The Meaning Blindspot: How Leaders Are Missing The Growing Demand for Meaning At Work
Tamara Myles
I help leaders unlock the transformative power of meaning at work. Speaker I Writer I Researcher I Professor
Since 2020, the call for meaningful work has grown louder and louder. But study after study shows senior leadership isn’t hearing it.
Consider the following.
A 2021 McKinsey survey of 5,774 employees and 250 senior talent leaders revealed that executives THOUGHT employees were quitting because they wanted better compensation and work-life balance. In reality, they were quitting because they didn’t feel that the organization valued their contributions, and didn’t feel like they belonged. In short, their work didn’t feel meaningful.?
A 2022 IBM study of 3,000 C-suite executives and 21,000 employees globally found that employees rank meaningful work as the top factor they care about. But C-suite executives ranked meaningful work as one of the LEAST important factors to their workforce.
A May 2023 survey of 1,000 U.S.-based workers asked about factors impacting job satisfaction. Meaningful work was at the top of the list. But nearly 1 in 5 find their job to be completely meaningless.
The latest survey by StrawberryFrog and Dynata found that a sense of meaning was the strongest predictor of employee loyalty, yet 74% of frontline employees don’t believe their senior leadership understands what motivates them to stay. Concerningly, most senior leaders think they DO understand what’s motivating their people.
With many leaders being out-of-touch with what employees want, it’s not all that surprising that people aren’t experiencing meaning at work.?
After all, leaders have a staggering influence on meaningful work.?
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My research was the first rigorous, empirical set of studies to examine this relationship.
We found that almost 50% of an individual’s experience of meaning at work is tied directly to what leaders do—or fail to do. The leadership practices that emerged are common sense, but clearly are not common practice.
In studying organizations on the leading edge of the employee experience, we uncovered universal leadership practices that make work meaningful across three domains (or 3 C’s):
?Community - People find their work meaningful when they have meaningful relationships with colleagues. Research shows that for every friend you? have at work, you are five percent less likely to quit. Actions that increase community and belonging and improve relationships make work meaningful
?Contribution - Our work is meaningful when we understand how we’re contributing to something greater than ourselves, be it our team, organization, or society at large. Actions that connect the dots between tasks and their impact increase meaning
?Challenge - We find work meaningful when we have the opportunity to grow, learn, and strive to reach our full potential. When leaders believe in our potential and? encourage us to try new things and improve our skills, we experience more meaning at work
Employees want to work in environments where they know they’re contributing to something that matters, are challenged to reach their full potential, and enjoy being part of a community.
Leaders: If you want to hold onto your best employees, it’s time to make this desire a reality.?
Employee Retention Specialist: Helping organizations improve employee retention | Bottom-Up approach to cultivate rewarding work experiences, stronger working relationships and trust | Attractive Benefits/ROI's |
9 个月Thanks for sharing your article and research Tamara Myles. It always amazes me when you speak with employees who have resigned you get many reasons, from poor relationships with managers, lack of appreciation, no meaning/purpose in work, minimal career support or growth/development opportunities.... yet when you talk to managers and Sr leaders is almost always about money or compensation??? its like they dont understand they have a tremendous influence and impact on the key elements that drive retention. To me the core of retention is the manager and employee who between them have the ability to create a rewarding work experience and future or not YET they have to have the structure, tools and process as well as freedom to have interactive conversations to create the desired culture and environment.
Social Wealth Strategist | Podcaster - "Rediscovering Connection" Founder, Communiverse Ltd. 20+ years in Communications, Social Science Master's, empowering remote professionals to feel connected, trusted & supported
9 个月Wow, thanks for sharing. "Research shows that for every friend you?have at work, you are five percent less likely to quit." Such a powerful stat.
Enablement Leader | Author | Speaker | RES Austin Chapter Leader
10 个月This is so interesting! I work with sales leaders on a daily basis, and I often hear from them that they think they know what motivates their teams....but then we do an evaluation, and the data reveals that they actually do not. If a little more time was spent learning about people's goals and HOW they are motivated, then use that to build an action plan, leaders might be surprised by the results :)
Lead consultant in HR Strategy & Value Management. Enhancing Value through Human Performance. Delivery of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Training. Lecturer and International Speaker on HRM and Value Management.
11 个月It would appear that Meaning and Development both seem to be given poor attention by Leaders at the moment. Thank you for bringing this to the fore Tamara Myles