Like the elf who yearned to fix teeth instead of making toys, work “misfits” are employees whose core values don’t align with their company’s. Such discrepancies can make workers withdrawn, unproductive and unhappy.
But research from the University of Georgia suggests there are ways to help misfit employees stay engaged on the job.
“An employee can value pay, prestige, job security, altruism—any number of things—but if that core value isn’t being fulfilled, then there can be a serious issue with fit,” said Jessica Rodell, a management professor at UGA’s Terry College of Business. “For example, if you value variety and autonomy at work, but your company has a culture of micromanaging and assigning tedious tasks, that would be a bad fit for you.”
Rodell and her co-authors started to study misfit employees upon noticing that, when the economy was bad, job opportunities were scarce and workers couldn’t easily change employers. They wanted to know why some workers remained good employees when their core values weren’t met at the office. For the study, they surveyed nearly 200 workers and their supervisors across just as many companies.
“We know from years of research in psychology that one of our fundamental needs as humans is a sense of purpose and meaning or quality relationships with people,” Rodell said. “We looked at some things people can do that can supplement and fulfill those needs. It turns out that there are two ways to manage that, one at work and one outside of work.”
Job crafting and leisure activities, the researchers discovered, can help misfit employees stay productive at work.
“These steps are not designed to fix the problem,” Rodell said. “They compensate for it.
“The best situation is still working for a company that fulfills your core values. That always makes the most engaged employees,” she also said. “But sometimes changing jobs isn’t realistic, and in those cases, job crafting and leisure activities are good options.”
Job crafting is the practice of realigning work duties to best suit the employee, Rodell said.
“There’s almost always an ability to do some job crafting,” she said. “It could be coordinating a corporate volunteering program to get a sense of meaning and help your company give back to the community. Or it could be choosing to collaborate with like-minded people to feel a sense of belonging.”
Outside of work, leisure activities can fulfill needs that are typically met at the office. For example, joining a civic organization can allow workers to take on additional responsibility and be thanked for their contributions.