Are you helping your team make a difference in the world?

One of the best ways to engage your team members is to offer them a sense of purpose and accomplishment; something that makes them want to go that extra mile to “make a difference”.

Organizations can also use this to brand themselves as a socially responsible company to attract the best emerging talent in the market. Previously, offering monetary benefits could help retain employees at an organization, but that is no longer the case.

What really motivates and drives employees in the modern day corporate world is job enrichment and job satisfaction that comes from doing valuable work.

Many organizations are originally established with a business model that supports:

• Community welfare
• Facilitating the public
• Giving charity, etc.

They lead with the objective of "making a difference". Take Amazon Smile for instance; they donate 0.5% of the purchase price of the products to charitable organizations of your choice.  

Such organizations develop products or services centered on public welfare. You can find organizations across all sectors opting to add greater meaning to their corporate mission, be it:

• Health care institutions
• Non-profit pharmaceuticals
• Financial institutions
• Community institutions
• Art galleries
• Libraries, etc.

We all benefit from their existence. And, we continue to sing their praises.

However, most of us do not work in such organizations. We rather aspire for star-studded career prospects in places where there is no correlation between the products and services that the company offers, and their resulting impact on society as a whole.

So one might ask – how would a fast-food chain "make a difference"? Shake Shack's "Better Burger" campaign has sparked a lot of interest. How about a company that manufactures concrete? Lafarge is committed to building better cities. If we talk about the service sector – what does an accounting firm have to do with social benefit? On the contrary, EY aims to build better workplaces.

Having said that - how can you, as a leader, push your boundaries and facilitate your team to make a positive difference in the world? Especially, if you are in charge of a tobacco company's Accounting & Finance department; an IT firm's procurement; a ground handling company's logistics team?

Take my word: every organization, no matter how large or small, no matter which industry or capacity, can absolutely lend a contribution to society. It’s a win-win.

The Willingness to Do Better

The first step to getting your team aligned towards a meaningful purpose is, Realization.

Having a sense of purpose is without a doubt more worthwhile than showing up to the workplace, doing your job, and collecting your paycheck.

This sense of purpose not only helps the society and the organization but embeds itself in the spirit of the team and eventually drives/motivates the individual members to do more and be more.

Next step for you is to start a conversation with your team regarding how they can go about making a difference in the world. Such a dialogue would push team members to find a purpose that not only brings considerable benefits for the company but also to their communities and the world.

Defining "Purpose"

These are some simple steps that I tend to follow in order to motivate my employees to come up with their purpose.

1. I ask them to think about a moment in time when they felt especially proud of their association with their team and organization. 
2. Once they share this information, I further ask them the reason why they would choose to be associated with this team in the future. This allows them to build an emotional connection with the past and the future.
3. Then, I shift focus on what, according to each member of the team is valuable work in their capacity to represent the company’s vision.
4. Eventually, I stir a conversation challenging members of the team to think beyond the parameters of the company and devise ways and actionable strategies by which they can bring a positive impact on society.

Bottom line…

Considering our previous examples;

• An accounting team can develop a purpose with values of keeping utmost transparency in business practices and integrity in reporting in their business environment. 
• A logistics team can reduce the carbon footprint of their operations by incorporating carbon neutral resources. 
• A factory team can concentrate on supporting communities outside their manufacturing facility.
• A credit card sales team can aim to educate customers on being financially responsible.

The idea is ever evolving, evergreen, and applicable in all respects.

If you ask me - every team, irrespective of their skill, can develop a secure connection between what they do in the workplace and make a positive difference in the world. Perhaps, the larger purpose is not noticeable initially. Answers will emerge if you peel off the layers of "proverbial" onion. 

Even though, our “purpose” might not be as significant in nature to people who are not connected to our work, achieving a real sense of purpose would allow workers to take immense pride in their work. Its real implications go as far as in fostering of committed individuals for the corporate world.

Learn how you can take your leadership teams through a growth model which will help them mature on a personal and professional level by following me on LinkedIn and subscribing to the Keijzer Community.

Paul Keijzer is the CEO and Founder of Engage Consulting and the co-Founder of The Talent Games, which aims to transform HR by digitising talent processes and creating more engaging and productive workplaces through gamification and mobile technology. As a global HR and Leadership Management expert, Paul knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.