The 10 Attributes of Work Happy People
 

I recently picked up a book with the provocative title Work Sucks. Now I acknowledge that this phrase might be off-putting to some people, but it clearly accomplished its job. I was intrigued enough-for two reasons-to pick up the book and read it. First, I don't think work sucks, unless you let it. In fact, I think work is one of the most important and beneficial experiences of life, if you set it up to be. And second, the tag line of the book gave me some hope. It was actually an extension of the title which read, "Work Sucks and How to Fix It. Now that made some sense to me.

The authors of the book, Cali Resssler and Jody Thompson, have developed a concept they call a Results-Only Work Environment or ROWE. At first glance, it would seem to be an innovative and useful idea; after all, it has its very own acronym. The problem is that the concept is only half right. ROWE offers a way to change the experience of work so that it focuses on outcomes, not hours. It's a prescription for our over-scheduled, meeting-happy, email-crazed, face time-biased workplace, and that's a good thing. As the authors put it, "In a Results-Only Work Environment, people can do whatever they want, whenever they want, as long as the work gets done." More than flex scheduling or telecommuting, it encompasses identifying the work product a person must deliver and then leaving them to their own devices to do so.

I like the idea, but as I say, it's just half the solution. Focusing exclusively on the results of a person's work will improve performance and morale only if you're doing the right work. If you get all of your work done, but it's work you hate or even dislike doing-work that doesn't engage or challenge you-then your work will still be unpleasant and unrewarding at the end of the day. To use the vernacular of the book, your work will still suck, it will just suck more efficiently.

Why should we recruiters care? Consider the case study that's detailed in the book. ROWE was actually implemented at the electronics retailer Best Buy. It used the concept to achieve an average productivity gain of 35% with significant-as much as 90%-decreases in voluntary turnover rates. And that's my point. Think what better results Best Buy could have achieved if it used ROWE, but only after it insisted on hiring people who were work happy. In other words, if the first priority at Best Buy was to ensure that its recruiters hired the kinds of people who could truly take advantage of ROWE-people who came to their jobs with the notion that they were there to do great work-then that concept or any of a range of other productivity enhancing techniques could capture truly astonishing gains.

So, how can you tell if someone has that attitude about their work? How can you identify candidates who come to work prepared for and committed to doing great work? I think you look for the following telltale signs. I call them the 10 Attributes of Work Happy People.

Attribute #1. Work happy people are impatient with recruiting processes that operate as supply chains and treat them as an undifferentiated cog. They see themselves as unique individuals who are superior performers and want to be treated as such.

Attribute #2. Work happy people find it easy to answer questions about the work they've done and the results they achieved on-the-job. They don't brag about themselves, but they are definitely aware of their personal track record and proud of it.

Attribute #3. Work happy people interview the hiring manager even as the hiring manager interviews them. They want to know if that person will support and facilitate their work or interfere with or be threatened by their quest to excel.

Attribute #4. Work happy people will probe deeply about the nature of the work an opening involves and make sure it fits their vision of what's important for the next stage in their career. Only after those questions have been satisfactorily answered will they inquire about the salary of the position or the benefits the organization provides.

Attribute #5. Work happy people want to know about the conditions under which they will work. They will evaluate the workplace to determine what kind ofenvironment it provides to workers and whether that environment will help them to perform at their peak.

Attribute #6. Work happy people want information about the organization's commitment to individual development. The will press for details about your in-house training programs, support for attendance at professional conferences and tuition reimbursement programs for both degree and non-degree academicprograms.

Attribute #7. Work happy people will ask to speak with their peers in the work unit where they will be assigned. They want to know the caliber of their coworkers and whether they will be challenged and supported in their work or forced to carry more than their fair share of the load.

Attribute #8. Work happy people will check up on an organization by reading the comments posted online by analysts as well as by current and past employees. As recruiters themselves often do with the comments they find about candidates on social networking sites, work happy people will include what they uncover on the Web in their assessment of the organization.

Attribute #9. Work happy people will ask questions about the CEO and other senior leaders in the organization to determine what priorities and vision they are instilling in its culture. They know that good work can be undermined by bad leaders and are determined to avoid them.

Attribute #10. Work happy people care less about the quality of an organization's recruiting collateral than about the quality of its products and services. They don't want to do high caliber work in an organization that doesn'tvalue it or have a reputation for delivering it.

Now, I know what you're thinking. It's unusual to see a candidate act this way. That's why today's environment is called a War for Talent. It's not a War for Any Talent, however; it's a War for the Best Talent. The Best Talent are very, very rare candidates who fall into just three categories:
·  They are people who possess hard-to-find skills.
·  They are people who love their work and are extremely talented at it.
·  They are people with hard-to-find skills who love their work and are extremelytalented at it.
Those in the first category will do the job. Those in the second and third categories will do the job superbly. Moreover, you can tell when they come through your recruiting process. They think differently. They see things differently. And, most importantly, they act differently. They act as work happy people.

While it's true that employee performance is heavily influenced by what happens after we have recruited and hired a candidate, we can increase the likelihood of successful outcomes if we do more than focus on results only-if we focus first on selecting people with the right outlook to be successful. And those are people who work happy.

Thanks for reading,
Peter

- Peter Weddle

His research has been cited in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Money, Fortune, and Inc. magazine. In addition, WEDDLE's presents its most up-to-the-minute findings on the best techniques and secrets to success in two free bi-weekly newsletters -- one for recruiters and HR professionals and one for job seekers and career activists. Written exclusively by WEDDLE's Publisher, Peter Weddle, every issue is an outside-the-box look at what works and what doesn't and what works best in the American workplace of the 21st Century.