Your View Toward Jobs May Be Destroying Your Business and Destroying Your Employees

How you view the motivations of your people may be a causal reason they stay or go

There are few people in this world who don't have to work to provide for themselves or their families. As a result, most spend more of their waking hours with their coworkers than they do at home. During those work hours, they are heavily influenced by their surroundings. For better or for worse, they can be so influenced that they evolve into someone different. This evolution has a positive or negative impact on who they are as people. These influences impact physical wellbeing as much as it does mental health.

You Are What You Consume

Every day we are ingesting the influences around us. They affect who we are and influence who we are becoming. Be it the cultural norms of the organization or the actual environment within which we work, it all has an impact on us in one way or another. How our leaders and coworkers talk to one another influences how we talk to others. The behaviors and habits of those who we are surrounded by influence our own actions and routines. What our employer establishes as priorities can influence what we believe our priorities should be. In the end, our work environment can influence our continued development and lead us to a better future or something far different than we intended for ourselves.

Every Interaction Influences

There are many factors that can lead to negative behavioral and attitudinal changes and ultimately result in unintended consequences. If we ignore these factors, we find ourselves regretting who we’ve become. Addressing negative influences is easier said than done, especially when taking control requires changing employers or distancing ourselves from colleagues, friends, and family. However, if we fail to remove the negative, we risk becoming what we detest.

You're So Unlucky to Have a Job!

A job is something we must do because we need to survive. Jobs kill people because they slowly eat at their mental and physical wellbeing. Most people who have jobs know this but are unwilling to do anything about it for obvious reasons. One being they need the money. Another being they fear change.

This is not only important for employees to know, but it is equally important for employers to understand. Employers who have people in jobs would be much further ahead if they would recognize this danger and move people into positions that are more in line with their behaviors and interests, which sometimes means somewhere else.

Employers need to understand that people do not want a job. As such, employers should not want people to be placed into jobs. A job is about putting in the hours, doing what is required, and passing time.

Employees don’t really want to do this. Employees want and need a career. An opportunity to realize their full potential. A chance to pursue their reason for being. Employees want to engage in meaningful work. Employees want to matter to those they serve and those they engage. They want to make a difference. Jobs rarely allow anyone to do this. Jobs tend to fill one need, financial. Most don’t even do that well and those in jobs are in the temporarily, creating another costly issue for employers.

How do you know if you have a job?

You have a job if you...

1. spend Sunday night dreading going to work on Monday morning and then find yourself spending most of the time on Monday morning thinking about Friday.

2. are bored at work and spend most of your day looking at the clock in anticipation of the time you can take a break, go to lunch, or head home.

3 are not working in a position that challenges you or utilizes your skills and abilities to their full potential.

4. are not passionate about what you are doing or the line of work your company is in,

5. don't see eye to eye with your employer's values.

The Trap

While most people easily recognize these factors, rarely do they act on them. It could be the pay that holds them back. It could be fear of changing jobs and not fitting in. It could be a lack of confidence. However, all of these are secondary to seeking a better life. A better life requires acting on the possibilities, not settling for status quo.

The Reality

The reality is that all the above-mentioned factors that describe a job will eventually kill an employee’s spirit, passion, and change who they are. It will destroy productivity and create a culture of compliance, not commitment. It becomes worse when employees work for an employer with misaligned values. The misalignment will either change the employee or the company they serve.

If employees are bored and lack purpose in their job, they'll become a boring lackluster employee and lose their drive, never realizing their full potential. If they are not challenged their mind will atrophy and they'll lose your mental edge. This is not good for them or the business.

If you want your people and your business to reach its full potential, place close attention to how you develop positions, how you hire, who you hire, how you administer responsibility, how you delegate authority, how you nurture a culture of execution and accountability, and how your employees are feeling about the work they do. Every interaction matters. Every person matters. A great business is built by the people who work inside. That begins with the position and is finished off with who you hire.

Randy Stepp is a principal with Renaissance Leadership Group. RLG is a full-service business development company driven by Purpose, Passion, and Strategy and the goal of helping entrepreneurs realize their vision for their business.

Visit Renaissance Leadership Group at www.renaissanceleadershipgroup.com to learn more.