Purpose is an employees emotional salary

Individuals find it difficult to sustain their energy and be engaged when they feel their job has no real purpose beyond making money for someone else. When employees are not clear about their values and are unsure about how they serve the big picture, it can create feelings of frustration, insecurity, loss of purpose and meaning and thereby create disengagement. Employees begin to question whether they are succeeding or failing in their role. As a result, they start to question the organisation and become critical and uncommitted.

"93 per cent of engaged employees feel that the business has purpose."

(Source: Chart Your Course Workforce Retention Survey)
In 90 per cent of cases people in Best Employer companies are clear about the purpose and the common benefits. In other companies, only 75 per cent of the people in the company have a clear vision that they can support.

It is therefore up the CEO and managers to help inspire and reinforce an employee's sense of purpose and meaning, or risk losing them. You may like to ask yourself these sort of questions:

• Is the purpose of the organisation clearly articulated and reinforced?
• Are our employees clear on the big picture of the business and see how they meaningfully fit into it?
• Do our people feel like they work for a great organisation that contributes to the greater good of the community and is socially responsible?

Consider
1. Communicating and telling the company's story:

• Reinforce community success stories
• Make sure everyone understands the ultimate purpose and greater good of the business
• Create a more meaningful purpose for each team and person
• Highlight any support that the company has made to a charity or the environment
• Allow people to participant in volunteer activities outside work

2. Being the change you want to see:

• Demonstrate the values of the business by doing value-driven activities every day
• If you are trying to instil work life balance, be seen going home at a respectable time
• Managers don't just say that people are important, they demonstrate it in the things they do

3. Reinforcing why an individual's work is significant and how it fits into the bigger picture:

• Give positive feedback based on the values and purpose of the business
• Reinforce the purpose in the recruiting process

4. Getting individuals clear on what would make their work more meaningful:

• Create a culture of appreciation and gratitude throughout the business
• Provide career development tools
• Do personal reviews at least twice a year
• Help individuals establish a five-year vision
• Consider days off to do pro bono work for a cause
• If not much can be improved at work, focus on meaningful outside interests