Creating Purpose and Meaning in your Team

It is not surprising that the most successful companies in the world are also the best places to work. Employees are no longer looking for a salary, but to have an inner work and life purpose:?a mix of emotions, motivations and perception about what they do, the role they play, how they view the organization, management, team, their work and themselves.

Research shows that this inner sense of meaning creates engagement, satisfaction and employees are more likely to thrive and grow. For example, workers are loyal when they feel that companies support their career and life goals.

Leaders play an important role in helping employees understand that their roles matter. Actually, some leader′s characteristics of personality have a strong impact on team and organizational productivity:

1.?Being Curious and Questioning - when leaders explore, ask questions and engage with worker′s opinions, looking for new possibilities and ideas.?This creates a sense of contribution and significance.

2.?Challenging and Relentless - creating a sense of progress, reinvention and growth helps to build more positive work experiences.

3.?Hiring for Values and Culture Fit - if employee’s values are aligned with the organization it creates importance and drives performance.

4.?Trusting People - people like to have autonomy in what they do, leaders who give space to experiment and help employees to “craft” their job. This increases the sense of importance and value of employees.

Leaders can also have an active role and foster employee’s sense of accomplishment by exploring with them:

-?What are they good at doing? What are their strengths?

-?What do they most enjoy doing at work?

-?What feels more useful? / What are they most proud of?

-?What creates a sense of accomplishment and moving forward?

-?How do you relate with others? What partnerships work better?

As a leader you can help your employees to find what really promotes a sense of accomplishment and achievement, what makes them feel more connected with the organization, their team and tasks. Not only will you help to increase commitment and efficiency, but also, trust, accomplishment and growth in your team.?

From HBR collection: Emotional Intelligence: Purpose Meaning and Passion