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This post is inspired by the brilliance of Matt Cheuvront. Matt runs a sweet and utterly awesome blog called Life Without Pants. Go lose yourself over there for a bit, you won’t be disappointed.
Matt recently posed the question, “Do you need to LOVE your job to be happy”, which sprung an impressive debate between many Gen Y minds. In three sentences I’ll try to summarize mattChevy’s thoughts, but before reading further it may be best you spend a couple minutes and read what he wrote.
Basically, Matt thinks the big “L” word may be a bit too strong when considering work. He insists that maybe love should be saved for your spouse, kids, or even your dog. When it comes down to it, Matt hopes you “Enjoy the journey”, and to “Let life be about the living.” Well said, and I should say that I do agree with you.
When reading the post my HR mind immediately thought of two things — Work/Life Balance and Employee Engagement. The level of employee engagement can many times be from the result of work/life balance. My opinion is that most people won’t say they love their job, but that in itself doesn’t mean they aren’t happy. This is where a strong work/life balance program comes into play. When a company enforces a top notch WLB program, employees can enjoy flexible schedules, higher than average paid vacation, and maybe most important know that their employer actually does CARE ABOUT EMPLOYEES. Knowing and feeling that is powerful, I speak from experience.
Most HR pro’s will point out two levels of employee engagement — being engaged and disengaged. My theory of employee engagement actually contains three levels.
Level 1 – Extreme Employee Disengagement - In this level, job satisfaction is terribly low, causing job stress to impose on outside personal relationships. A strong work/life balance program won’t help the employee in most cases. An employee in Level 1 absolutely hates their job, and is probably a current job seeker. They need out, and the employer most likely wants them out as well considering their tasks and duties are never completed.
Level 2 – Engagement – In this level, employees are satisfied with their position for the most part. These employees might not love their job, or have the most passion, but they have no problem working hard to complete tasks and generally are content with their job. A strong work/life balance program helps to retain employees in this category. Level 2 employees have their ups and downs in regards to job satisfaction, but overall feel pretty good. Most people are in Level 2.
Level 3 – Extreme Employee Engagement – In this level, employees are extremely passionate and committed to work. These employees may be surrounded by work even when outside of work. Hard work = success and happiness to these employees. Many of these employees may not take advantage of WLB programs. Work may get in the way of personal relationships for some, which can create stressful situations outside of work.
I understand that not every working individual can be categories as a Level 1, 2, or 3 employee, but hey it’s my theory. My thoughts are that most successful people fall into Level 2 and Level 3.
So, does knowing what you love = an opportunity for happiness?
What I mean by this is if you KNOW your true LOVE comes from a hobby or activity that is not related to work, than maybe you should look for employers that value providing a balance of work and life to their employees. Maybe you love spending ample time with family, long-weekend fishing trips, committing to a 6 day per-week meat head gym routine, or even watching Oprah every single day. Or, maybe what you love is work. Once you know what you love, and what makes you happy, you can decide just how important work/life balance programs are for you.
My last point is that obviously life is not all fun and games. Those in Level 2 need to realize when outside employees should be cut back, and turn up the heat in the work place. Besides, money is needed for most activities that bring happiness. The other side of this is that people in Level 3 that strive on constant work should know when to take a step back and relax – cool down the work friend and enjoy life. Or as my new friend Matt says, “Let life be about living.”
But neither Matt nor I are going to tell you what to do. It’s your life, love what you do and ______ the rest.
Quiz – the last sentence is a quote from what movie? If you know the movie, then you also know why I kept it blank.
What level of engagement are you currently in, and how does your (if they have one) employers work/life balance program play into things? Let me hear from you!
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Grad School Zone
UVA (Darden) MBA Admissions Deadlines for 2010-2011
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The University of Virginia's Darden School of Business recently published its application deadlines for the coming admissions season. Here they are, followed by our comments in italics:
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