Why Giving Employees A Sense Of Purpose Is Not Enough To Drive Engagement
Jacob Morgan
5x Best-Selling Author, Futurist, & Keynote Speaker. Founder of Future Of Work Leaders (Global CHRO Community). Focused on Leadership, The Future of Work, & Employee Experience
There’s no doubt that employees who have a sense of purpose at work will be more engaged and productive. We all want to feel like we are contributing to something and that our jobs have meaning. While purpose is indeed a critical factor when thinking about designing employee experiences, it cannot stand alone. In other words, simply giving employees a sense of purpose at work isn’t going to drive engagement. From what I have seen, there are actually three things that are required.
Of course the first thing needed is purpose. Employees should feel they are doing work that has meaning, and they are not just cogs in a machine. The second thing needed is a sense of worth. Employees want to feel their value is recognized in how they are treated and compensated. Lastly, employees need to know they will be treated fairly. After all, if you give an employee a sense of purpose and then don’t treat him or her fairly, then that purpose dies.
All three of these things are required for a well-rounded corporate culture.
I talk about this more in the video below. Leave a comment below and you can subscribe to the YouTube channel for more videos if interested.
Jacob Morgan is a keynote speaker, author, and futurist. To have Jacob speak at your event, see his videos, podcasts and articles, or to subscribe to his newsletter visit TheFutureOrganization.
Consultant, Owner of MOVE EAST STUDIOS
8 年Jacob, this is great! Your commentary reminds me a lot of something I wrote not too long ago. I argued that pride, purpose, and engagement go hand-in-hand to develop an exceptional employee experience: https://postbeyond.com/employees-are-your-companys-best-asset/ As more and more employers understand the importance of this dynamic, I think (or hope that) we will start to see a steeper upward trend in employee experience. The shift is inevitable if employers want productive workforces. This is a great conversation -- thanks for bringing it to life! - Hannah
entrepreneur - consultant - author "desclick"
8 年More then stated values, it′s about the way those lived values are perceived ...
Change Execution │ Value Creation │ Agile & agile │ Transformation │ Strategic Momentum
8 年Jacob, respectfully, in such discussions this these I hear a lot of top-down messaging and a lot of patriarchy ... I hear "giving" employees purpose. For me, this misses 2 essential realities. 1. Employees are not empty vessels. No one comes to work waiting for a company to tell them their purpose. IMHO many of us (not all, and not only traditional "employees") come to work hoping for alignment - as in: "Do my values (which purpose springs from) align with the company's?" 2. As a company decides on its purpose (which surely springs from the combination of strategy and values of executives) then employees can decide whether this purpose aligns with their own values and purpose. We all self-select. We do this by staying/going and by the level of discretionary effort that we invest in our work, ie the work of "engagement" is not done when company purpose is broadcast - it is only beginning. Anyway, if companies genuinely seek engagement then purpose will not be decided and broadcast from the top - rather employees will engaged in discovering, defining and living it.
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8 年Good points, Jacob!
Creator. Former Global Futurist, Multi Award Winning Author and Cisco Exec
8 年You don't give employees a sense of purpose. This and engagement is a 20th century management practice and it's time for a new path for business in the 21st century. Conscious 21st century leaders drive shared purpose