Creating Distinction through Defining Purpose

At the risk of sounding somewhat like my Dad, who had to trudge to school, in the snow, barefoot, uphill in both directions: Today’s generation of employees want (some would say “require”) something different from the world of work that I never expected.

They want to do work that has purpose. Younger generations now want to know that their efforts for your organization are more meaningful. And they will not be satisfied with work for work’s sake. Many organizations have a purpose, even one that might be virtuous and laudable.

But your organization’s purpose can’t stop at the office door. It has to follow your employees home and inspire them in their personal lives — and it should do so in a way that makes sense from an employee’s perspective.

This purpose-inspired culture has become so important that it isn’t merely the very top — C-Suite leaders or business owners, for example — that need to buy into it; it has to be shared by all who work for you, managers and non-managers alike.

The organization’s greater purpose needs to leap from job descriptions and company mission statements and flow into employees’ consciousness 24/7, wherever they are.