The value of our jobs
Dr. Selim Erhan | TLT From the Editor December 2021
Sometimes job satisfaction is all a matter of perspective.
The value of anything is in the eye of the beholder. The same object or subject can change in value just by the perspective of the viewer. Recently I was reading an article titled “How to fix your job so that you love it, in three steps.”1 The article mentions that a significant number of people do not like their jobs. It was suggested to think in the line of, “Why not try to change your point of view?” The article provides tips on how to focus on one’s role, even giving it a more fitting name so you remind yourself of the importance of your contributions—in other words, acknowledging your importance. This brought back memories from the many different interactions I have had in the industry. I also noticed that the value given to a job was sometimes related to the position of the person in the company. There were studies showing that workers on an assembly line that thought they had no power over decision making were not very productive. When a stop button was installed by every worker, enabling them to stop the assembly line at will, morale improved, and productivity increased significantly. Moreover, to everyone’s surprise, no one used the stop button during this study!
Not all of us are working at an assembly line. Therefore, I like the point of view that resembled a role in an organization to a chain. Each position is linked to the next, sharing the load. I believe that most people see their role as part of a puzzle in a very large picture. The bigger the company or even the country, the smaller that piece gets in their mind. In that point of view, if a small piece goes missing, the whole picture really does not change. But in reality, we all know it changes! I believe every job is very important to the degree that it becomes vital if we see each role as a link in a chain, where one end is connected at the top and the other end to the load the chain needs to hold. We can add a safety wire running through but, in general, if one link breaks, the load drops. Every position or link naturally will have a different responsibility and pay grade, but that should not be confused with the importance of the link in the overall mission.
Have we not experienced a whole company pushed to the brink of bankruptcy by one wrong strategy? A customer relation damaged after years of research, creating a product, a market and a willing customer because of someone turning on the wrong valve, contaminating the product and ruining a trial? A truck that was not cleaned properly, or an employee not showing up at a critical junction causing delays that strain relations, or worse, shutting down a plant? In fact, in most cases when we perform a job, we are the ones who see it, evaluate it and approve it. It is a heavy responsibility but brings great value if you look at it that way. So, if we think the job is not suitable to our skill sets, then we should change that job, but if we think that we are not valuable, then we are wrong and can change that point of view that will bring great satisfaction.
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Dr. Selim Erhan is director of business development for Process Oils Inc. in Trout Valley, Ill. You can reach him at serhan@processoilsinc.com.