Business executive • FEBRUARY 11
Have you got meaning?
Dave and Wendy Ulrich suggest seven drivers to creating “meaning” at work
W
hen there is a crisis – like the need to cut costs,
keep customers, or outsmart competitors – many
leaders move quickly to tackle the problem, then
move to the next crisis. Now, as the economy slowly
begins to recover, leaders need to shift from attacking
short-term problems to developing long-term
opportunities. Emerging from the economic recession
will require us to overcome a sort of psychological
recession. Many employees and leaders are fatigued and
want more out of work than endless responses to crises.
The extent to which leaders deal with this need will define
their future successes.
As organisations emerge from the recession, leaders
need to become “meaning makers”, and help employees
replace deficit with abundant thinking. Abundance is
found not in circumstances or events, but in the value we
place on those events and the way we interpret their
impact on us. Meaning is not inherent in events; it is made
by people. There is good news and not-so-good news.
Good news: the meaning of our lives is not controlled by
what happens; we can find purpose, value, and also
happiness in a wide variety of even unpleasant
DR WENDY ULRICH circumstances. Not-so-good news: we have to work at this
is a practising meaning-making process. We have to determine what
psychologist. She has work means, at either a corporate or a personal level.
written books on
personal change,
Leaders have the primary responsibility for this meaning-
provided training in making process.
HR and personal At a personal level, inner dialogues shape this meaning.
change and meaning, If I tell myself I’m not paid well because I’m not respected
and taught at
for my skills, I build a different meaning than if I tell
Brigham Young
University.
myself how glad I am to work for an organisation that is
financially responsible. If I tell myself my boss’s criticism
means he is trying to help me improve because he values
my contribution and wants me to succeed, I build different
meaning than if I tell myself his criticism is a forerunner
to my getting sacked for incompetence. If I see my
company as a major contributor to solving the energy
crisis, I have a different feeling about the value of my
labour than if I am just crunching numbers for someone
else’s selfish agenda. At a corporate level, leaders can help
shape the meaning that employees assign to corporate
DR DAVE ULRICH is
a professor at the realities, focusing corporate consciousness on
Ross School of opportunities instead of problems.
Business, University In our research to unravel the meaning of meaning, we
of Michigan. He has synthesise and report theory and results. We also like to
won numerous
ask random people in airports and lifts what they like
international awards
for his ideas, about their job. Answers vary from “the challenge” to “the
teaching, and people” to “having free time to read” to “Are you kidding?
research. I hate my job.” Some of the people giving these answers
make a lot of money in big companies; others sweep up
BEXFeb11 pp06-07 Ulrich.indd 6
after the people who make big money. But neither position
nor salary seem to have much to do with finding meaning
in work.
Our research confirms what people experience; even
in horrible work settings that are degrading and possibly
dangerous, some people thrive. This doesn’t mean they
are happy about their circumstances, but suggests that
they manage to find meaning despite them. “Finding
meaning” is probably a misnomer, however. Meaning is
not a dropped coin that we pick up by chance. It is more
like a good piece of art that we make. People have to create
the meaning of their work and their lives; that process
requires skill and practice, not just luck.
Leaders cannot afford to leave the creation of meaning
to chance. People who discover meaning at work also tend
to work harder, more creatively, and with more tenacity,
giving the companies that employ them a boost in the
marketplace. When people make sense of their jobs they
also make cents for their companies. Leaders can’t ignore
this bottom line. Data to support this assertion is often
indirect, but consider a few interesting scenarios:
•Over a 10-year period (1998 to 2008) “best
companies to work for” have a 6.8 % stock
appreciation vs. 1.0% for the average firm.
•61 hospitals in the UK had a 7% decline in death rate
of patients when they invested in the well-being of
their staff.
•Only 13% of disengaged employees would
recommend their company’s products or services,
compared with 78% of engaged employees.
•The probability of an Initial Public Offering
succeeding goes from 60 to 79% when the new
company invests in its people.
•Disengaged employees are 10 times more likely to
say they will leave their company within a year.
Such examples support the conclusion that when
companies invest in the well-being of employees, they
invest in their own bottom line. But what connects money
spent on people and money earned? Should companies
invest in better healthcare packages? Childcare facilities?
Cruises for high performers? Parks for pets at work?
Any of these things might be valued by one employee
or another, but we believe leaders can make more
informed decisions about how to motivate and engage
their employees by considering the question of meaning.
Even in unfavourable circumstances, people can
experience an activity as meaningful when it reflects their
own values, connects them with people they like, raises
20/1/11 15:05:17

their sense of competence, or gives them an “ah-ha”
moment of insight. From what we know of how the human
brain works, the ability to create meaning is also enhanced
by challenge, (solving a problem that is neither too hard
nor too easy), emotional safety (aided by friendship,
fairness, and self-esteem), autonomy (structure but not
micromanagement), and perhaps most importantly, by
learning from experienced meaning-makers. We learn to
create meaning in the same way we learn most things –
from watching and listening to others who do it well.
Examples include leaders who help shape a vision that
is engaging to others; who relate stories that help people
make sense of the past and imagine the future; who tap
into the unique desires and values of individuals, and who
engage people’s hearts as well as their heads and hands.
Leaders can more systematically help employees find
meaning at work by using seven drivers of meaning:
1. Help employees identify and creatively use the
traits and values (like integrity, leadership, love of
learning, kindness, etc.) they most identify with.
How can leaders help employees develop strengths
that strengthen others?
2. Match the purposes (insight, achievement,
connection, or empowerment) that motivate
employees in the jobs they do, helping them create a
link between their work and the results that matter
most to each person.
How can leaders help others create the story that
connects their work to their passions?
3. Encourage friendships and key relationship-
building skills so as to create high-performing,
high-relating teams.
How can employees learn to connect with each other
both socially and emotionally?
4. Promote positive work environments through
attention to characteristics like humility,
selflessness, order and openness.
How can leaders promote a physical and emotional
work environment with positive routines that build
confidence for employees and customers alike?
5. Help people identify and work at the types of
challenges that line up with their personal
experience of engagement.
How can leaders customise what work employees do,
and increase the work stream and creativity?
6. Build in time, for both individual and corporate-
level self-reflection. This will help people discover
lessons from setbacks, develop cheerfulness, and
get ahead of the pace of change.
How can leaders consciously develop ideas with impact
and spread them throughout the organisation?
7. Encourage civility and delight from little things
that personalise and civilise the world of work (like
time to chat, recognition, praise, friendly
competitions, playfulness, humour, and creativity).
How can leaders promote civility and delight without
turning the factory or office into a playroom?
BEXFeb11 pp06-07 Ulrich.indd 7
Business executive • FEBRUARY 11
As organisations emerge from the recession,
leaders need to become “meaning makers”,
and help employees replace deficit with
abundant thinking
Leaders are the experienced “others”; we look to for help
in finding our own “why of work.” We hope to begin a dialogue
that will also help the leaders explore the “how” of creating
this essential “why.”
In recent research workshops we have talked about
meaning. Participants universally understand. From the
newest office boy to the soon-to-retire, people understand the
search for meaning. And most recognise the connections
between making meaning and making money. We ask people
where they find meaning in their lives, and get these responses:
“family, exercise, community service, gardening, yoga,
meditation, travel, music” and so on. We then point out the
sad, but obvious, reality: most seek and see the value of
meaning, but they all find it outside of work. Very few people
see their work setting as a place to enhance meaning! Leaders
truly have an uphill task, not just in understanding and
confirming meaning, but in making it happen at work.
The ability to make meaning happen at work is difficult,
because most know what it is, and that it matters, but are not
able to bring it into the work setting.
The seven drivers identified offer leaders a starting point
for the creation of meaning at work. Leaders who are serious
about being “meaning makers” will make a difference to
themselves, their employees, customers, and investors.
Contact: dou@umich.edu or wulrich@rbl.net
Book offer
We reviewed The Why of Work in our November
2010 issue. Business Executive readers can order
The Why of Work (RRP £19.99) at the special
discounted price of £16 (including p&p in the
UK). To order, telephone McGraw-Hill on:
(+44)(0)1628 502720 with your credit card
details and quote this special offer code
‘WWBE11’. The offer ends on 31 July 2011.
20/1/11 15:05:18