8/6/2019 Finding Meaning at Work Interview Dave Ulrich Sept 2010 http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/finding-meaning-at-work-interview-dave-ulrich-sept-2010 1/4 Mihaly Nagy: Your latest book the “Why of Work” is based on a simple premise: “Employees who find meaning at work will have a better work experience that will translate into improved performance, more satisfied customers, and more profitable companies.” This notion is probably not a surprise for anyone, however the question is what specific steps can an organization do in order to achieve this? Is there a recipe for success? Dave Ulrich: We culled the literatures on meaning to identify what specific things leaders could do to instill meaning at work. We identified seven actions leaders could take to become meaning makers, each of which is associated with a question they can answer for themselves and their employees: 1. Identity: Who am I? Employees have more meaning when the strengths which shape their identity are used to strengthen others. 2. Purpose: where am I going? Employees have more meaning when they work in a company that has a meaningful purpose that engages them. 3. Relationships: Who do I travel with? Employees have more meaning when they work with people they admire, respect, and feel connected to. 4. Work environment: What are the routines or culture of our work? Employees have more meaning when their work setting is positive and affirming. 5. Work challenges: What work do I do? Employees have more meaning when they are doing work that excites and energizes them. Finding Meaning at Work Interview with Dave Ulrich Dave Ulrich is a Professor at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and a partner at the RBL Group, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations and leaders deliver value. He studies how organizations build capabilities of leadership, speed, learning, accountability, and talent through leveraging human resources. He has helped generate award winning data bases that assess alignment between strategies, human resource practices and HR competencies. Professor Ulrich has published over 150 articles and book chapters and 22 books. He edited Human Resource Management 1990-1999, served on editorial board of 4 Journals, on the Board of Directors for Herman Miller, and Board of Trustees at Southern Virginia University, and is a Fellow in the National Academy of Human Resources. His recent book, the Why of Work (published with Wendy Ulrich) was #1 best seller for Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Dave Ulrich is listed in Thinkers 50 as a management thought leader Ranked #1 most influential person in HR by HR Magazine, Listed in Forbes as one of the “world’s top five” business coaches, He has consulted and done research with over half of the Fortune 200
Transcript
8/6/2019 Finding Meaning at Work Interview Dave Ulrich Sept 2010
Mihaly Nagy: Your latest book the “Whyof Work” is based on a simple premise:“Employees who find meaning at work
will have a better work experience that willtranslate into improved performance, moresatisfied customers, and more profitablecompanies.” This notion is probably not asurprise for anyone, however the questionis what specific steps can an organizationdo in order to achieve this? Is there a recipefor success?
Dave Ulrich: We culled the literatures on meaning toidentify what specific things leaders could do to instill
meaning at work. We identified seven actions leaderscould take to become meaning makers, each of whichis associated with a question they can answer forthemselves and their employees:
1. Identity: Who am I? Employees have more meaningwhen the strengths which shape their identity areused to strengthen others.
2. Purpose: where am I going? Employees have moremeaning when they work in a company that has ameaningful purpose that engages them.
3. Relationships: Who do I travel with? Employeeshave more meaning when they work with peoplethey admire, respect, and feel connected to.
4. Work environment: What are the routines orculture of our work? Employees have more meaningwhen their work setting is positive and affirming.
5. Work challenges: What work do I do? Employeeshave more meaning when they are doing work thatexcites and energizes them.
FindingMeaning at
WorkInterview with Dave Ulrich
Dave Ulrich is a Professor at the University ofMichigan Ross School of Business and a partner atthe RBL Group, a consulting firm focused on helpingorganizations and leaders deliver value. He studieshow organizations build capabilities of leadership,speed, learning, accountability, and talent through
leveraging human resources. He has helped generateaward winning data bases that assess alignmentbetween strategies, human resource practices andHR competencies. Professor Ulrich has publishedover 150 articles and book chapters and 22 books. Heedited Human Resource Management 1990-1999,served on editorial board of 4 Journals, on the Boardof Directors for Herman Miller, and Board of Trusteesat Southern Virginia University, and is a Fellow inthe National Academy of Human Resources. Hisrecent book, the Why of Work (published with WendyUlrich) was #1 best seller for Wall Street Journaland USA Today. Dave Ulrich is listed in Thinkers 50as a management thought leader Ranked #1 mostinfluential person in HR by HR Magazine, Listedin Forbes as one of the “world’s top five” businesscoaches, He has consulted and done research withover half of the Fortune 200
8/6/2019 Finding Meaning at Work Interview Dave Ulrich Sept 2010
be significantly worse by end 2010 than previousyears. “This highlights the growing tension betweenemployers and employees, who are showing fatiguein response to a lengthy period of stress, uncertaintyand confusion brought about by the recession andtheir company’s actions.” – What specific stepswould you advise to corporations to improve onengagement level in today’s uncertain times?
DU: In a recession, employees who kept their jobsmay act like they are happier because they have a job,but this may be a false positive in that they are notfinding meaning in work, but put up with the workbecause they have to.
When the recession ends, either slowly or quickly,employees who felt mistreated or who found littlemeaning at work are going to be the first to leave.Engagement is often about the hands and feet …employees show up.
Meaning is more than this … it is about what it meanswhen you show up, the heart and soul. Engagementwithout meaning is short term and has little impact.
Many teenage boys are fully engaged in video gamesand they spend time at them, but these games
seldom provide significant personal meaning totheir lives, so they do not have real impact -althoughsome teenage boys would say the games are totallymeaningful to them.
MN: Organizations way too often define “leadership”from the corporate point of view forgetting to use thereference of those who are being led. They far too oftentry to identify “leadership gaps” and make managersto work on their ‘incompetency’ instead of buildingon their strength and talent. What specific stepswould you recommend to take in order to develop aneffective leadership culture that impacts?
DU: We distinguish between leaders and leadership.Leaders are individuals who may be charismatic andvisible, but leadership is embedded into the culture of
an organization. Leaders matter,but leadership matters more.To build sustainable leadershipas a way of life throughout anorganization, leaders need topay attention less to what theydo and more to how what theydo impacts others. In popular
parlance we are told to build onour strengths, but we like to talkabout building on our strengthsthat strengthen others.
To build the right leadershipculture, we start with customers:What do we as an organizationwant to be known for by our bestcustomers? The answer to thisquestion then should shape the
leadership behaviors and actions inside the company.
In some companies, we have furthered the study of
leadership by looking at the media campaigns…whatis the message the company is sending in its printand television ads. How then does this message gettransferred into what leaders inside the companydo.
MN: Let’s talk about the future of HRM, while fromthe mid 1990s the role of HR role has developed from‘administrative expert’ to ‘strategic partner’ (in idealcases at least…) what do you see will be the next wavein the evolution of Human Capital Management?
DU: I just wrote a monograph called “are we thereyet” which talks about the future of HR. The premiseis that HR has to create value not only inside thecompany, but outside with customers, investors, andcommunities.
To create this value, HR must understand thecontext of business and expectations of each specificstakeholder. Then, HR professionals working with linemanagers should improve individual abilities (talent,workforce) and organization capabilities (culture,workplace) to deliver this value.
I am very worried when the field of human capitalonly focuses on talent or individuals. We found in ourresearch that great people will lead to success about15 to 25% of the time, the rest of the time it depends
„ We found in our research thatgreat people will lead to successabout 15 to 25% of the time, the restof the time it depends on the qualityof the team and organization.”
8/6/2019 Finding Meaning at Work Interview Dave Ulrich Sept 2010
I hope HR professionals will continue to invest inimproving talent by helping employees be competent,committed, and contributing, the importance of it isidentified in “ The Why of Work”, but also by investingin creating stronger organizations.
Finally, to deliver value through individuals andorganizations, the HR profession has to continue toupgrade the quality of HR professionals, to designbetter HR departments, to create more innovativeand aligned HR practices, and to provide rigorous HR
analytics.
Quite an agenda…
MN: What excites you?
DU: Professionally, I am committed to learning. I reallylike to ask people what their business challenges arethen to ruminate about those challenges until I canfind a way to make sense out of them.
In the process, I like to find new ways to think aboutnew problems. For example, we are committed tolearning about how what happens inside a companyimpacts (or creates value) to those outside thecompany. We are looking at leadership and HRthrough the eyes of customers and investors.
We are looking at the next step in employeeengagement, being the finding of meaning. We areredefining organizations less by structure with afocus on downsizing and rightsizing and more bycapability and building the right culture.
We are less excited about culture from the inside/
out as a set of values and norms, and more outside/in as a reflection of the firm’s brand translated intoemployee actions.
Stamford Global is an elite provider of businessevents, thought leader research and publications
in the field of Human Capital Management, ProjectManagement, Information Technology and Sales& Marketing. Our motto: “Never Stop Learning” encompasses both our intellectual and professionalambitions.
EHRP is an online networking and knowledgesharing community on Linked In for human capitalprofessionals operated by Stamford Global. Shareideas, get engaged in conversations and networkacross borders. Our main interest lie in LeadershipDevelopment, Employee Engagement, Performanceand Talent Management, Creating High PerformanceWorkplaces.
„ Leaders are individualswho may be charismaticand visible, butleadership is embeddedinto the culture of anorganization. Leadersmatter, but leadershipmatters more.”
