Whether you’re running a business or working within one, enjoying your work-life plays a big part in having greater happiness in your life as a whole. After all, we do spend most of our week working!
This blog will discuss how loving your job positively affects you and why it is so important. It will also look at the importance of having staff and team members who are happy in their jobs and finally it will offer some key tips on how to feel more positive about your job.
What does it mean to love your job?
When you love your job, you will see it as a choice and something that you like to do rather than a burden on your time; there will be many aspects that you genuinely look forward and you’ll have a strong sense of satisfaction when you achieve your goals or widen your skillset.
Understandably, there may be aspects or tasks that you do not look forward to as much or feel you are not as accomplished in; however, you can learn to enjoy the rewarding feeling of completing the challenges or difficult parts that come with a role. We’ve all had that feeling of satisfaction when we’ve completed the dreaded thing on our to-do list!
If we can strike the right balance, finding happiness and love for your job will contribute to your everyday happiness. RJ Sternberg is a psychologist who is renowned for his research on love, happiness, and intelligence and the relationships between them. His work suggests that when you love your job you will feel passionate, connected, and committed to your work. When you have these three components, you will often find yourself looking forward to your work or most elements of your work and being excited to start your job most days. Understandably, it is hard to dread a job that often brings you happiness!
Why loving your job is important:
- Better quality of work
- Increased productivity
- Better mental health
- Better overall health and wellbeing
- Better job retention
- Happier everyday life
- Increased motivation in all activities
- Stronger engagement on tasks
- Fewer mistakes within work
- More confidence
When you love your job and find yourself in a role that suits you and your lifestyle, you will find so many added positives to your life. When you love a job, your work is more consistent, and focus is easier. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychologist reported that the state of flow known as “being in the zone” mainly comes from finding enjoyment in your work. When you are in this state of flow, you become more creative, focussed and often think of ideas and solutions a lot faster.
As a result of better work, you will likely receive more benefits from your company and feel a stronger sense of contribution within your team. Having a happy work-life and love for your job can encourage healthier behaviours outside of the workplace and prevent physical and mental illness in the future.
Steve Jobs said that the only way to produce great work was by loving your job as this will lead to success in the workplace.
Importance of having employees who love their job:
- Better employee retention
- More positive representation of a company
- Quality of work is improved
- More cohesion and collaboration within the workplace
- Confidence that your employees care about their impact and the company
- Higher employee attendance numbers
- More positive work environment
- A place for better communication between colleagues
Having a work environment with colleagues who have a passion for their job is extremely beneficial to a company and its growth. One way a company can ensure their employees are happy is by regularly collecting employee engagement and happiness surveys, feedback groups, or 1:1s and implementing any ideas or correcting any issues. Employees will feel valued and listened to and in turn, this will likely lead to an increase in employee retention.
How to Grow Your Love for Your Job
- Organise your tasks, splitting up your less preferred tasks with your most preferred
- Try to surround yourself with a network of supportive colleagues
- Celebrate achievements such as completing a difficult task
- Avoid rushing to prevent stress
- Manage stress with mindfulness, meditation, or a hobby or interest that allows you to relax and free your mind
It is understandable that when starting a new job, you may feel nervous and perhaps not have a strong love for it straight away, but it is important to try and achieve this by staying positive through the challenges so that you can grow with your job and company.
Many people feel stressed before their workday has even started so it is important to plan and prevent rushing so that you can start your day with confidence. When you rush you cause stress and anxiety and over time this becomes your default mental state. This means you then find it hard to feel relaxed, causing a negative relationship and association with your job.
It is also important to accept when a job is not suiting you and that you may need to look for another role that will allow you to reignite the enjoyment for your career, where you can experience the excitement and balance within your life that you achieve from having a happy job.
A Few Final Thoughts
In conclusion, it is evident that having a job that you love plays a key part in the harmony of your life. It contributes to your health, lifestyle, and quality of work.
If you are a manager who wants to gauge the general happiness of your team and gather their honest feedback on what they love about their job as well as any issues or improvements, then please get in touch. We can work with you to design a bespoke survey via e-mails and/or interviews that will help you measure this and gain invaluable feedback to help with your employee retention and the overall happiness of your colleagues. We also advise on how to implement the feedback most effectively. Get in touch to find out how we can help: +44 (0) 1625 541 030 / enquiries@carrotpharma.co.uk
Additionally, if you are not happy in your current role and you crave that passion and love for a role again, we can work with you to help you find a job that compliments your life and reignites your love for work! Visit our jobs page and check out our current vacancies.