Restore Your Team's Zest

Typically, onboarding begins with some cheery words about the company followed by immersion in the tasks of the new job. What’s missing here? The employee is missing. He or she is left feeling like a plug-in to fulfill a need, rather than a person whose unique skills and perspective are of value to the company. Unsurpri...

As a leader, you may be convinced that it’s important to keep your employees’ seeking systems activated. You may want them to feel that their unique qualities matter to the organization and that their jobs satisfy their innate curiosity. But there are tasks that need to get done for the business to run smoothly. How do you balance these two goals? By establishing the frame of expectations within which you can create opportunities for experimentation.

Let’s be honest: the “meaning” of some jobs is deeper than others. Not everybody is saving the world, one child at a time. But everybody, no matter what job or industry we’re in, will be happier and more successful if we know not only what we’re doing every day, but why. The data on this is robust. We’re thinking creatures, telling ourselves stories all day about what we’re doing. If this stream-of-consciousness amounts to something like “I type words into a computer and then send them t...

Who has the real power and the responsibility to keep employees happy and engaged at work? Leadership, management, or the employee herself? You guessed it: All three. When any link of this chain disengages, employees end up demotivated and potentially burned out. When leaders, managers, and employees all invest in making the work purposeful and fulfilling, mindless tedium isn’t an option. But at each level of the company, these powers and responsibilities differ.