Finding Meaning in Dirty Jobs

I believe this to be a valuable article worthy of some thought. On one of my many training courses we were sat under a table with a group of people. One was a man of your God and another was a murderer, the others were a banker and a forger, a successful business man and a thief and yourself. The question was: ‘Who would you align yourself with at this point in your life? The second question was poised thus, 

you are in a concentration camp; in this situation who would you align yourself with?

My brother drove a bus and he decided that if ever there was a prize for the best bus driver then he would win it. Making a game and / or setting yourself challenges are useful way of enhancing your value in a job that leaves a little to be desired.

If I remember correctly New York was held to ransom when the garbage operators went on strike proving that the ‘weakest’ link is, in fact, a crucial link. I’ve been told that hospitals have evolved from the surgeon being treated as a minor deity and that each member of the team has the right to stop the procedure. 

In this case a nurse was able to stop an operation as she could not account for all the swabs used; 

the missing swab was found to be within the patient.

And finally, for now, I make a point of saying ‘thank-you’ to passing postmen (even if they are ladies) and to the bin men and those sweeping the streets. Also, I’ve learned that it is generally the cleaners who know more about what is where than the ‘help’ desk when it comes to bewildering places like airports. M’reen

Finding Meaning in Dirty Jobs

by Jeremy McCarthy on December 5, 2013 

                                                             Max and Dylan watch the G-men

My son Dylan is fascinated with garbage men.  He will scream with glee, “The garbage truck is coming!” and rush to the window of the house to watch them load their rubbish into their giant truck.  Sometimes, if we are lucky, we time it right and come out in front of the house just as the garbage collectors arrive.  They always greet us with a smile and a wave and take a few extra minutes to talk to Dylan.

Dylan admires the garbage men.  They are larger-than-life heroes swooping in with their massive truck (basically a giant toy, in Dylan’s eyes) and their bright orange vests.  They seem to own the neighborhood.

And the garbage men also seem to be fairly proud of what they do.  They are quite used to receiving the adoration of the children and seem to relish the opportunity to be outdoors in the early morning hours, while they clean up the neighborhood.

Few of us, however, would choose this career.  Many look down on this kind of labor as menial, or “beneath” them.  Some would be downright revolted by the idea of working in rubbish.

When I teach workshops on meaningful workplaces, I ask people to describe jobs that are inherently meaningful.  Certain responses are consistently given: teacher, doctor, nurse, social worker, or firefighter, sometimes an artist or a craftsman, sometimes an astronaut or a scientist.

Then I ask people to think of what I call “NSM” jobs, or “Not So Meaningful” jobs.  Again there is some consistency in the answers: custodial/janitorial work, sewer workers, bureaucratic office workers (think DMV or IRS in the US), and maybe a manual labor job such as a ditch digger.

Photo credit Geoff LMV

While researchers agree that certain jobs are probably more associated with a sense of meaning than others (this may be in no small part due to the social stigma around certain jobs) they have also found that across any occupation, a wide variety of orientations to work can be found.  In a hospital, for example, some of the custodial staff may view their work as “just a job”—something that they dislike, but do for the money.  While others see their work as a “calling” and feel a deep sense of fulfillment and connection from contributing to the important healing work of the hospital.

In a recent paper, “Profane or Profound?  Finding Meaning in Dirty Work,” two management professors outline three ways that workers can find meaning in “tainted” professions:

Reframing:  Workers emphasize the positive aspects of either the way they perform their work (means) or the outcomes from the work that they do (ends).  Our friendly neighborhood G-men, for example, may think less about the negative aspects of working in garbage, and instead take pride in the relationships they have with their “clients” and the positive service they provide the community.

Recalibrating: Psychologically, workers may weight as more important certain aspects of their work that are more meaningful.  They cite the example of firefighters defining their work “in the heroic light of firefighting” in spite of the fact that fires represent less than 10% of their emergency calls.

Refocusing:  In this case, workers recognize the tainted aspects of their job as negative, but focus on more positive aspects (like the pay and the camaraderie.)

Finding meaning in one’s work is not easy, regardless of your profession.  So I think Dylan is right to admire the G-men.  They like what they do, and they do it well.  They are providing a valuable service, getting good exercise, and spending a great deal of time outdoors.  This is better than most of us can say.

And most importantly, Dylan would say, they get to play on the back of that giant truck.

References and recommended reading: Ashforth, B. E. & Kreiner, G. E. (2013). Profane or Profound? Finding Meaning in Dirty Work in B. J. Dik, Z. S. Byre & M. F. Steger’s (Eds.) Purpose and Meaning in the Workplace, 81-104.  American Psychological Association.

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