Podcast 208: Is a transactional attitude toward work problematic?
Jun 10, 2024
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Jake Young and Garin Rouch discuss the shift towards a transactional view of work, the importance of employee engagement beyond monetary transactions, measuring work engagement using the Utrecht scale, implementing organizational development interventions for better performance, and the significance of peer relationships and intentional organization design.
Employees increasingly view work as transactional, posing challenges for organizational engagement.
Job design and empowerment through autonomy are crucial for improving employee engagement.
Deep dives
Changing Perceptions of Work Centrality and Engagement
Work is evolving post-COVID, with research showing a shift towards viewing work as more transactional and less central to life. There is a decline in people willing to go above and beyond for their organizations. While this shift isn't necessarily negative, it poses challenges in maintaining employee engagement and meaningful work. Companies need to reassess job roles and foster organizational development to address these changing perceptions.
Importance of Job Design and Engagement Factors
Job design plays a crucial role in balancing job demands and resources. Autonomy, competence, and relatedness are essential for fostering employee engagement. Feedback, autonomy, and a sense of connection with colleagues impact work engagement. Effective people management, transformative leadership, and interventions like job crafting contribute to improving employee engagement.
Encouraging Autonomy in Organizational Design
Organizations need to empower employees by delegating decision-making rights and fostering job ownership. Designing jobs with autonomy and meaningful responsibilities can enhance employee engagement. Managers require training and support to navigate a shift towards empowering their teams. Shared leadership and promoting autonomy are more effective in modern work environments.
Measuring and Enhancing Employee Engagement
Measuring work engagement using scales like the Utrecht work engagement scale can provide insights into employee vigor, dedication, and absorption. Participative decision-making and change readiness assessments help gauge employee engagement. Organizations must prioritize involving employees in decision-making to drive engagement and facilitate open communication. Interventions should reflect a balance between organizational goals and employees' values and priorities.
CIPD research suggests that work is occupying a less central place in our lives, with an increasing proportion of employees feeling that a job is ‘just a way of earning money’. While it could be argued that there is nothing wrong with employees taking a transactional view of work – it may after all be a way of them self-determining healthy boundaries – disengagement with the organisation may be a concern.
Join Nigel Cassidy and this month’s guests: Jake Young, Senior Policy and Practice at CIPD and Garin Rouch, Consultant at Distinction, as we explore how a refreshed organisational development approach can help get that balance right.
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