Work
with Meaning, by Rebecca Hoar. Management Today, May 2004
New
research from Roffey Park management research and training institute has found that 70 per cent of managers are
looking for a greater sense of meaning in their working lives. Alarmingly this
includes 63 per cent board directors.
The
group most like to feel a lack of meaning are those in their 20s and 30s, at 82
per cent.
People
say they are looking for employers with stronger corporate social
responsibility, and feel a tension between their ‘spiritual’ values and their
daily work. Others are looking for more personal fulfilment.
Groups
have been identified such as Generation X, who are depressed, and TIREDS
– Thirty-something, Independent, Radical, Educated Dropouts who are alienated
from the workplace and cynical about corporate values.
Among
the solutions are to show more appreciation for individual effort, have a less
relentless focus on shareholders and more on customers, get managers to ‘walk
the talk’, be consistent with company values, manage change well, have clear
roles for individuals and introduce flexible working practices.
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