To understand your worker type, identify your motivation and accept it. It will not only help you enjoy your work more, but also help others work in sync with you. Not nearly as complex as most personality tests and workplace assessments, motivation can be summarized by the following three categories which, though not comprehensive of all workplace nuances, cover a surprising percentage of situations. They are:
Purposeful worker – The purposeful worker is in it for the cause. Why do you sweep the streets? Because you want clean streets. Why are you an oncologist? Because you want to cure cancer. Why are you an investment banker? Because you want to build wealth. Purposeful workers can be found at all levels of the organization. The receptionist at the artificial limb manufacturer who really wants to connect people missing limbs with their next appendage. The baker who loves the smell of bread…they are purposeful workers.
Social worker – The social worker does it for the people. The DMV attendant who chats you up. The plumber who cracks jokes from under your sink; the teacher who hosts the school gaming club after hours. They enjoy the social interaction of their job. The social worker needn’t be in a service role. Cubicle dwellers can be social workers. They attend every meeting, company picnic or holiday party. They greet new hires, welcome them to the team and ask them about their lives. They are active on LinkedIn. For them, it isn’t as much what they are doing but who they are doing it with and for.
Time-card puncher – The time-card puncher can be a purposeful worker, but it isn’t their day job. The lunch cook who plays in a band at night. The parent of four who would rather spend all their time with their kids but must also support them and uses their MBA to do so. The bank teller side-hustling web design. The time-card puncher is in it for the paycheck. That motivation alone can inspire the time-card puncher to do good work. In different circumstances, the time-card puncher could be either of the other two, but they aren’t there for one reason or another. This is where many of us start out…
The positive traits of the three types:
The purposeful worker is prolific. They have the goal in mind and the will to achieve it. They see past office politics to the point of the matter and will gather expertise after hours just for fun.
While the purposeful worker can be too focused to bother with social niceties, the social worker can build teams, community, and support for co-workers or clients alike. They take the time out of their busy day to interact with others around them creating a culture people want to be a part of.
The time-card puncher can be an ease to manage. You know what they are going to do, every day, with little variation or surprise. In general, the time-card puncher keeps their head down and does their work. They don’t cause friction, rarely seek advancement, and only does what they are told, no more.
The challenges:
In addition to being focused to a fault, the purposeful worker can upset the status quo. If the worker’s manager is one of either type, or less passionate, the purposeful worker may overstep them, or request resources the organization doesn’t have the structure to support. If the purposeful worker feels they can’t accomplish their purposes with the resources of the organization, they will leave. The purpose is always more important than the organization.
While social workers can benefit by positive social tendencies, social disorders are also prevalent in this group. Social workers are the social climbers, the networkers and nepotists, the manipulators of office politics and the most likely worker to incur litigation by another co-worker. The brown-noser turned manager may not have the skills to recommend them for the position, but instead the friends to do so.
Since most of us have been a time-card puncher at one time of our lives, you’re probably familiar with their faults. Time-card punchers tend to pass the buck, ignore opportunities for improvement in favor of giving only the bare minimum, and have a tendency to call in sick more than any other worker.
How to best interact with each type depending on your role:
Managing a purposeful worker – Depending on what kind of worker you are, managing a purposeful worker can be effortless or a daily trial. The purposeful worker independently advances towards the goal so you better have set one or they can veer into their own agenda on company time.
Reporting to a purposeful worker – Fellow purposeful workers can find it inspiring, if not tiring as well because the purposeful worker doesn’t keep office hours. You return on Monday to find new projects in your inbox. The tasks may seem superfluous, stretch your job description or are unrealistic. Some pursuits may not pan out and you feel you wasted your time. Others, if executed well, can pad your resume with accomplishments you can credit your purposeful manager for.
Managing a social worker – Aside from the obvious “water cooler” productivity issue, the social worker influences the social climate of your team. Their alliances can cause rifts between employees and impair the flow of company functions by forging positive and negative relationships along a sensitive chain. Spot and remedy any cliques that might form by switching up working group configurations if possible.
Reporting to a social worker – They can be your confidant, friend, mentor, advisor, or just your favorite boss because they make work fun. Or they can frustrate with their chit-chatting, lack of constructive criticism (you get pep-talks instead), and predictable favoritism.
Managing a time-card puncher – The spectrum of this worker type depends on their values and the organization. Time-card punchers who respect the organization and value honesty, can be the easiest employees to manage, the tenured employee with a reputation for dependability. On the other end, lack of respect for the organization and a tendency to stretch the truth, can result in truancy, a history of errors, and essentially an employee you need to anticipate doing without. Set aside time to doublecheck all their work or set other checks in place.
Reporting to a time-card puncher – Like the social worker, timecard punchers can be the ‘fun’ boss, the laid-back manager who hardly bothers you. Your meetings last literally 5 minutes. The time-card puncher, depending on their commitment to the organization, can also look the other way on certain infractions, basically because they don’t see the value in enforcing them. If you’re more ambitious, rather than get angry that you report to a time-card puncher, see it as an opportunity for advancement. The bar is set fairly low. If you have what it takes to replace them, you may have a good argument to do so (provided they aren’t a friend or relative of a social worker.)
Quiz: What kind of worker are you?
When do you think about work?
- All the time. Inspiration can be hiding anywhere.
- At work, or with work friends outside of work.
- At work.
How many of your co-workers are also friends?
- I have some good working relationships, but I wouldn’t call them friends.
- I’m friends with most people at work, at least casual friends.
- I met some of my best friends at different jobs.
What is your favorite thing about work?
- Knowing that I am making a difference.
- The people I work with.
- The money.
The product I deliver is:
- Above and/or beyond expectations.
- Given graciously.
- What I am told to give.
My attitude at work is:
- Driven.
- Depends on who I am working with.
- Let’s get this over with.
As you may have guessed, 1 identifies the purposeful worker, 2 the social worker and 3 the timecard puncher. Which one do you have the most of?
Conclusion
Whatever your working style, it is neither predetermined to continue nor indicative of how you navigate your personal life. It is not who you are but what you do at work. Everyone’s human industry has value, and understanding how you and others use it, can sort talent where it needs to be most effective.