Creating A Sense Of Purpose In The Workplace - Jacob Morgan

Now more than ever employees are looking for a sense of purpose and meaning in their work. But where does that purpose come from--the worker or the organization?

There is a story about President Kennedy visiting to NASA in the 1960s. While he was visiting he was walking down a hallway and saw a man who was carrying a broom and a bucket and Kennedy asked the man what he did at NASA. The man, who was a janitor at Nasa, replied, “Sir, I help put a man on the moon”.

That story has been told and retold because it is a great example of the importance of having a sense of purpose in the work that we do. But where does that sense of purpose come from? Is it something that the organization is supposed to provide for you or is it something that the employee is supposed to come to work with?

I think the answer is that it is partially the responsibility of both parties to create. I believe that the organization needs to help employees connect what they are doing to the impact they are having in a way that helps them see how they are changing the organization, the community and the world. Organizations can do this through stories, through helping employees feel like they belong at the company and giving them opportunities to grow and advance.

But it is also partially the responsibility of the employee. The employee cannot just show up to work and assume the organization is going to hold their hand and do everything for them. Employees need to have an open mind, they need to find ways to contribute and they need to figure out why they are working for the organization in the first place.

The greatest sense of purpose comes when both the organization and the employee create and nurture that purpose and that mindset on a daily basis. Do you agree with me? Who do you think is responsible for creating a sense of purpose at work?
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Will AI take over the world? Will cars drive themselves? What will the employees, managers, and organizations of the future look like and will we all have jobs we love? Join best-selling author and futurist Jacob Morgan each week as he explores these topics and more. The Future in Five is a series that seeks to bring inspiration, education, and wonder to a topic that impacts every human being on the planet, the future of work.

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[ABen-wkuj]

GREATEST HUMAN BEING TO EVER WALK THIS EARTH!!!

[aaronross]

Much of traditional hiring has hindered this by focusing on a candidate's suitability of skill-set for the role. It is at this early point that leaders need to help newcomers understand how their contributions improve the overall results and show that the organisation really does have a key place in the world.

[tsvetannanov]

Nice anecdote, but the reality of the current times is that most organisations do not have any purpose other than profit. As such it is impossile for them to foster a real sense of purpose, belonging and meaning in their employees. What you seem to miss is that in this situation a sense of fair compensation for efforts put in would be enough for most employees. After all employee-employer relations are one of trade. Yet we see faceless business entities trying to use this as a way to trick an employee not to ask for a pay raise while the internal company newsletter extols the record quarterly profits. A janitor at NASA or in the halls of the Vatican might feel content and find meaning and a sense of belonging, while a janitor in some glass-bound office will most definitely not. I think your audience mostly belongs to the tricked ones.