Effectiveness and job satisfaction

We can all improve our skills to be more effective in our work, although it is not always possible to link poor results with incompetence. While continuing to advance in permanent development, we must attend to the neutralization of possible endogenous and exogenous barriers to effectiveness. Indeed, at times, we feel mentally blocked or fatigued, bewildered by environmental anomie, weakened by negative emotions, victims of dispersed care, and even affected by personality disorders... All this limits our effectiveness, and also our quality of lifetime. In this PsychologyOnline article, we have set out to establish and define a relationship between Effectiveness and job satisfaction.

Index

1. Introduction
2. Let's reflect
3. Effectiveness and satisfaction
4. The autotelic manager
5. Attention to attention
6. Endogenous barriers or obstacles to effectiveness
7. How to promote enjoyment
8. Conclusions

In our development and without a doubt, we can all advance in aspects such as knowledge or emotional intelligence,

In effect, we fall — sometimes it seems irreversibly — into the vicious circle of negative emotions, mental fatigue, nervous tension and conduct disorderswhile, not so far from our reach, there is another - this virtuous one - in which the fulfillment and satisfaction of individual and collective achievement, nurture intrinsic motivation and performance itself. How to end the vicious archetype and enter the virtuous, healthier and more constructive circle? Or, in other words, how to reduce negative emotions and increase positive ones? We can take anxiolytics, call a good coach, change of scene...; But before, or at the same time, we must make an individual effort of self-knowledge and self-understanding. If we were already acceptably effective, we could reflect on our quality of life and on the contribution to that of the environment. All of this could lead to a profitable reengineering of ourselves.

Reflection does not seem like a frequent exercise, but we must practice it for the benefit of self-knowledge and to question our assumptions, get closer to realities and align ourselves with an exhilarating purpose. A wrong assumption incapacitates us, blocks us, binds us, even if we are not very aware of it. Naturally, we are not always wrong, but we can say that our vision of reality is usually incomplete, partial, and that we sometimes confuse the goals. During meditation or reflection we can become aware of it, if we manage to slow down the inferences and broaden the horizon; It would seem that, through self-critical reflection, we discuss with ourselves, we question our performance and goals, we review our reasoning, we discover new connections, we become aware of our defensive routines, we observe our attitudes and we perceive areas for improvement in our perfectible profile. Let's reflect on what we propose, and set options.

We have certainly been postulating lifelong learning and development, and it is, without a doubt, an unquestionable mantra in the professional field. But, as we suggested, there is not always incompetence behind the fact that things go wrong: a company can bankrupt its good trajectory for an unfortunate strategic decision - or for many other reasons -, even if the learning is practiced permanent. Of course, we must hit the knowledge, skills, attitudes or habits that we have to incorporate into our profile, but also, at the same time, we must get rid of our flaws (and excesses), review our mental models, become aware of our biases, attend to collective synergy, pursue shared goals, delve into the mechanisms of our decisions, leave room for intuition genuine.

Although it sounds digressive, I remember when, at the end of the 80s, I was sent to a seminar on Management by Objectives in a residential regime, for a week. That convinced me, but when, the following Monday, I returned to the office, I experienced renewed disagreements with my somewhat neurotic boss, and finally I had to forget much of what I heard in the seminar. I myself became more neurotic, critical, and whistleblower. The reader will have other experiences, but I would like to emphasize that it is not enough to learn continuously; at least, it is not enough to do it individually: it must be done collectively, and without senior management considering itself excluded from the need. It is, in effect, about generating collective results.

Extending the digression a few lines more, even today many middle managers see their collaborators as such (assistants, extension of themselves ...) and not so much as professionals capable of acting autonomously after objectives formulated. For the benefit of individual and collective effectiveness, and professional satisfaction, it may be necessary to review the compatibility, in each case, of professionally pursue goals and dedicate yourself to the boss's errands; in fact, each particular case must be solved.

Let me repeat it. Our inexcusable efficiency often comes taking important doses of quality of life, in form of negative emotions, physical and mental fatigue, and also visible or underlying nervous tension, which also dot family life; These elements - negative emotions, fatigue, tension, disorders - are among those that, to a greater extent, hamper the effectiveness or performance of managers.

Stuck in this vicious circle, we have to apply more and more effort, but disorder of conscience leads to worse results: As is well known, this archetype is frequent inside and outside the company. However, it is necessary to prevent, and if necessary break, this kind of curse, and generate another circle - the virtuous - in which fulfillment and satisfaction with achievement nurture intrinsic motivation and one's own performance. High performance and certain autotelic (vocational) enjoyment of professional performance can go hand in hand, although this does not forces to model beliefs and attitudes, practice systemic reflection, cultivate new values ​​and strengthen the self-control.

If one day we wrote our memories, perhaps we would see that life was what had been happening to us while our thoughts or feelings pointed elsewhere; but the fact is that at every moment we are as happy as our thoughts and feelings allow us. What we have in consciousness - its harmony or entropy - is what marks our well-being or discomfort; but, at the same time, what we have in consciousness depends on where we direct our attention. Thus, it seems that if we govern the attention, we have a good part of the battle won. The thing is, indeed, somewhat more complex, but we have to reflect more on attention, such as intention or intuition.

We must insist on these last ideas. Before the development of our reflective consciousness, the human being, like other beings, enjoyed a a certain relative tranquility, certainly disturbed by danger, pain, hunger, and desire sexual. But it must be said that our brain development gave way to the forms of psychic entropy that today cause us so much distress: frustration, guilt, loneliness, adversity, distrust, envy, defiance, indignation, options, shame, hatred... and even love. This evolution of consciousness also gave rise to roles and specializations, the development of skills and, ultimately, the complexity of the human being. It could be thought that it —complexity— makes it difficult to achieve happiness, but it has also generated resources to promote it and, in any case, there is no possible regression.

So we have to find a way to mitigate or neutralize the troubles. It seems that the way to bring order - that is, to create harmony in consciousness - passes through establish an end, a great goal, an eagerness, a meaning, a direction. Psychologists speak of "self-interest", or "vital issue", to refer to what a person wants to do above all else, and the means used to do so. In the management literature we speak of particular design, of purpose. People who have a desire of this nature can give meaning to everything that happens to them: it will be positive if it brings them closer to their goal, or negative if it moves them away; For people who lack a transcendent eagerness, it is more difficult to interpret events. In other words: "When the psychic energy of a person is put to the service of the vital subject of her, the conscience achieves harmony". So says the prestigious Hungarian-born American professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

We have seen that the presence of goals tends to reduce the disorder of consciousness because it guides efforts; that is indeed the case, unless the chosen (or, to some extent, induced) goal generates constant frustration. It would be better to speak of negentropic goals, that is, of achievable and healthy goals that contribute to social well-being. That is where the religious vocation seems to walk, but it is also possible to speak of the professional, social or political vocation. Robert K. Cooper: "Design is the inner compass of our life and our work." If our purpose in life is in tune with the objectives and strategies of our company, we are closer to the effectiveness and satisfaction sought. For managers, the purpose is fundamental, and, if they are not very defined, they should adopt one that is related to the vision or mission of the company to which they contribute. Think of the street sweeper: depending on how you look at it, his mission is to sweep or, more enrichingly, to keep the city clean. Or at the doctor: prescribing drugs, or ensuring the health and well-being of his patients.

The idea of ​​an autotelic entrepreneur or manager would point to social contribution goalssuch as puncture-free tires, leak-free houses, tastier foods, low-consumption appliances, remedies for illnesses, unique wines, wrinkle-free fabrics, etc.; But there are also more exotic entrepreneurs and managers who, whatever the activity of the company, focus on sales and profits, export, alliances, media resonance, or reduction of templates. In principle, we would relate more satisfaction with professional autothelia —with enjoyment related to the activity of the company—, but the reader can see it differently. Specifically, there are, for example, winemakers who are proud of their wines, which are surely the majority, but there are also wine entrepreneurs who always talk about their export activity, ebitda, investments, marketing, etc.

Adjective admitted, let's go to the traits that define the profile of the autotelic individual; It will surely be easy to agree on the need and timing of the following intellectual, emotional, and spiritual traits. The autotelic manager:

1. Live in the here and now, without losing perspective.
2. Reconcile effectiveness and quality of life.
3. Believe in what he does and in the goals he pursues.
4. It is socially responsible.
5. Learn and develop continuously.
6. Savor the accomplishments without indulging in complacency.
7. Manage your attention and intent properly.
8. Cultivate positive emotions.
9. Show good humor and self-confidence.
10. It is based on the win-win principle.
11. He takes on challenges and his motivation is intrinsic.
12. He is empathetic and synergistic in his area of ​​influence.
13. Take advantage of intuition and reconcile it with reason.
14. Cultivate order and peace in his consciousness.
15. He is a thoughtful, critical and creative thinker.

It might be thought that, to label the manager of our day, we have already been using the word "leader". Although we do different readings of this concept, leadership basically constitutes a style of exercising people management, and each organization finishes defining it according to its culture and its realities; it aims, above all, at interpersonal relationships with collaborators or followers. On the other hand, the idea of ​​an autotelic manager or professional points especially to the intrapersonal, to relationships with ourselves, to our intimate way of acting and perceiving things. A leader may or may not fit the autotelic profile, and an autotelic individual may or may not fit the leader profile.

It is necessary to speak something more of the attention; whether we pay more attention to the positive or the negative, this or that, ourselves or others... We can be sure that if the chosen goals facilitate the desired harmony in consciousness, everything will be better. There are people who concentrate their attention, and there are others who disperse it; perhaps the latter lack a purpose, a design... It can also be said that some people have a tendency to fix their attention on the positive things and others on the negative ones; that some people attend to details or nuances that are invaluable to others; that some people distinguish better than others when it comes to attending to what is important and identifying what is superfluous. Let us remember, by the way, that attention, a kind of psychic energy, is a limited resource, and that personality is changing and we can, to some extent, accelerate mental maturity and mastery of ourselves themselves.

Since attention determines what appears in our consciousness - and thus optimists are happier than pessimists - it should be remembered that job satisfaction also depends on the person himself and, specifically, on how he manages his attention and orders his awareness. And we had already suggested it: concentrating on the task and, if necessary, mentally isolating yourself from unpleasant surroundings can be highly recommended; all this well understood, and without losing the synergy behind the collective objectives, fundamental in organizations.

The quality of life at work — setting aside parameters that are perhaps more commonly used such as the schedule, interpersonal relationships or the physical environment — goes through putting greater attention to the daily task, and enjoy it as if we had chosen it out of vocation (I hope that was the case), and not so much for a career, or simply to win money. In the case of managers, the approach to the task and the collaborators will sound disturbing, because what the companies postulate is certainly the orientation to results and the achievement of objectives; But, without losing perspective, we have to live in the present: if not, the future will hardly come. The aforementioned American psychologist of Hungarian origin tells us, speaking of the quality of life: “The problem occurs when people become so obsessed with what they want to achieve that they no longer get pleasure from it Present. When this happens, they lose their chance to be happy. "

But, if in our professional practice we make the effort to live sufficiently in the here and now, the same author makes us realize that we can enjoy the activity and even enter states of high concentration and satisfaction, and equally high performance. This is the case, and it seems to be more frequent, when the task, testing our ability, stimulates us sufficiently; then, concentrated, we lose the notion of the environment and the passage of time, and we wish not to be interrupted: it is the state of flow or fluidity.

The complex functioning of organizations often demands routine or bureaucratic tasks that we do not like, and business life also includes ungrateful moments and decisions; But let us also promote moments of concentration, of negentropy, because they blend high performance with enjoyment. In short, we could be very comfortable writing a report, visiting a client, solving a problem, assigning tasks, preparing a catalog or an offer, giving a lecture, installing electronic equipment, searching for information on the Internet, designing a program or purchasing new knowledge. But we would have to be focused on the task. These states of fluidity, studied by Csikszentmihalyi, are characterized by the following:

1. They occur when we face challenges that we can take on.
2. We are absolutely focused on the activity.
3. There are clear goals to achieve, and we achieve them.
4. The activity provides us with immediate feedback.
5. We seem to be meeting the challenge with surprising ease.
6. We do not worry about the risks or dangers that the activity entails.
7. We lose track of ourselves.
8. The sense of the duration of time is altered.
9. The activity becomes an end in itself: it becomes autotelic.
10. We feel a certain intimate euphoria of triumph.

Do you identify yourself with these states of concentration and professional enjoyment, or, on the contrary, are they frequent victims of interruptions, anxiety, confusion, obstructionism, politicking, routine, fear…?

Not only must we provide ourselves with catalysts for success, but we must also neutralize our endogenous barriers (apart from possible exogenous), in order to obtain good, successful, results. In the case of managers and executives, just as we identified the competencies, it would be possible to effectively identify the barriers. At first glance, obstacles are as fatal as they are sadly frequent, although now we highlight only a few, by way of anti-competition. There is more, but let's see:

1. The excessive cult of the ego.
2. The presumption of infallibility.
3. Greed for money or power.
4. The rule of authority over rationality.
5. Clinging to strategic or tactical mistakes.
6. The adulteration of goals.
7. The disconnection with the inner and outer reality.

Perhaps improvisation has led me to suggest the same thing in different words, but there are certainly more things that cloud the view of the manager or executive; I myself say, for example, that the worst thing that can happen to a young manager is to be very successful too soon. But, although we do not incur these and other capital sins (many more than seven), it must be admitted that the usual load of nervous tension, fatigue psychic, environmental entropy, frustration and negative emotions, reduces our capacities, scatters our attention, and makes our lives bitter... in many ways Business. Interesting is the book La intelligente unsuccessful, by José Antonio Marina, which underlines the numerous gaps between intelligence and the pursued success.

In other words, even though apparently competent, we can see our aspiration or expectation of success frustrated, because we have been blinded by greed. or vanity, intuition failed, fatigue or laziness conquered, complacency stopped, a false inference diverted, lack of Confidence, distracted, poorly focused attention, dejected adversity or confused, lack of definition of goals and means, among other factors disruptive.

We have already suggested that, once some unquestionable needs are resolved, the most intimate professional satisfaction passes through having chosen in conformity with the vocation, for developing a job that makes us enjoy, for savoring each moment of achievement without incurring the complacency. It also happens to set ourselves near and achievable goals, far from delusions of the future. It happens to know ourselves and to know others. It goes through the harmony between our capabilities and our goals. Go through realistic optimism, inner peace and the experience of flow. Martin Seligman, father of the Positive Psychology Movement, gives us his recipe for increasing job satisfaction:

1. Identify your character strengths (eagerness to learn, open mind, originality, perspective, integrity, team spirit, self-control, etc.) plus characteristics.
2. Choose a job that, consistent with your training, allows you to regularly put your personal strengths to use.
3. If necessary and possible, reorient your current work to make more use of your strengths.
4. Select collaborators whose characteristic strengths are in line with the work to be performed.

In short, just as Covey speaks of good habits, Goleman of emotional competencies or Senge of his disciplines, Martin Seligman highlights important personal strengths (wit, perspective, perseverance, objectivity, prudence, sense of humor, humility, etc.) with the idea that our professional activity is aligned with those that have the most presence in our profile.

The phenomenology of attention seems almost as complex as the underlying biochemistry, but I want to suggest to the reader to improve, as much as possible, their professional autothelia and their quality of life, starting with a stage of sensitization. If you think it is necessary, go to a good coach, but, above all, be aware, if there was not one In fact, we have a moral imperative to be happy and to make the people in our lives happy. environment. Professional efficiency is inexcusable, but happiness cannot be ignored. In addition, you already know that they form a solid package, if we bet on the virtuous circle. To the extent of your responsibility, make your company a suitable catalyst. Do not hesitate, if you need it, to ask for help for it: it is worth it.

We already know that the effectiveness and quality of life in each organization depend, to a large extent, on Senior Management and their decisions; But let us accept that there is a space of its own, perhaps an area of ​​influence, in which a special microclimate could emerge, better (or worse) than the general climate. Each manager and worker has to cultivate more self-knowledge, perhaps with the help of feedback, reflective thinking or intuitive contribution, to avoid deficiencies, biases and disorders that hinder the achievement of the desired results.

Furthermore, we cannot forget in these paragraphs the changes that the new economy of knowledge and innovation is introducing in companies. New profiles of managers and workers are being consolidated, which seem to underline the importance, not only of knowledge and professional competence, but also of autothelia in performance and self-leadership. If it did not sound very catechetical, I would say, finally, that we must all be proactive and effective professionals, live the fullness that corresponds to us as human beings, and contribute to the well-being of our immediate environment and of the society that surrounds.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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