Did you see Marcus Buckingham’s “I Hate My Job” interventions on Oprah on Friday? The show was essentially a follow-up report on four women who had been a part of Marcus’s strengths workshop and coaching in Chicago over the past few months. These women all faced different circumstances in their lives, but they were all “burned out” in one way or another before Marcus came on the scene. After he had helped them discover and pursue their strengths, though, it was amazing to see the change in their lives – more energy, more hope, more vibrance, more passion… more happiness!
Have you ever thought about how many of your employees may hate their jobs? According to the stats shared on that Oprah show, more than 80% of people are unhappy in their jobs. Odds are, some of those people work for you and your company.
As business leaders, we have a responsibility to take care of those who have placed their lives in our hands. And of course we have a responsibility to ensure that our business remains profitable and successful. But don’t the two go hand-in-hand? How successful can your business really be if 80% of your employees are dissatisfied at work? Or, how much more successful could your business be if 80% of your employees were satisfied at work? Perhaps that is the bigger question!
I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days with Marcus Buckingham on his Go Put Your Strengths to Work book tour last year, and as I watched audience members stay “tuned in” throughout his presentation about the strengths movement, and as I saw people stand in line to meet him and thank him for the work he was doing, it was clear that this man was on to something that could change lives, and change organizations.
If you want to take your organization to new heights, sure, you should check your profit margins, rethink your marketing strategy, sharpen your sales tactics, and so on. But don’t overlook how much could be gained by taking the time to see if your people are working in areas of their strengths every day. If not, they’re likely to be unhappy and working at sub-par performance levels. It’s not easy to re-align people and their duties, but since when does being easy have anything to do with being right? When you set people up to play to their strengths every day, you’ll have stronger employees, who make a stronger organization.
Don’t take my word for it, though. Just look at the four women on Oprah. Look at Marcus’ research statistics. The proof is out there.
