Today's workers want connection. Many people who've just entered or will enter the workplace are seeking more than a job.
This contrasts with the baby boomer generation. Back then, it was all about compliance, control, and compensation. People were content with being part of a hierarchical system. They devoted themselves to the company and the job. They were a generation in tune with the brain in the head, which is about planning, innovation, and following a path.
The members of Generation X took a different path. They believed in following their passion. It’s the generation that grew up on Rocky and Rambo. Generation Xers believe that where there is a will there’s a way, and nobody should ever accept that no is the end of the road—a sense of determination that perfectly aligns with the brain in the heart.
Level of passion speaks to the question of whether you own what you do in your heart.
Does your belief in the company make you want to do a great job at work, or are you completely indifferent to the company’s success?
We surveyed a group of employees to learn whether, if knowing what they now know, they would accept the job again if offered it today—72 percent answered in the affirmative. This sounds high, but is it really? Over a quarter of the company would choose not to take the job again.
Would you go to a restaurant if a quarter of the diners said they’d never come back?
It’s no wonder we have such tremendous divisions in this country. People aren’t finding an outlet for their passion at work, so at home they turn to politics to fill the need. It’s negative passion that results in blaming others and pointing fingers for the great frustrations in our lives. When a kid isn’t being paid attention to, he or she acts out. This is essentially what the adult workforce is doing right now.
Willingness to suffer is the question of whether you’re prepared to push through when confronted with the harder, less appealing aspects of the job. Not every task we are asked to do at work is glamorous or fulfilling, but if we believe in the overall mission, we are willing to tolerate these elements as part of the job.
It’s when we don’t agree with the mission that these tasks become onerous.
Ready to shift your engagement?
Join Joe Mechlinski, CEO of SHIFT, in this interactive engagement webinar designed to give you the tools you need to become an engagement expert in work, at home, and in life.
