflect job applicants’ interests or passions, skills and special abilities. For instance, when we read an application that glibly mentions “I am an XXX graduate with first class honours. Given the opportunity, I will be a diligent loyal employee”, we are no more informed than if we only read his/her college transcripts.

Compare with “I hold a 1st Class Honours degree in XXX, and I am highly competent in designing, planning and conducting research, running analyses, as well as creating impactful presentations. I am also interested in learning the art of effective interpersonal communication. This job will give me the opportunity to put to use both my technical and communication skills.”

Which candidate would you shortlist? The difference between the two goes beyond writing style and boldness. The latter candidate gives you a window into his world and you can make a fairly good guess at the job role – person fit. Where there is a fit, you can expect enthusiasm for tackling the challenges of the job and likelihood of job satisfaction and flow experience.

In Habits of the Heart, Bellah et al. (1985) wrote that there are three distinct relations that people have to their work - as Jobs, Careers, and Callings. People who see work as job labour purely for financial rewards out of necessity rather than for pleasure or fulfillment of interests and ambition. For them, work is not an end in itself but a means to acquiring that which makes life away from work enjoyable. They tend to be clock-watchers at work. In contrast, the career-minded are deeply and personally invested in their work. They gauge their achievement not only by monetary gain but through advancement within the occupational hierarchy in terms of higher social standing, power and influence, and higher self-esteem. Finally, there are people for whom their work is inseparable from their life and define who they are. They do not work for financial rewards or career advancement and recognition, but work because what they do is fulfilling in itself. They have a calling and their work is meaningful to them, in service to some greater cause. They love their work passionately and think that they can contribute to making the world a better place and thus making an impact.

The amazing discovery is that the job–career–calling distinction does not depend on occupation. Within any occupation from janitor to corporate executive, we can find individuals who are related to their work in one of these three ways.

The good news is that employers can facilitate a change in their employees’ perception of jobs into ‘great jobs’ or even ‘callings’ by re-focusing attention on to the significance of their jobs to the business, the environment, the community or any meaningful cause. Transformed employees bring palpable positive energy to their work and produce much improved results.

When all three criteria are met i.e, an employee has the opportunity to do what he does best every day in his field of interest and passion, and finds what he does intrinsically fulfilling, the adage ‘do work that you love, and you never work a day’ becomes a truism. This person would work unperturbed by time, effort or money – in flow and blissful.

Looking for your dream job? Check this blog out : zen habits.

Visit Sulynn's homepage at HR Matters for full access to her other column pieces.

Read Live More and Simpler, Sulynn's previous article, in the January 2012 issue.