Financial TimesFinancial Times

Why ‘mattering’ in the workplace doesn’t really matter

By Jemima Kelly

16 Mar 2023 · 3 min read

Editor's Note

Do you feel like you "matter" at work? The FT argues that "mattering" is merely a management-speak buzzword and that employees can find value by working hard and taking responsibility.

For those of us not in attendance at the great private-jet-powered, sustainability-obsessed meeting of minds that was Davos this year, there was one buzzword brought back by attendees that has really stuck with me (or in my gullet, to be precise): “mattering”.

Supposedly, the “secret to management in a new hybrid-working economy” is not honouring working hours, or making sure employees are achieving a proper work-life balance, or even just keeping in regular contact with them. No, the most crucial thing is “delivering” and “cultivating” something known as “mattering” — the belief that you are important to others in your workplace.

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