Before you quit, try these 5 tips to give meaning to your job

in collaboration with

Lionel Neveux (Occupational psychologist at AlterNego)

More desire, more energy… Are you no longer finding enough meaning in your work to the point that you are considering resigning? Before taking this step, it may be useful to ask yourself the right questions that can restore a certain balance. Lionel Neveux, work psychologist, discusses with us the meaning of work and how to rediscover it through reframing and a little introspection.

What does finding meaning in your work mean?

But what does it mean to have a job that is meaningful to you? Lionel Neveux reminds us that the notion can encompass two things: meaning in one’s work and at work. In one, it is a question of being satisfied with one’s scope of action in one’s employment and what one does there, in the other, ethical questions, sharing values ​​with what the employer in the broad sense undertakes at the social level, etc. “We can sometimes act on one or the other, but in both cases, finding meaning is absolutely necessary for the individual. The question that was not even asked 30 years ago has been increasing for around fifteen years, and even exploded during Covid, during which people largely asked themselves the question of meaning. our expert teaches us.

Five pillars that give meaning to work

But when meaning is lacking, what can we play on? For Lionel Neveux, the employee’s attachment to their work environment is calibrated on 5 pillars which give us this feeling of satisfaction:

• The pillar of trust;
• That of autonomy;
• That of recognition;
• That of balance;
• And finally that of meaning.

While knowing that the meaning itself could come from the first 4 pillars. The answer is then found in the questioning and “what I can put in place” at its own level to move the lines.

The 5 actions to take before thinking about resigning

To nourish these 5 pillars, our psychologist invites us to take stock of various aspects of work:

• Really ask yourself the question of your place in the organization. Honest questioning,”What am I looking for today?” And “Do I have a sufficient understanding of my work?” What can I do to better understand what is being asked of me? A question that directly affects confidence and autonomy. The answer should provide you with clarity.
• Develop your skills. There is also the question of skills which can quickly give meaning to your position. “Then I enter a learning phase to obtain new skills, additional qualifications, through training for example.” This makes it possible to act on the logic of autonomy and recognition, underlines our expert.
• Strengthen connections with others. The quality of the connection within my work itself, with others, can also be a lever. “When there is sometimes such tension that it no longer makes you want to meet certain people, it can be useful to ask yourself what you can do on a personal level to make relationships more fluid and improve your state of mind.”
• Ensure a good balance between personal and professional life. The question of balance is also at the heart of the notion of meaning today. As such, our expert advises finding out: what employer policy is in force, allowing me to establish teleworking rules, etc. to organize myself better. Can my environment meet this balance of life time? “We will not be able to revote the rules already negotiated, but this still allows us to realize how we can register personally and personalize this notion of balance.”
• Moving from the meaning of work to the meaning “at work”. That is to say, look at whether the ethical practices given by my employer are in line with my values. “But before even looking at whether there is total cohesion, the important thing is to allow yourself to see what is really important to you. Sometimes, we have a diffuse feeling of inadequacy, when the inadequacy does not come from the great values ​​themselves, but from a discrepancy in one of the other themes mentioned.

Leaving everything to start a new life green is an alternative for some. But from the experience of our expert, before reaching this extreme, “sometimes it only takes a few adjustments for the beginnings of meaning to return to an individual and are sufficient to set in motion a circle that is more virtuous than vicious.” Before resignation, there is therefore some room for maneuver to take place.

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