1. Setting Clear Goals
Inner work life is improved when employees know what direction they need to move towards and why the work they do is important.
2. Allowing autonomy
Once the broad goals are set employees need to have some influence over how they meet those goals in order to be intrinsically motivated and to truly own the progress that is made towards meeting those goals.
3. Providing Resources
Providing resources has two major impacts on inner work life. It both allows the employee to have a stronger belief that the work will be a success and it also indicates that management values the work they are doing.
4. Giving enough time – but not too much
Low to moderate time pressure is optimal to inner work life. Too much and employees become stressed, unhappy and unmotivated, too little and people feel unchallenged and bored.
5. Help with the work
Employees become dejected when they need help and can’t get it, frustrated when help could be given but is withheld by someone important such as managers at any level and infuriated when it seems that someone is actively getting in the way of their work. On the other hand getting the right sort of help, from the right people, at the right time, can give a great boost to inner work life.
6. Learning from problems and successes
Problems should be faced head on, studied and solved or learned from. Ignoring problems or punishing people for having problems both have a detrimental impact to inner work life. Studying and celebrating successes also improves inner work life. When success is ignored or its value is questioned inner work life is negatively effected.
7. Allowing ideas to flow