Lean Quote: Who You Work With Matters To Work Experience

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"Your Job Satisfaction May Have More To Do With Who You Work With Than What You Do."   —  Alison Escalante

A business is only as good as its people. With staff retention, productivity and engagement now ranking as the most topical concerns for modern-day businesses, identifying ways to improve and build job satisfaction for employees must be on the company agenda in order to ensure continued success.

As adults, we spend the majority of our waking hours at work. That means our experience at work determines a great deal of our happiness, or not. We teach our kids that finding their passion, finding the job they will love is the path to a happy life.

A growing body of research findings that job satisfaction has a lot more to do with the people we work with than it does with the actual work we do. According to a Gallup poll, close friendships at work improve employee satisfaction by as much as 50%. Establishing and embedding a strong company culture isn’t achieved overnight; however, employers can help facilitate its development by encouraging socialization and communication. 

Consider the workplace environment and whether colleagues can talk and share ideas. Organized social activities outside of work hours are beneficial; organizations who encourage birthday celebrations or attend events together demonstrate greater engagement and contentment at work. 

Managers have the most significant impact on happiness at work and job satisfaction. Gallup has discovered that 70% of the variation between great workplace engagement and poor workplace engagement can be explained just by the quality of the manager or team leader. Managers are most effective when they make a shift from manager to coach. Engaged employees report higher levels of wellbeing and experience more happiness at work.