Finding Purpose in Your Work
Let's talk about the importance of helping your teams understand how to be more connected to their purpose in their work.
I recently looked at a study by McKinsey & Co. that was talking about how to attract and retain talent and the driving factors and motivators in leaving a company or staying in order to attract and retain talent at our organizations (because it goes way deeper than how much money someone makes). What I noticed right off the bat, employee experience is driven by meaningfulness of the work. So I want to dive into that today – how to cultivate purpose for your employees, plus other factors that should be on your radar.
On this episode you’ll hear…
Why we have to be aware of all of the top things that impact employee attrition and retention
The impact of meaningfulness and purposefulness on employee retention and why Chaili believes these two things are most important
The power of regularly asking your team about their own goals and aspirations
Connecting your employees to the bigger picture to help them stay committed when change happens and go deeper into development
Ready for more?
Listen in:
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** This is a raw, unedited transcript
Chaili Trentham 00:02
Let's talk about the importance of helping your teams understand how to be more connected to their purpose in their work. I was scrolling somewhere recently and came across a graphic that McKinsey had put out. So if you're familiar with a lot of the research that McKinsey does in the workplace, it's super helpful and valuable for the ways that we talk about engagement because they use large samples and are consulting with all the major companies in the United States. And so we can get really great research out of McKinsey and CO. So basically, this graphic was talking about how to attract and retain talent and kind of what are the driving factors and motivators in leaving a company or staying and to attract and retain talent at our organizations, it's more than the money, right? I'll never say compensation doesn't matter, because it does. And that is one of the factors on some of this research. However, there are other motivating factors that keep people in their jobs. And that on the flip side, don't help with retention, and instead push people away. So McKinsey graphed this on a grid, and this is what caught my eye. So there's this grid that's based on down one side of the grid picture like a matrix on one side of the matrix is the factors driving retention. And then on the bottom side, across the other accesses, factors driving attrition. And because those can have kind of a push pull relationship, right, or can be corollary. And so listen, here's what I noticed right off the bat, employee experience is driven by meaningfulness of the work. That's like the number one dot I noticed on the grid, that is a factor driving retention. And also similarly it can drive attrition, and if it's not there, right. The other piece was workplace flexibility, which has been a hot topic, especially since COVID. Because of a shift to remote and hybrid workplaces, the shift back to working in person, the needs that we've known and seen in the research for a long time about autonomy and flexibility in our work driving motivation. And so we know that this is is like a key spot that can impact how a person feels towards their work, right? Flexibility isn't just work from home, or isn't just like how many days are in the office flexibility can mean the when and where of getting your work done, but also autonomy and collaboration, the ways that you're able to collaborate and what tools you're using, so that you might have more flexibility in the way that you approach work, accommodations that are made, like there's so many pieces that play into it. But ultimately, adequacy of workplace flexibility was another.on, the graph in this McKinsey grid that caught my eye, and was that kind of the top. So the top reason cited for quitting a previous job, which was also in this graph, is lack of career development and advancement. Compensation, which, like I said, it's not always about the money, but that plays an important role in leaving a job, right, because you find something better. And then the final piece was an uncaring or uninspiring leader. And so all of these things are intertwined, right. And as leaders, if we can have these on our radar regularly, if we're if we know that these different categories of meaningfulness in the work, workplace flexibility, career development, and advancement, compensation, uncaring or uninspiring leadership, like all of these things play together to impact retention and attrition. But it means that we have to be aware of them always. Because when we're when they're on our radar regularly, we have a chance to change the way we talk with our teams about these topics, and the way that we ask questions about topics that are connected to these areas. So I kind of want to focus today on meaningfulness and purpose, because this is one that I think so regularly comes up for me with coffee and leadership. It's a big part of why I started doing the work that I do, because I was working with folks who were really passionate about the work that they were doing, who found profound purpose in the work that they were doing. And with that, there's some tension when you're in an organization that maybe doesn't value that work or doesn't value that connection, or maybe when you can't see how the individualized work that you're doing plays a part in the greater plan. Right? So meaningfulness and purpose in the work is directly linked to the actual everyday work your team is doing. And as a leader, it's so cool. You're sure to recognize that helping your team members feel more passionate about their work, when that's missing, that's a vital part of your role as the leader. When your employees feel connected to their purpose, we know that they're also more engaged, more productive, more likely to stay with your organization over the long term. And if an uncaring and uninspiring leader is pushing good people away from an organization, right, like if it's pushing you out, then we need more leaders who are committed to making changes and helping uncover passion and purpose. Because I think you become instantly more caring and more inspiring as a leader, naturally, when you're caring for those pieces of a person's career journey, right? So you kind of kill two birds with one stone. So feeling a sense of purpose is essential for employee retention. And that probably feels like a duh. But when employees feel that their work is meaningful, there's so much more likely to feel satisfied with the job and stay committed to the organization as a whole to right when they see big picture. Gallup According to a Gallup study, 71% of employees who strongly agreed that they know what their company stands for. And what makes it different from its competitors, said that they plan to stay with the company for at least another year. And on the flip side, only 45% of employees who disagreed with the statement planned to stay in their company. Okay, so what what we know is that employees who know what the mission and vision and values of the company are, are way more likely to say, than those who don't, or feel that they don't understand like it's murky, right? Doesn't mean that they're not on board with the mission or vision of the company. But the statement that Gallup was surveyed was, do they know what their company stands for? So often, when employees are feeling disconnected on a personal level, they're not feeling purpose in their work, that means they're also feeling disconnected from the greater mission. And definitely don't plan on staying around, right, because there's nothing driving them intrinsically. So when employees feel connected to their purpose, though, they're more likely to be loyal, right? They feel that their work has greater meaning, and that they're a part of something bigger than themselves. And this can lead to the positive side of this, which is increased employee advocacy, where employees then become brand ambassadors for your organization and actively promote it to friends and others. That's why we look at NPS scores with organizations. When they're feeling aligned, it's so much easier to share that out, right? It's so much easier to stay loyal when you believe. So a greater sense of purpose can lead to that stronger emotional commitment to the work, right. And that grows, that goes deep. This can make employees less likely to leave like I'm saying, but even when other opportunities arrive. When employees are emotionally invested in their work, they're more likely to go above and beyond or to say yes to that bigger project or opportunity within the company, and their productivity skyrockets. And plus give flexibility in that work when we're talking about Is there flexibility and autonomy in the work that you offer your teams, you've then again, Inc, increased efficiency and contributed to that by giving what technically should already be there, right? We want our employees to feel connected to the company and to the organization as a whole. So how can you help your team members feel more connected to the purpose, right? Because that's where it's like, great, we know people want to feel meaningful work in there every day, we know that they want to feel purpose. But how do we do this? Have conversations with them about goals and aspirations. And I know that I talk about that a lot. But when you can help your employees to understand what motivates them, and how they can achieve that in their careers, help them make a plan. They see that connection, and they feel that purpose. And because you're doing this a regular conversations, it's it's contributing to the task completion of whatever that goal was, you're having opening feedback channels, you're creating opportunities for them to have momentum in the work that they're doing as well. Then you as a leader are able to keep your eyes open for moments when you can help tether that motivation, or that goal to their daily work in the future. Whether it's a perfect project or a way to be in the tools they love using most or working alongside the right group of people. It all matters. And so when you've been having that conversation regularly when you've been asking about goals and aspirations you're more attuned to that, and there's a chance you'll find more connections for them as their leader. It's like when you buy a new car, right, you buy a new car and you picked it out, you're like, I'm the only one with this car like this is so special, and you've put a lot of time and energy into it. And suddenly, when you're driving, that everyone has that car and you start seeing it everywhere. It's because your awareness level has been heightened right, once you bought the car. Same goes for finding opportunities for people around you. It starts with awareness, and then it moves into leading for connection. And I think as leaders we can grow in that become more aware of that and better at that for our teams, you can also help your team members understand how their work contributes to the larger goals of the organization, this can help them see a bigger picture that was already but to understand how their work makes a difference in the world, right? Your organization or your business or your company has a mission to serve a group of people or to make a difference somewhere in this great big world, then you have to show the individual way that one person at the company contributes to that bigger picture and to that difference, by showing them how their work impacts others if they don't already know this, and, or how it impacts the greater mission or vision. They will feel a greater sense of purpose in the everyday task, because you've been able to show that connection. And it's hard for employees, even at a base level to sometimes see this connection to the bigger picture when like the overall company strategy feels so far away, or so elevated. But I find so much inspiration from leaders who invite their team onto the balcony for a better view, who say this is where we're headed as an organization. And you matter and your role matters in this. And let's take a look at how the thing that you do on a daily basis impacts more people than you realize or more departments than you realize are more moments than you realize, and contributes overall to the greater, bigger mission. And when we do that, I think we have a profound opportunity as leaders to dig into our role in helping people stay, stay in the organization stay on after a major life change, stay committed when change happens in the organization. And it's not just staying for the sake of retention. That's I don't think that's what we want as leaders, but staying because when our teams stay, we get to go deeper in their development, and really embrace their growth within the organization. And that's where the magic happens, which then, again, tethers back to this idea that folks will leave an organization if they don't feel an opportunity for career advancement or development. And when we get them to stay, we have more time to dig into that. And to really refine what it looks like to be a great team player and a great employee. So think about that, as you consider the ways that you can have conversations with your team. And stay tuned, because next week, I'm going to have a follow up episode with 10 questions that you can ask your employee to dig into some of this to start having these conversations about goals and dreams and aspirations that aren't hard. They can happen in a one on one. But sometimes we just need that little kickstart right. So tune in next week and consider the ways that you can inspire every single team member that you engage with this week next week. Think about the ways that you are helping them to see big picture connection to the purpose of their work and the meaning of their work. Cheers