The Risks and Rewards of Meaningful Work

Wednesday 4 December 16:00 - 17:00 (GMT)

A key component of job satisfaction is the sense that our work is meaningful. Sometimes, the search for meaning becomes insistent, even triggering a career crisis. However, prioritising meaning in our career can be high-risk: increasing the odds of burnout and locking us into a rigid career path.

In this webinar, Dr Kira Schabram from the University of Washington will investigate what happens to people who devote themselves to a professional “calling”; which approaches work (and which lead to burnout); and what tends to be the most sustainable long-term approach to finding purpose.

We will also explore the latest academic research on what drives our sense of meaning at work and how we can all make small changes to enhance it.

We will explore:

• The difference between meaningful tasks and meaningful professions
• Five factors which determine whether day-to-day work feels meaningful
• Why pursuing a “calling” can be a high-risk strategy
• What happens when people go “all in” to pursue meaningful work
• How to reengineer your job to create more meaning for yourself and your colleagues

Speaker | Kira Schabram

Dr Kira Schabram is Assistant Professor of Management at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business. She is also head of research at the Sabbatical project and is a Faculty Affiliate of the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. Her research has been published in top academic journals (Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, the Journal of Applied Psychology) and is frequently featured in outlets such as the BBC, CNN, Forbes, The Financial Times, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. More here.