How to regain your passion for work

We're hearing that more and more companies, in light of the recession, are returning to their values and brand promise to re-engage employees and help rebuild their dented morale.

In the next issue of Strategic Communication Management, our professional development columnist, Sue Dewhurst, says it's equally as important for communicators to return to their personal values to ensure they're doing a job they're passionate about.

Sue explains how she'd thought she'd fallen out of love with internal comms, only to discover she just needed to change the way she worked to regain her motivation.

Luckily for us, Sue decided to focus on coaching and is now the highly regarded trainer for Melcrum's UK and Europe Internal Communication Black Belt program. (This program is also available in the US and Australia.)

"We're all professional enough to be able to focus and produce results even if we don't believe in what we're doing," says Sue. "But, as we so often tell our internal customers, we produce better results if we do."

Lacking any real motivation for work right now? Learn more from Sue about how you can give your communication career a boost by reading on.

Sue writes: Around five years ago, I found myself at a career crossroads. Having spent my whole working life in internal communication, I was feeling stale and demotivated. I had gone from working for the best leader ever to one who didn't really "get it" and didn't feel I was adding any real value. Based in corporate headquarters, I missed the constant contact I used to have in previous roles working with people "at the sharp end". I wanted to move on from this organization but just couldn't get excited about applying for another internal communication director role.

It prompted me to spend some time with a coach thinking through what I wanted from life, what my personal values were, and what I needed from a role to help me fulfil them. I discovered that the things that make me tick are freedom, connecting with people, making a difference and learning. Once I knew what my values were, I was able to make changes.

Focus on what motivates you
I realized I hadn't fallen out of love with internal communication, but I did need to change some aspects about my working methods to get my motivation back. I decided to start my own business to get the freedom I wanted. I chose to specialize in internal communication-related training and coaching, because it gives me so much day-to-day contact with people and I'm constantly learning. As well as this, I can actually see and hear the difference I make, which gives me such a massive buzz.

I still have my off days - don't we all? But overall, I enjoy what I do, I feel proud of the projects I work on and I go the extra mile to deliver the best result I can. I make choices about the work I undertake, based on the kinds of activities that connect to my values.

Delve a little deeper
It might help to ask yourself the following five questions:

1. What are your personal values
Think back to those times (inside or outside work) when you have felt really motivated and alive. What do they have in common? Your values are those themes that keep coming back over and over again.

2. To what extent does your job allow you to live those values in practice?
What could you do to get more of them into your working day? They don't have to be major - often it's the small things that make the difference.

3. Why did you choose to work in internal communication?
What was it about this world that attracted you? Is it still there? If so, remind yourself of it. If not, what can you change to get it back?

4. How are your own engagement levels?
You help your leaders action plan for their teams, so plan some actions for yourself. Identify the three areas that most need some attention, and plan an action to take against each of them.

5. How about pride?
Do you get to see the value of what you've achieved? If not, you're probably not measuring enough or investing time in getting feedback. So start now. And when you get a great result, keep the evidence and put it somewhere you can see it.

Invest in yourself as well as the company
I'm a great believer in practising what you preach. And what we preach is that engagement, pride and living the values leads to more motivated people, better performance, and ultimately better organizational results. So, as well as being inspired by all the ideas in this issue about what you can do to support your organization, invest some time to work on how you can support yourself. After all, to use a famous slogan, "you're worth it!"

The full column will be published in the April/May issue of Strategic Communication Management.

Until next time,

P.S. Have you been tasked with engaging employees with the company's values and brand promise? Nervous about where to start? Then come along to our Mastering successful brand engagement course and resolve your problems with brand experts and your peers. Book your place today!

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