Most of us have been celebrating this Labor Day weekend. Eking as much out of summer as we can before we have to face the facts (again) of this year's 3% merit budget. Me? I've been at parties, eaten ice cream cake and watched 10-year old sychronized swimmers.
But oddly enough, I've also spent some of the weekend trying to figure out what work/a job means to a person. I'm trying to write a poem on the meaning of work in our lives and examine what is happening to us and our world. I'm finding it really tough to turn the feelings into words.
It's a tough question
The unemployed can tell us what work means in terms of unpaid bills, sleepless nights and stomach-churning frustration. Of course, pretty much all of us have been there at one point, but to have to face the reality that I can't pay the bills AND I may never work in my profession again is a different story. Especially when it means that your kids won't have as much opportunity and freedom of choice as you had always envisioned.
What would the employed have to say? Here's how far I've gotten.
The meaning of work
Work is satisfying in a way that gives us hope. We imagine doing better, tackling challenges and winning against difficult odds. Or meeting the needs of customers, clients, students or patients who rely on us for help. Often we feel trusted, part of a community, acknowledged for something unique in ourselves. Maybe not as fulfilling as we had hoped, maybe it gets intensely frustrating. But we feel like we have a place in our world because "they" keep telling us good morning when we arrive and handing out paychecks.
We celebrate that part of our life. The DOL explains the history of Labor Day and tells us why we still recognize the holiday, long after the years when the American Federation of Labor (AFL) called the shots:
"The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker."
The American worker. That's you and me, and all of those whose salary midpoints we track so carefully. And, I guess I need to say it out loud -- we're in a real pickle right now. So that's why I am trying to write about it, but it will take a lot more thought.
Can you help?
Can you explain the importance of work in your life? What about friends and family members who aren't working, what would they say? These are not frivolous questions.
Engagement is the hot topic these days. I don't think any of us can truly have an influence on engagement unless we can talk about why work is so important in our lives.
Rewards and recognition, so much more than dollars. Why are we so emotional about the meaning of our work? We sure could use a lot more insight into this in our profession, don't you think?
Jobs. Let's stop turning away from a responsibility we can shoulder. I know executives are frantic to get back to a growth mode. So now's the time to say it. They need to start thinking about ways they can keep jobs in the US. It's going to take strategic and economic creativity, but what better use to put that American ingenuity, but job creation?
Let's make jobs another hot talent topic. We can have influence, if we can make a future-looking case.
Looking for a way for HR to demonstrate strategic leadership? The will for this difficult shift will come from an understanding of the value of work in our lives, community and nation -- and what it means to the "nation's strength, freedom and leadership." It's not hocum. Take a look around you.
Cost/benefit analysis? We've been overlooking this investment for too long. The investment in work for our friends, neighbors, family and children is an investment in our future. We're missing the boat and I'd like to get us writing and talking about it.
How about it?
Margaret O'Hanlon is founder and principal of re:Think Consulting. She has decades of experience teaming up with clients to ensure great Human Resource ideas deliver valuable business results. Margaret brings deep expertise in total rewards communications and change management to the dialog at the Café. Before founding re:Think Consulting, she was a Principal in Total Rewards Communications and Change Management with Towers Perrin. Margaret is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), Pacific Plains Region. She earned her M.S. and Ed.S. in Instructional Technology at Indiana University. Creative writing is one of her outside passions, along with Masters Swimming.
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