We eagerly welcome personalization into our lives - whether that is the opportunity to personalise our clothes, tins of chocolate or designing and printing amazing customisable greeting cards online. Being able to tailor things to our own personal preferences, style and values creates meaning and worth for us.
Job crafting enables employees to bring this personalization to the workplace.
A happy, healthy workforce is imperative for the success of any organisation. UK employees will work an average of nearly 85,000 hours in their lifetime [1]- the equivalent for spending approximately a decade working solidly night and day. Looking after our wellbeing and the wellbeing of our colleagues is therefore essential.
Most us will have experience of self-assembling something. You can buy ‘flat pack’ kits to build almost anything, ranging from houses and cars to bookshelves and desks. For some it can be a joy, for others (myself included) it can sometimes be a bit of a struggle.
But what can our experiences of self-assembly teach us about work? It turns out that the role we play in constructing something, changes our relationship with it.
Ultimately, we value what we build.
It seems like everyone, and every organisation, wants to become more resilient at the moment.
When I’m asked to talk about, and train people, on building resiliency, I find that I’m often starting at a disadvantage.
The ideas that people have about what resilience means - at least from a scientific perspective - are often both mistaken and fixed. The common misconception about resilience is that it is the ability to remain strong, stoic and defiant in the face of challenge and adversity.
