Anything can be great.
In the 1961movie “The Hustler,” that’s how Eddie Felsen (Paul Newman) explains his love of the game of pool to his girlfriend.
If a guy knows what he’s doing and does it, anything – pool, laying bricks, anything – can be great.
And Fast Eddie was right, at least about that.
The topic of work, of labor, brought this quote to mind. Naturally, there’s been a lot of media chatter this week about the best places to work, job satisfaction and so on.
As a member of the American labor market for more than 50 years, I think I have some legitimate ideas of my own about the subject of work.
So where is the best place to work? I’ll get back to that.
But among the media chatter I heard and read this week, a common thread is that workers should be given meaningful work to do.
Well, yes and no.
I’ve had jobs people might consider meaningful. And I’ve had jobs people might say are menial.
Several of the so-called menial jobs gave me a great deal of satisfaction. And one of the so-called meaningful jobs made me sick to my stomach on Sunday night knowing what I would face come Monday morning.
So, what made a good job abominable and a not-so-good job enjoyable?
Not money. The horrible meaningful job paid more. But money isn’t the sole measure. Employers ought to pay their workers a decent, living wage. Any employer who can’t doesn’t deserve to be in business. Period.
The defining reason why the menial job offered more satisfaction than the meaningful job? What creates employee satisfaction are employers.
Good employers make all the difference. A good employer treats employees with respect, values their ideas, understands that employees are human beings 24 hours a day with other needs and priorities, and creates a work atmosphere in which everyone know that the job is worth doing, that even in some small way, makes life better for someone.
And this has nothing to do with management systems and the latest metrics fads.
The relationship between employer and employee is not just a business relationship. It is a human relationship.
More Top Picks Why Fluorescent Lights Give Me A Headache
So, where is the best place to work?
It’s a place where humanity and efficiency complement each other to create business success and individual fulfillment.
May you find such a place.
Paul Sassone is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press.