Bridging the Purpose Gap: A Leadership Imperative

Nearly two-thirds of US-based employees surveyed said that COVID-19 has caused them to reflect on their purpose in life. Nearly half said they are reconsidering the kind of work they do because of the pandemic, with Millennials being three times more likely than others to reevaluate their work. Such findings have significant implications for your company’s talent-management strategy and its bottom line. People who live their purpose at work are more productive, healthier, more resilient, and more likely to stay at the company. Moreover, when employees feel that their purpose is aligned with the organization’s purpose, the benefits expand to include stronger employee engagement, heightened loyalty, and a greater willingness to recommend the company to others.

How aligned are employees and leaders in terms of purpose?

A study by Mckinsey of more than 1000 employees shows there is a stark purpose gap.? While 85% of executives and upper management agree they can live their purpose in their day to day to work, 85% of employees are unsure or disagree that they can live their purpose at work.? At the end of the day, purpose is more than receiving a paycheck.? Living a purpose-filled life involves aligning one's actions, goals, and values with a deeper sense of meaning and significance. It means understanding what truly matters to you and striving to make those things a central part of your daily existence.

However, if you’re like most senior executives, you haven’t given the individual purpose of your employees much thought. The topic is intensely personal, potentially inaccessible to employers, and seemingly as uncomfortable to discuss as it is to actively encourage. Despite these challenges, McKinsey research found that 70 percent of employees said that their sense of purpose is defined by their work. As a company leader, you play an important part in helping your employees find their purpose and live it.

Understanding Purpose at Work

To understand the challenge, McKinsey surveyed more than a thousand US employees about individual purpose and the work and life outcomes associated with it. Individual purpose can be thought of as an enduring, overarching sense of what matters in a person’s life; people experience purposefulness when striving toward something significant and meaningful to them. There are clear patterns, or purpose archetypes, that help employers categorize what people find meaningful, but ultimately someone’s purpose can be as varied as people themselves.

While companies and their leaders can have a big influence on the individual purpose of their employees, they have limited direct control over it. Companies need to meet employees where they are to help them optimize their sense of fulfillment from work.

What Employees Want—and What They Get

Chances are that your employees want more purpose from work than they’re getting. For starters, 89 percent of McKinsey survey respondents said they want purpose in their lives. Moreover, 70 percent of employees said that their sense of purpose is largely defined by work. Senior executives nudged that average upward, but even so, two-thirds of nonexecutive employees said that work defines their purpose. This signals a clear opportunity for employers and leaders to encourage their employees at all levels to develop and live their purpose at work.

Yet when we asked if people are living their purpose in their day-to-day work, the gap between executives and others became stark. While 85 percent of executives and upper management said they are living their purpose at work, only 15 percent of frontline managers and employees agreed. Nearly half of these employees disagreed, compared with just a small number of executives and upper management.

This “purpose hierarchy gap” extends to feeling fulfilled at work. Executives are nearly eight times more likely than other employees to say that their purpose is fulfilled by work. Similarly, executives are nearly three times more likely than others to say that they rely on work for purpose.

Finally, only 18 percent of respondents believed they get as much purpose from work as they want. Sixty-two percent said that while they get some purpose from work, they want to get even more. This gap in purpose fulfillment is significant and has implications for employee engagement, satisfaction, and overall company performance.

Taking Action

The choices that company leaders and managers make are the X factor in helping employees fulfill their purpose at work. By making better choices—starting now—you can make a positive difference in the lives of your colleagues and the performance of the company. Here are three ways to focus your efforts:

1. Start with the Organization’s Purpose

It may seem counterintuitive to look first to the organization’s purpose in hopes of supporting the life purpose of your employees but remember: this part you control. Does your company meaningfully consider its role in society? Do senior executives use the company’s purpose as a North Star to make difficult decisions and trade-offs? If your company’s purpose is just a poster on the wall, you’re wasting everyone’s time. If you talk about purpose but don’t follow through, the results can be devastatingly bad.

Start by spending time with your team reflecting on the impact the company has on the world. Authentic reflections on the bigger picture can inspire a sense of purpose. Our survey found that employees are five times more likely to be excited to work at a company that spends time reflecting on the impact it makes in the world.

2. Reflect, Connect, Repeat

When employees have a chance to reflect on their own sense of purpose, and how it connects to the company’s purpose, good things happen. Survey respondents who have such opportunities are nearly three times more likely than others to feel their purpose is fulfilled at work. If you need assistance in a facilitated workshop designed to align individual values with your company values, consider Ideal for Teams.

Managers must be prepared to share their own purpose with others and be vulnerable in ways they’re likely not used to in order to role model these skills and pass them along to colleagues. When employees in our survey said they experienced little psychological safety, they stood a 50% percent chance of saying their purpose was fulfilled at work.

3. Help People Live Their Purpose at Work

Sixty-three percent of people McKinsey surveyed said they want their employer to provide more opportunities for purpose in their day-to-day work. You need to find ways to deliver.? We have found that outstanding execution starts with ongoing reflection and commitment to 1. Company/Team Strategy, 2) Execution, and 3) Employee and Company Value Alignment.? However, most organizations are only laser focused on one or two of these elements. This leaves organizations open for not only a purpose gap but also a performance gap.

Why is uncovering and supporting purpose at the employee level so important? ?Purposeful employees try harder and are more apt to innovate. ?The benefits of getting individual purpose right are substantial, self-reinforcing, and extend not only to the well-being of employees but also to the company’s performance. Research by the Corporate Leadership Council found that organizations with a strong alignment between employee values and corporate values outperform their peers by 20% in revenue and 27% in profitability.

By taking thoughtful action, leaders can bridge the purpose gap and create a more engaged, fulfilled, and productive workforce.

Please comment below on the positive ways your employer is helping employees align their purpose to the company mission or ideas you might have that leaders could benefit from.