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A Job, a Career or a Calling?

April 26, 2004

Jacinthe Tremblay

You can sweep the streets as a calling, do volunteer work to promote your career, and operate on patients just to make money. The job description doesn’t change anything: no work is, in itself, a job, a career, or a calling

For several years, Amy Wrzesniewski, professor in management at New York University’s Stern School of Business, has been conducting research on the meaning of work. Her biggest discovery: "According to individuals and the institutional context, the same type of position can have a wide range of meanings. Depending on whether they see their work as a job, a career, or a calling, managers and employees have different ways of shaping their work and their relationship with their environment."

This insight applies even to the most repetitive and most standardized functions. Thus, a study by Wrzesniewski on the janitorial staff of a hospital demonstrated that some of them characterized their work as simply cleaning, while others perceived themselves as integral parts of the care-giving team. This latter group had numerous interactions with visitors, patients and the rest of the hospital personnel. They were more satisfied with their job than the members of the first group.

In a related project, the professor also studied the meaning administrative assistants gave to their work within the same institution. Nine designated the category "job," seven identified with "career, and eight saw their work as a "calling." Similar results were obtained in studies on engineers, nurses, and… volunteers.

This research also suggests that people’s attitude towards their work tends to remain constant throughout their lives, regardless of their position and their place in the hierarchy. The organizational context can nevertheless bring about re-orientations.

"In interviews, some nurses indicated that they initially saw their work as a calling, but eventually came to think of it as a job or a career. The rhythm and the weight of their responsibilities stood in the way of having the kind of relationships with their patients that would be characteristically a calling," Wrzesniewski explains.

Alternately, managers with a vision that they are capable of sharing with employees can change the meaning that people give to their work.

Meaning, Satisfaction and Performance

The research on administrative assistants reveals that those who see their work as a calling enjoy the greatest satisfaction at work and in life. They miss work less often. Other studies also associate attitudes towards work with greater on-the-job satisfaction.

Amy Wrzesniewski fears misuse of these findings. "Employers could use them to only hire people who see their work as a calling. This would be a mistake. Different motivations can generate identical performance," she explains. Thus, two employees of an Internet service provider can accomplish the same level of sales, even if the first does it simply for money (a job) et the second sees sales as a way of increasing access to the Web (a calling).

As a result, Wrzesniewski believes that the best attitude for managers is to allow employees to find their own meaning in work, and to shape their work accordingly. "Some people don’t seek fulfillment through their work and are still happy in life. All options are legitimate and possible."