Structural energy resources

Next to the 7 personal resilience competences and the social energy resources the structural energy resources play an important role concerning the development of a resilient work- and life-style. There are three aspects in regard of these structural energy resources, and we will take a closer look at each of them in the following weeks. These three aspects are actually also three areas in which one can really have influence by making some small changes.

1. A positive, fitting and stimulating working-place

2. Plenty of challenge to stay resilient

3. Healthy finances

A positive, fitting and stimulating working-place:

Daniel Pink addresses, in his book ‘Drive’, 3 things in regard to ones work that everyone needs to stay intrinsically motivated on the long-run:

1. Growing in your skills

2. A unique place, with enough autonomy

3. Meaning and inspiration

If all of these 3 elements are part of your job, your job will be an energy resource for you. So, doing your job will give you energy, instead of costing you your energy.

Nowadays we talk about ‘jobcrafting’. Consciously designing your own working-environment. It enables you to have more fun, and to gain more energy from practically doing the same kind of work, just by creating and realising some small and realistic changes. Besides, society and economy have been changing a lot over the past 10 years. People don’t change job or company as easily and swiftly as they used to. Especially not anymore because of not really liking the boss or the colleagues all that much. Therefore, if one is discussing ‘jobcrafting’ and optimizing Daniel Pink his 3 elements (skills, a unique place with enough autonomy, and meaning) one also has to take a look at another element: the market!

In his book ‘the start-up of you’ Reid Hoffman (the co-founder of linkedin) discusses this topic. He argues that it has become necessary to search for ways to optimize how your skills and enthusiasm are actually matching the needs of a specific market. In other words, you can have a whole lot of great skills, and huge enthusiasm, but if nobody really needs it, you only have a small chance of finding a perfectly matching workplace.

The following overview shows the inter-relations between the 4 elements and your job. The more your skills, a unique place and meaning are overlapping each other, the more energy you will get from doing your job. And, the more these 3 are overlapping with the specific market-situation, the more trainings- and growing-possibilities you will have.

In the next blogs we will go further into these 4 elements, to find ways to employ jobcrafting, and to create a more motivating working-place.

Paul Donders