How do you want to feel at work?
Every time I am with a new group of training participants, I ask the question ‘how do you want to feel at work?’ Take a minute to think about that question for yourself.
The most common words I hear are valued, appreciated, productive, satisfied, safe and respected, all are excellent words to describe those feelings that we are all entitled to in our workplaces. Excellent words that describe those feelings that contribute to a sense of meaningfulness and that motivate us to not only be our absolute best work selves, but also to feel happier and increase our resilience.
As excellent as these words are, these discussions often leave me concerned — if these words are so common and most of us can relate to wanting/needing them in our workplace, then why do many participants roll their eyes and say “oh I wish we felt this”.
We each have different styles and skill sets that we bring to our jobs. We also have individual personalities and backgrounds and personal lives that intersect with our working day/week. The desired work environments of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s where we left our personal lives at the door “don’t bring your personal life to work” and “don’t take your work home” are well gone. Lines are blurred, technology allows us to check our work emails at 10.00pm and Facebook at 10.00am, and, post COVID-19, we are much more aware of our colleagues lives outside of the office than ever before.
There will always be varied ideals when it comes to workplaces
I have spoken with many friends and colleagues and there seems to be a divided mix of: those who say they never want to go back to the office as they are dreading the workplace relationships roller coaster, and, those that thrive on human interactions and are desperate to get ‘back to normal’ with face-to-face interactions.
Whichever version you prefer, what IS clear is that many people have really reflected on and potentially re-evaluated how they want to feel at work. Often the words used are still the ones from the top of this page but now people are not just reciting but are ready to expect and demand. I have read a few post COVID-19 articles lately about employees losing their voices at work (because of fear and job insecurity), this is a real issue but also deserves to be recognised as a pre-COVID-19 issue for many as well. The silence of a fearful or resentful staff member speaks volumes, providing safe and transparent opportunities for communication and engagement is as crucial now as ever before.
Workplaces need to engage and involve staff and individuals who expect (as they should) to be valued, appreciated, safe and respected. Workplace values are not always interpreted the same way for every individual, so take the time to unpack what words your team are using, for example what do they mean by ‘feeling appreciated or valued’? Whether working from home, back in the office or transitioning from one to the other, productive, safe and respectful workplaces don’t just happen on their own. Human emotions require human effort and participation.