fizkes/Shutterstock
How is it that an employee will work late, sacrifice sleep, and forego social outings to complete an important project, yet the same employee will drag their feet for hours or days to complete a simple form or training exercise? Obviously, the answer lies in the meaning they attach to each task. In the first case, the employee has a sense of clear purpose while in the second they feel disconnected from the meaning of this work.
One of the most important skills higher education leaders can develop is helping those they lead rediscover meaning and purpose in their work. These skills have never seemed so necessary as they are now during the pressures of pandemic life. With more employees sick, more schools closing or shifting to online learning, and more connections happening virtually, many higher education employees are eyeing greener pastures and fighting fatigue, disillusionment, and burnout.
Unfortunately, many of the approaches taken by leaders to fight burnout result in leaders telling employees why they should have meaning and purpose in their work. Understandably, leaders want to “fix” problems, but the best thing they can do is to listen to their faculty and staff. Leaders can use the power of effective questions to help employees arrive at their own conclusions and rediscover their purpose in their work. Here are three types of questions that will change the dynamic of your work relationships.
What is Your “Why”?
Psychologists stress the need for us to understand our “why” for any task or mission even before knowing the “what” and the “how.” Faculty and staff come to higher education for many reasons, yet by and large they are motivated by intrinsic factors like the desire to make a difference, personal achievement, or service to students. In other words, external factors like pay, policies, or working conditions have much less–though not insignificant–impact on their happiness at work. This became clear during campus closures as employees’ work conditions were reduced to card tables and kitchen counters.
It’s important to ask your employees on a regular basis what their personal motivations are for the work they are involved in and encourage them to do things that help rekindle that purpose. On a recent podcast, President Scott Wyatt of Southern Utah University talked about his need to spend time with students as a means of renewing his sense of purpose. “I really prioritize time with students. I try to spend as much as I possibly can. I think I spend more time than most university presidents.” He continued, “We’ve got to find hours to do this.”
What is the Higher Purpose of Your Work?
Cognitive crafting is a tool leaders can use to reframe the meaning of work in employees’ minds. It is a fancy way of saying that when we speak about our work, we should focus not on the task but the purpose behind the task. For example, grading papers is a task, whereas shaping students’ character and intellect through providing feedback is a purpose.
In recent research my colleagues and I conducted, we found that the specific tasks faculty are asked to complete are not as important as how they cognitively craft those tasks–that is, how they see those tasks in light of the overall mission of the organization. So, even mundane tasks, when framed in a higher purpose, can be meaningful and motivating.
Leaders would be wise to help professionals state the purpose of their work more often and in their own words. Perhaps this could be part of faculty training or in-service days, interviews, or faculty meetings.
How Does My Work Fit into the Organization’s?
Finally, employees need to understand not only the individual nature of their work but also how their efforts fit into the broader organization. In 1974, Hackman and Oldam rolled out one of the most famous organizational behavior frameworks called the Job Characteristics model. They suggested there are five core dimensions needed to achieve ideal organizational outcomes. The two most important of these characteristics are “task identity,” which is understanding where your job fits into the broader organization, and “task significance,” which is knowing the importance of your job for your organization.
The link between individual efforts and the organization’s success needs to be clear. If an employee cannot see how their tasks are directly tied to the success of the organization, they will become disengaged and fall back on external factors, such as pay, policies, and work environment, to determine their happiness at work. Consider helping them craft a 30-second elevator pitch, or power statement, on how their job affects the organization. This will go a long way to reinforcing the value they bring to an organization.
Education is moral work, it is tiring work that challenges our resolve and commitment every day. As leaders, if we are not careful to nurture the motivation of our faculty and staff, they can become burned-out or tune out from the mission of the organization. Helping those we lead reflect on the meaning behind their work–and truly listening to their responses–is one of the most important skills a higher education leader can undertake.
