5 ways to improve retention
Addressing purpose and meaning in your workplace.
What It Purpose/ Meaning at work
Known as many things, meaning is often also called: Purpose or Significance
A definition that I regularly use around meaningful work is.
“A job is meaningful if - When you tell people what you do, it is clear that your work makes the world a better place”
Another of my favourite definitions is from Dan Pink
“The yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves”
"Just under half of workers in 2020 and 2022 said they did meaningful work for society, down from 54% during the pandemic" - it is essential that both employers and employees tackle this challenge together.
In this post we share some handy tips on where to start:
1. Identify what is important to you as an organisation.
Where this is usually conducted by leadership the following questions are important signposts to identifying what is important and why:
What is the mission?
What is the legacy on which this mission aims to build?
How is that legacy perceived outside of the organisation?
How can these perceptions shape a more engaging mission statement?
2. Crowdsource from your colleagues, customers, and others what they believe is the 'why' behind the organisation? Why does the organisation exist? What problems does it solve?
There's no point in looking to address meaning if your organisation creates more problems than it solves. Capturing these views are important to authentically address any shortfalls in meaningful work.
3. Map the captured 'whys' to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals to see how strongly aligned your collective Why's are to our planetary priorities
4. Identify here the purpose or strategy of the organisation needs to change. Look at working practices to identify what is eroding meaning for you and colleagues
5. Clearly outline opportunities where colleagues can get involved to realise a new purpose / sense of meaning within the organisation and maximise involvement.
We specialise in helping organisations find more meaning both within (in terms of colleagues) and without (in terms of customers and other stakeholders). Contact us if you'd like an independent view on how meaningful your colleagues and others find your work and how to improve this.