Job satisfaction: What do you want deep in your heart?
Job satisfaction: What do you want deep in your heart?
By Pri Notowidigdo
JAKARTA (JP): Do you know what you want to do in life? Do you
want to help people? Do you want to be rich? Or, do you ask
yourself, "What do I stand for?" If you're an older person,
perhaps you might ask, "What do I want my legacy to be?"
If what you believe doesn't fit with the beliefs of your
company, your employer or fellow workers, then you will not
likely stay long nor will you be happy.
What you do -- be it accounting or operations or human
resources -- you may do well but your heart isn't in it.
You were told that you should study accounting, for example,
because the market demand for accountants had always been high.
You studied hard, you learned the necessary skills and
demonstrated that you could be competent in the field. Yet, you
sometimes wished that you were doing something else, like
marketing.
During a recent seminar, I was not too surprised then to hear
a number of ex-bank employees reinforcing what I said above.
In fact, they said that the downsizing of their respective
banks was a "blessing in disguise" in that they now were obliged
to reflect on who they really were and what they really wanted to
do with their lives.
Change for them and even those still "fortunate" to have jobs,
means looking at yourself, your beliefs, your relationships and
your attitude toward security. You have to ask yourself how much
money is enough. You have to think about your core philosophy,
about what it means to leave a legacy.
You want to end up where you're most comfortable. This means
being with people who have similar values.
Dr. Daniel Kealey, a Canadian expert on international
selection said, "When your values do not fit with corporate
values, you will undoubtedly experience stress. In fact, this
will be a better predictor of stress levels than the lack of fit
between your professional qualifications and those demanded by
the corporation."
If you're hired to do a job and you lack the skills, you're
less stressed than if you're hired to do a job and don't have the
beliefs of the person signing your pay cheque.
Interviewers usually ask what you can do. They don't ask about
your values, what satisfies you, or what makes you happy or
excited.
More job candidates ask what the company wants done and then
assess whether they can do it.
In a tough job market like Indonesia, employees don't ask
whether they, as individuals, actually value what the company
wants done.
Neither do they ask whether they will be comfortable with the
way the company wants it done. Result? Stress and the beginning
of wanting to do something else.
You have to match your beliefs and your need for satisfaction
with what's believed and needed corporately. That doesn't mean
changing your beliefs. It means finding an organization that
shares them. Or, it may mean starting up your own business.
However, it's impossible to match beliefs when you have not
defined your own. Most of us haven't.
It's really all about fulfillment, isn't it?
Being fulfilled is doing the things which makes you feel most
alive, which makes you feel good about who you really are.
When was the last time you enjoyed what you were doing so much
that you didn't notice time passing? What absorbs you so much
that you never feel tired when you do it? These are your personal
keys to self-fulfillment.
I have been noticing lately that many people approaching their
50s appear to be searching for something. They appear to be
searching for an element of meaning and spirituality that they
somehow missed in the university and working life.
Beliefs are the foundation of who you are and the kind of work
you do. In fact, they are so deeply embedded that you don't
really think about them on a daily basis.
Where are you right now? What do you want deep in your heart?
Have you listened to it lately? If you did, where might it lead
you?
The writer is an executive search consultant for Amrop
International, member firm of The Amrop Hever Group - Global
Executive Search. (e-mail: jakarta@amrophever.com)