Glossary

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. Take a few minutes and think about the following questions to see how happy you are with your job.

a) Does your job motivate you enough that you quickly jump out of bed in the morning?

b) Does it enable you to express yourself and your talents?

c) Does it leave you enough time for your family, friends and leisure activities?

d) Do you feel like you are doing something you love?

If you have answered most of these questions with yes, then you have found an appropriate job for you. If you have answered with no, you are still not doing what you love and should be looking for something else!

Lack of job satisfaction can be a significant source of stress. These are the most common reasons for not being completely satisfied with your job:

conflict with your co-workers
conflict with your superiors
not being appropriately paid for what you do
not having the necessary equipment or resources to succeed
lack of promotion opportunities
having little or no say in decisions that affect you
fear of losing your job through downsizing or outsourcing

Sometimes it is the job itself that causes dissatisfaction. For example, the work may be boring, or ill-suited to your interests, education or skills. Think about what motivates and inspires you. Consider what your approach to work is. People tend to approach work from three different perspectives. They view work as a job, a career or a calling.

1. JOB – If you approach work as a job, you focus primarily on the financial rewards. The nature of work may hold little interest for you. If a job with more pay comes your way, you will likely move on.

2. CAREER – If you approach work as a career, you are interested in advancement. You want to climb the career ladder as far as possible or be among the most highly regarded professionals in your field. You are motivated by the status, prestige and power that come with the job.

There are many ways to improve job satisfaction. Set yourself new challenges; see what you can do to improve your job skills or take on a project that can motivate you and give you the sense of control. Helping a new co-worker or an intern to advance their skills can indeed be gratifying. Boredom is another enemy to motivation. How to beat it? Break up the monotony by using work breaks to read, listen to music or do something fun. If your work consists of repetitive tasks, talk with your boss about training for a different task. Be ready to ask for a new challenge; if you always do what you have always done, you will only get what you have already got. And finally, stay positive. Everyone encounters good and bad days at work, so try to put things in perspective. As they say, ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’, or there is always something good, even in a bad situation.

In order to make their staff feel they are valued, some companies offer perks such as reflexology, yoga, massage, etc., but what really makes for a happy workplace runs far deeper than that. What really matters is a range of management practices that help staff feel valued, productive and listened to. The first is support at work to solve workplace problems in a team when they occur. The second element is support at home, e.g. help with personal problems and illnesses. The third element is a healthy balance between work and family. Career development and opportunities for growth come next. And finally, trust is what binds all these elements together.