We all like to know that the work that we are doing means something, right? Otherwise, why would we do it? Humans, generally speaking, like to know that the effort they put forth matters to the greater community. This applies to work and home life. Meaningful work makes us feel a part of something.
When we do things that have a purpose or meaning to them, we have a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction when we complete them. This, in turn, makes us feel good about ourselves. And when we have fulfilment at work and feel good it then spills into our everyday lives…
You may know that we have just become B Corp certified (wahoo!) and with this we have a much clearer understanding of the impact that we have on the wider community. There has been a shift in the team’s attitude towards our goals that we are working towards. I can see that we are more productive and focused knowing that the work that we are doing has meaning to all of us as individuals. This focus also has helped with our collaboration which is really important to us at Stress Matters. A massive win for everyone!
Did you know that employees are so focused on finding meaning in their work that they would be willing to reduce their yearly salary by 23%?
What would you rather? Would you take an increase in your salary by 20% but not feel connected to your work or take a pay reduction and feel meaning towards the work that you do?
A massive part of creating a great culture that focuses on meaningful work is the sense of community and team work. When you all have the same goal and can work towards it and have a sense of purpose for the task, this increases productivity and you are more motivated to do the best job. That’s pretty good isn’t it?
There are so many reasons why employers should focus on their staff having a connection with their work:
- People who have more meaningful work are less willing to leave their current jobs and organisations for higher-paying opportunities.
- Employees who find work highly meaningful are 69% less likely to plan on quitting their jobs within the next six months.
- And, organisations that devote resources towards creating meaning at work can anticipate increased motivation and productivity.
Do you feel connected to the work that you are currently doing and to the people around you? Next time you start a piece of work, why not have a think about the purpose of what you are doing and see how it makes you feel.
Ensuring the work you are doing and giving to your team is meaningful can be tricky. You’ve got to juggle organisational objectives, targets, budgets and many other things. It’s easy to see how this becomes something that we often overlook.
One way to help make sure your team feels that they are doing meaningful work is to offer them external coaching. An external coach helps individuals to discover and align their values to their actions and motivates them to make changes to improve this connection where needed. This results in them finding more meaning, fulfilment and motivation from the roles they chose to do.
We work with our sister company ‘No More Ifs Or Buts’ to offer world class career coaching programmes. Get in touch for a discovery call to find out how you can use coaching programmes to get the most out of your team and ensure they get the most out of their jobs.
