A simple idea to help your team feel a small sense of purpose at work

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When I was looking for my first job in 1992 I had two priorities, one, to get paid and two, to find something I was vaguely interested in. It never crossed my mind to check if my potential employer’s values matched mine, or if the job would fulfil my personal sense of purpose. Honestly, I don’t think I even knew what my values and purpose were when I was 18.

Yet nowadays, every blog, book and podcast on happiness at work says we need a purpose to be happy. In Oprah Winfrey’s new book, Build The Life You Want, co-authored with Arthur? Brooks (super-famous happiness expert and Harvard professor) it even says “we need to find what we’re willing to die for”. I certainly wasn’t willing to die for the vegetables I was stacking in Sainsbury’s in 1992.

So, if we don’t want to die for our job, are we all doomed to a lifetime of unhappiness at work?

Over the years, our company often struggled with this part of the happiness equation. Building teams, helping people feel safe and giving people autonomy, all felt quite logical, but being responsible for giving people purpose, always felt a little out of reach. That was until we understood what purpose means.

We’ve all heard the story of the bricklayer.

“One day in 1671, Christopher Wren observed three bricklayers on a scaffold, one crouched, one half-standing and one standing tall, working very hard and fast. To the first bricklayer, Christopher Wren asked the question, “What are you doing?” to which the bricklayer replied, “I’m a bricklayer. I’m working hard laying bricks to feed my family.” The second bricklayer, responded, “I’m a builder. I’m building a wall.” But the third brick layer, the most productive of the three and the future leader of the group, when asked the question, “What are you doing?” replied with a gleam in his eye, “I’m a cathedral builder. I’m building a great cathedral to The Almighty.”

Consequently, many people think that to be truly happy at work you need a higher meaning, some kind of divine goal. I would argue however, that purpose is not so black and white and that you can still be very happy without feeling you have some over-arching goal in life. Don’t get me wrong, if you do have a higher meaning, that is amazing, and it will really help you feel fulfilled and happier at work. However, if you don’t, don’t be too disheartened.

If you:

• understand why you’re doing your work
• know the difference your work is making, and
• feel recognised for your efforts

you too can also feel some purpose in your work.

About five years ago, one of our software teams was struggling, they were disheartened and felt under-appreciated. To fix it, our client had the great idea of asking the end-users of the software our team had built to record a little video sharing how their software had made a difference to them. Then, as a surprise, one Friday he showed these video testimonials to our team. Our developers loved it. Now, every month, we have a special meeting with our client where our team just listens to stories from the users.

Steven Bartlett (Diary of a CEO) does a similar thing in his companies. They have an internal workplace chat channel called “impact” where the teams “share stories, testimonials and positive feedback about how each team member’s efforts has impacted the lives of real people, all over the world.”

So …

This week, set up a Slack or Teams channel, organise a meeting or send an email telling your team members how the work they are doing is impacting other people. Tell them stories, read some testimonials. Just let your team know that their work is actually making a difference to someone, somewhere.

It’ll help them feel their work has some purpose and will fulfil their human need for dignity and meaning.

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Next week … A simple trick to get even the most shy team members involved.