Businesses Miss the Mark on Programs for Thriving Workers because they are too piece meal. Thriving can’t be mixed with just work life balance or just creating perks that make life easier. Thriving is soul deep.
A thriving worker is an enlightened worker who know his purpose, why he is here, and wants to contribute to the max in his work. He also understands the role of work in his life and that whether work is his life or just part of it, he understands the other parts he values.
Getting the worker from surviving to thriving requires the worker becomes educated or knowledgeable about what is important in his life and his main drivers. What is it that makes the worker excited about getting up in the morning and how does he finish each day saying that was a good day?
A thriving worker is happy and has gratitude. He has good health and knows how to moderate his stress. He knows how to find solitude to block out the overwhelm his job may continuously present. Most thriving workers in surveys have said that too many meetings, too much collaborating, too many emails, and too much on their plate all lead to burn out and job dissatisfaction. These workers are looking for other opportunities.
There are plenty of opportunities for the employer to reduce the stress that burns out key workers. The employer can also help the cause of worker employer relationship by helping the worker discover how to create his own thriving.
Most workers do not really know how to thrive but just the main points necessary to get relief. Surveys show that workers often place free time above children and promotions. This is an indication that their first desire is relief. Promotions and children should be high on the list of a thriving worker. Promotions mean he can contribute more with more responsibility, authority, and latitude.
There are fundamentals for all humans on how to achieve a feeling of purpose and knowing why they are here. Rather than look at more days off, higher pay, and fewer meetings, evaluate learning, creativity, passion, challenge, risk, caring, and contributing.
Businesses often treat the symptoms and not the cause. Perks make life nicer but don’t become drivers. A thriving worker has drives. He is in pursuit. He needs to self-actualize. Self-actualization needs learning, challenge, risk, measurable growth, and contribution.
Thriving begins with the worker understanding his drives or evaluating his goals and helping him change his behaviors to result in the happiness brain chemicals of hormones and neurotransmitters that result in the feelings he seeks. He can’t be placated if he doesn’t understand what he really needs.
This need begins with time management. Greater productivity begins with productive time blocks. The worker needs time each day to work on his most important values in both work and his personal life. His time has to be meaningful .He needs to come to an understanding of how to make his time meaningful. He has to learn which activities are time wasters and non-purposeful.
We often have to do lists that are not really growth oriented so we have to be sure our best energy periods are not spent on the most meaningless activities. Creativity is often the most productive time for the most important executives and workers. We have to solve operational problems and create a competitive advantages for the business to thrive.
The creative blocks should be a priority. Preparation is necessary to get in the creative mode. Ask any writer, artist, researcher or scientist how they prepare for their creative hour and one will see that this priority takes proper preparation. Is this preparation calculated for the key workers and do they understand how to cultivate it?
Thriving requires a whole new mind set than just picking items a business thinks are a nuisance or burden and trying to alleviate the sources of irritation. Thriving has to be built from the ground up. Thriving is a different environment than surviving.
Thriving may not be like going from a gas burning auto to an EV. Thriving is more like going from a horse to a car, from covered wagons to trains, from piece work to factories. A business that wants to have thriving workers to create a thriving business has to start with understanding how to get the worker to understand thriving.
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Great practices for daily living can be learned with the Markap Series of Books. If your organization would like live presentations or Zoom meetings, they can be arranged for small to large groups.
The Markap Books:
Self-Leadership, Gratitude, Happiness, and Start Now
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Contact me at Mark@markap1.com
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