Book Buzz: Love + Work
My overall rating: 8.5 out of 10.
While you read this, please remember that I love HR, and I love books about people and their jobs. I also love the way Marcus Buckingham marries data with HR themes. So before I started reading, I already loved the book. (I know. I said "love" too many times in that paragraph.)
When I speak to CEO groups and conferences, I talk about how only 31% of people are engaged at work, according to Gallup.
This book helps explain why. The theory is that people no longer love what they do every day — and there is no system anywhere for connecting what you're inherently gifted at, which you'd love doing, with a job that actually uses it.
Let me start with the leaders and owners, then move to the individual.
For the Team: What Leaders Can Do
Buckingham's numbers here are impressive. Workers who felt part of a team were 2.7x more likely to be fully engaged, 3x more likely to be highly resilient, and 2x more likely to report a strong sense of belonging.
He suggests three things.
1. Check in with each team member for 15 minutes every week. Before you roll your eyes, look at the stat: weekly check-ins drive engagement scores up by 77% and voluntary turnover down by 67%. Four questions:
What activities did I love last week?
What activities did I loathe last week?
What are my priorities this week?
What help do I need from you, my team leader?
2. Become known for being genuinely curious about what your people love. Ask things like: Was that assignment fun for you? What did you love most about it? Did you learn anything new? We have another similar project coming up — anything you want to change this time?
3. Build trust, because trust is everything. People who trusted those around them were 3x more likely to be fully engaged and 42x more likely to be highly resilient. What builds it:
Keeping people's confidences
Doing what you say you're going to do
Risking with others
Sharing what you love
Making few and small commitments, and keeping all of them
Never talking negatively about one team member to another
Always doing for people what is right for them, even when that isn't what they want
For the Individual
Buckingham helps you look at yourself and work out what you love that you can make money doing. He suggests a strengths assessment, and a "red threads" exercise: two lists — what I love in my work each day, and what I loathe. You look at what you love, find the commonality, and then figure out how to do more of it in the role you already have.
It sounds wonderful. It's also hard, because the work world isn't built for it yet. So he focuses on choosing the right role on the team and molding your existing role so you spend more time in your sweet spot.
Here's the statistic that makes it concrete. Mayo Clinic research found that if you get to spend 20% of your time at work doing things you love, you'll feel good about what you do. Drop below 20% and that's when burnout and disengagement start.
The Bottom Line
For more, read the book. It takes half a day and isn't difficult. It might help you look at your own job differently, or even push you toward a change if you don't love what you do. And if you're a leader, it might help you change a few things so your retention improves.
Maybe you don't use "love" and "work" in the same sentence right now. After this book, I think you will — even if you aren't a sappy HR person like me.
We work with companies to take exactly this kind of thinking and apply it. Grab a free 30-minute session with one of our HR experts.