MSLD 520 Module 5- What Makes Us feel Good About Work?

Dan Ariely’s TED Talk, “What Makes Us Feel Good About Our Work?” examined two different experiments that focused on recognition and quantity of work. The results of both experiments showed that productivity increased when work was being recognized and had deeper, personal meaning. In addition, Ariely stated that being recognized and having meaning to work can also promote happiness (Ariely, 2013). After viewing the TED Talk, I was able to relate to Ariely’s ideas with my current job as an academic advisor. I enjoy my job because of the positive feedback I receive from my students.

 The many things I do for my students go way back when I was a student myself. While my professors, advisors, etc. helped me, they were often lacking details, or often rushed their advisement due to their busy schedule. Because of this, I often felt a little hurt: assuming that my academic success was unimportant to them. Fast-forwarding to when I received my job, I noticed that some of my students were facing similar issues I had in the past (lack of advice, communication, etc.). Now that I’m an advisor, I knew that I had the opportunity to make positive changes.

Since I started working, my campus went through a number of changes to ensure quality advisement. A lot of the changes were made based on complaints and suggestions made from students: including myself as a former student. Placing myself in “other people’s shoes” is critical since this help see and get a better understanding of what happens from other point-of-views (Folk, 2015). Over time, the hard work eventually paid off, and I started receiving multiple positive feedback from my students. In addition, my campus is also facing a small growth in student population. With more than half of the students working at the Boeing Company, many of them are referring and suggesting my campus to pursue higher education. 

As a naturally caring person, being able to help students succeed make me feel good emotionally. I was not only able to help students succeed, but it also tells me that I’ve achieved my personal goal to go far and beyond my past advisors. Unlike my past advisors, I take as much time as possible to get to know each of my students (work-life schedules and situations, their hobbies, etc.), and provided information from both the staff and student perspectives. In addition, feedback help establish a small growth to my campus. While this help the overall university image, improvements is also strengthening my work skills and experiences. I’m relatively new to the workforce and currently lack experience. By making improvements and receiving positive feedback, this motivates me to continue building skills and experience, which will help me with any career opportunities I may come across.

References:

Ariely, D. (2013). Dan Ariely: What makes us feel good about work? [Video file]. TED. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work

Folk, G. (2015). Put Yourself In Other People’s Shoes. People Leadership. Retrieved from http://peopleleadership.com/put-yourself-in-other-peoples-shoes/