How can small businesses create a sense of purpose for employees?

Five years ago giving back to the local and regional community carried a decision-making weight of 30%.Today it's 80%. Businesses and individuals want to do business with businesses that give back specifically to the local and regional community and employees want to work with companies and organizations that give back. Be sure to weave this into the fabric of your brand as it's one of your unique brand assets. Define the local/regional organizations that your company supports and how you provide that support--donations, volunteer hours, complimentary services, discounted services, or a combination of these. Invite your team members into the process to offer specific ways they can implement this donation and also sign up to participate.

Small businesses can foster a sense of purpose among employees by aligning company values with individual goals. Begin by articulating a clear mission that goes beyond profit, emphasizing the positive impact the business seeks to make. Encourage open communication and involve employees in decision-making processes, making them feel valued. Implementing meaningful recognition programs and providing professional development opportunities reinforces a sense of growth and accomplishment. Cultivate a supportive work environment where employees understand their roles in achieving the company's larger mission.

One of the most effective ways to help employees feel a sense of purpose is to create a culture that is both unified and personalized to support the companies goals and individuals goals. These goals should have commonalities to support the companies mission. I believe that a sense of we are all in this together and have one another's back's is key to developing a strong supportive culture within your company . Leadership should be highly communicative and involve the team in brainstorming and decision making whenever plausible.

A sense of purpose can be created within employees by taking the time to find out what drives and motivates them to move forward. What are there values? Are they being fulfilled in the workplace and beyond? Create a time and space for them to hone in on there core values and mission.

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Many times, employees are told what to do, but not why you are asking them to do it. Involving employees and getting buy in on not only your company's mission and brand values, but the "why" behind each task, helps them get more invested in providing a good outcome and can also provide a sense of direction for them as well.

One thing I have found helpful is The “Why.” Too many companies only focus on what they do and how they do it. Simon Sinek, the author of “Start With Why,” says that more companies should focus on why they do what they do. And by defining your organization’s purpose, you can communicate this higher calling to your employees and use it as a guidepost for everything you do. One of the best examples of this is Netflix’s culture deck which is key to preserving their culture as they grew in their early years. Eventually, they released it to the public where it’s been seen over 15 million times on LinkedIn alone. #tiptoinspireemployees

Your employees are your most valuable asset. Without wonderful engaged employees you don’t have a business. So, you must involve your employees in creating and developing your sense of purpose. If they are involved from the very beginning they will be invested in the outcome.

Listening to and understanding your employees purpose is critical to running a successful business. When you understand who they are and what they want it opens the door to endless possibilities and growth.

Recognition and appreciation Recognizing and appreciating employee contributions is a leadership responsibility. Leaders should actively acknowledge achievements, both big and small, to create a culture of appreciation. Celebrating successes, whether through public recognition or small gestures, reinforces positive behavior. Leaders can integrate recognition into regular team meetings, create virtual acknowledgment platforms, or simply express gratitude personally. When employees feel appreciated, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated to continue delivering exceptional results.

Stop trying to get employees to buy into your companies’ purpose. Align the compensation model with the behaviors that you expect from your employees. When the macroeconomic conditions or the company economics conditions decline, layoffs often becomes a numbers game. Being honest with your employees is 100% Kool.

I’ve had managers in the past whose major concern was hitting their targets with no desire to learn my ‘why.’ My biggest takeaway from past employment is my desire to be part of something that also helps my personal goals. We all make plans for our future but the difficulty as a leader is creating trust for the team to share their goals. I lead by example with my pursuit of triathlon medals. I’ve created a purpose that aligns with the business.

Your employees must connect to your purpose because they internally connect to your purpose, not because you train them on specific responsibilities. But you also need to connect to their internal purpose by giving them the opportunity to contribute their thoughts to the overall company purpose.

In my experience, as a small business owner we never ask employees to do things that we aren’t willing to do ourselves. Every single task is for the greater good and none are too small. We continue to constantly reevaluate the daily roles, always working towards eliminating unnecessary task.

A lot of times the purpose/vision/mission are set as a business is starting up, and then is just carried through the years. I believe it should be re-visited on a regular basis to make sure it is still aligned to the business and also supported by current planning. As a small business grows and evolves, this process can help you identify any gaps between "reality" and the why/what of the business you were building. For example, early on in my business, my vision was to help local small businesses with all elements of their marketing, basically to be a mini-agency. But when I was a few years in, I realized that was not the business I wanted or the best way to serve clients, based on what I was seeing with my clients, so my vision shfted.

In my network of women business owners, I'd say that 85%+ have social and/or environment objectives as part of their overall purpose for being in business. A purpose like this can be a tool for attracting top talent and retaining them. But there's a problem. This tool is underutilized. I personally know small business owners who've put a ton of time + energy into developing and executing on amazing social-environmental-philanthropic objectives only to be far too humble about it. Celebrate your purpose (and its targets achieved) everywhere: website, employee manual, newsletters, client proposals, contribute on LinkedIn, speak about it on panels, go on podcasts, help other business owners develop their purpose by sharing how you did it.

What I found that works extremely well is encouraging employees to share their personal stories and experiences related to the company's purpose... In the form of an EMPLOYEE testimonial. In many ways this makes it more relatable and adds that personal touch, and impact that helps others connect emotionally with your overall mission

I feel like the celebrating step is overlooked sometimes, and when it is, it can be demoralizing to the staff. They need to feel not only connected to the purpose but also recognized when what they do (individually and collectively) to advance/support that purpose. The very act of celebration can further enroll them into their role in the business's purpose. One of my favorite ways to implement this is to have peer-to-peer recognition, so it is not always coming from the owner. Fellow employees can nominate others for activities that are in alignment with the purpose and vision. For example, if part of the purpose is creating fun environment for staff and customers, you could have a quarterly "fun" award voted on by staff.

As a small business owner myself, this is one of the most important pieces - living out my values (both personally and professionally). It is actually an advantage in a small business that the values of the business generally come from the founder/owner, versus in larger companies they can come from a committee or even the marketing department ... as the business owner, this allows you to easily lead by example, which in turn makes it easier for your team to buy into the company purpose and values. You provide the model for them to follow and they get to see it isn't just a "brand positioning" statement for you, it is who you are.

To me, this is what i work on doing every day in my business: Live your purpose. When you personal purpose and business purpose are connected, you don't have to think about it; it comes naturally. The biggest conflicts I have seen as a business coach is when people are not authentically aligned on their personal and business purpose.

Small businesses cultivate purpose by aligning values with individual goals. Define a clear mission beyond profit, involving employees in decision-making. Recognize achievements, offer professional growth, and create a supportive environment. Regularly communicate successes, connecting daily tasks to the broader mission, fostering a shared sense of pride and motivation among the team.