希望的力量可以無限

我的意思不是「希望如此」，因那只意味著「祝福」或「祝好運」。我是指真正的希望，那希望是來自看到有人克服同樣的逆境，接受切實可行的目標和策略，使他們走上更好的生活。

奇怪的是，沒有希望的感覺不只存在於貧民區或弱勢社區。我們的職場也可能需要希望。蓋洛普調查顯示只有30%的員工對他們的工作感到興奮，覺得他們的工作有意義且值得做。你能想像嗎？──今天少於三分之一的員工對他們的工作有熱忱？

若其他70%的人了解他們被呼召成為員工，並且有人給他們希望，一個真正的感覺讓他們能逃離佔據他們每天實際生活的乏味感和挫折感，會有什麼改變？若他們能找到希望，我相信他們很可能會變得更投入且更有生產力。他們可能會發展成為重要、寶貴的員工，而不是公司的多餘包袱。

這是如何發生的？這沒有簡單、立即的解決辦法。有時員工就像俗話所說的「方木釘想要釘入圓洞」。他們獨特的技巧和才幹可能不適用在他們被指派每天要執行的職責中。他們可能覺得沒有機會充分發揮，或沒有機會在專業上成長。他們也可能覺得被困住，他們的工作好像是死胡同，沒有進展的期望。

有許多種類的熟練度和人格測驗，也有積極性評量工具可讓雇主用來衡量他們的員工，並發掘如何把他們對公司的貢獻發揮到最大。在有些案例中，一個死胡同的工作可能真的就是死胡同，那意味著那員工應該被鼓勵去追求另一個工作，使他能在物質上、精神上和情緒上都更有收穫。

人們需要希望──更好的事情就在前面，而且可以達到的那種期待或信心。箴言13章12節有智慧的觀察：「所盼望的遲延未得，令人心憂；所願意的臨到，卻是生命樹。」缺乏希望會造成實際和其他方面的傷害。

耶穌基督的跟隨者最終能在上帝那裡找到希望，確定祂會照顧我們、供應我們並在我們生活的每個層面引導我們的應許。例如上帝透過先知耶利米給我們這樣的保證：「耶和華說：我知道我向你們所懷的意念是賜平安的意念，不是降災禍的意念，要叫你們末後有指望」（耶利米書29章11節）。當我們知道上帝對我們有特別的計劃，並且祂的熱心必成就那計劃，我們怎會沒有希望？

既有這盼望，今天為何不在你的工作場所中也花一點時間，提供希望給某個人？

本文版權為正直資源中心（Integrity Resource Center, Inc.）所有。本文獲得授權改編自「瑞克．博克思的正直時刻Integrity Moments with Rich Boxx」。這系列的文章是以一個基督徒的觀點評論職場的正直議題。想要更多了解正直資源中心或想要收到電子文件的「瑞克每天的正直時刻Rick”s daily Integrity Moments」系列文章，請上網www.integrityresource.org。他的書「如何生意興隆而不犧牲正直」提供人們正直地作生意的方法。

I do not mean, “hope so,” which basically means “best wishes” or “good luck.” I mean true hope, gained through seeing real examples of people that have overcome similar adversities, along with receiving practical goals and strategies to put them on a path toward a better life.

Strangely enough, feelings of hopelessness are not confined to ghettos and disadvantaged communities.

Our workplaces could use some hope as well. A recent Gallup survey revealed only 30 percent of workers feel excited about their jobs, finding them meaningful and rewarding. Can you imagine – less than one-third of workers today approach their workplace responsibilities with enthusiasm?

What if the other 70 percent understood their callings as workers and were given hope, a real sense they could escape the feelings of drudgery and frustration that dominate their every day realities? If they could find hope, I believe most likely they would become more engaged and productive. Instead of being excess baggage for their companies, they could develop into important, valued employees.

How could this happen? There is no simple, instant solution. Sometimes workers look like the proverbial “square peg” trying to fit into a round hole. Their unique mix of skills and talents might be a poor match for the responsibilities they have been assigned to perform every day. They might feel underutilized, or prevented from exploring opportunities to grow professionally and personally. They could feel stuck, like their job is a dead-end, without expectation for advancement.

There are many types of proficiency and personality tests, along with motivational assessment tools employers can use to evaluate their employees and explore how to maximize their contributions to the company. In some cases, a dead-end job might indeed be just that, meaning the worker should be encouraged to pursue alternatives that would be more rewarding materially, mentally and emotionally.

People need hope – the expectation or confidence that better things lay ahead and can be reached. Proverbs 13:12 wisely observes, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Lack of hope can take its toll physically, as well as in other ways.

Ultimately, followers of Jesus Christ find their hope in God, assured of His promises to care for us, provide for us, and guide us in every aspect of our lives. For instance, God gave this assurance through the prophet Jeremiah: “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). When we know God has specific plans for us and is diligently working to bring them about, how we not have hope?

With this in mind, why not take a moment and try to provide hope to someone in your workplace today?

Copyright 2013, Integrity Resource Center, Inc. Adapted with permission from "Integrity Moments with Rick Boxx," a commentary on issues of integrity in the workplace from a Christian perspective. To learn more about Integrity Resource Center or to sign up for Rick”s daily Integrity Moments, visit www.integrityresource.org. His book, How to Prosper in Business Without Sacrificing Integrity, gives a biblical approach for doing business with integrity.