Every team member wants to know their work matters. In fact, a sense of purpose in the workplace is one key to increasing employee engagement. So, how do you infuse purpose into your team’s work? Start with these four practices.
1. Connect the Work to the Vision
Your organization no doubt has a mission and vision you’re working toward. The question is, are your team members working toward the same outcome? If daily actions aren’t aligned with organizational vision, you’ll never reach your preferred future.
But here’s the hard truth: your job as the leader is to ensure there’s alignment between action and vision. If what you hired your team members to do is not aligned with where you want the organization to go, you either need to change the work or change the vision.
Once there’s alignment, then help your team members see the difference they are making in their day-to-day work by showing them the connection between what they do and the organization’s dream for the future.
2. Coach Toward Vision-Centric Success
Another key to employee engagement is giving team members the opportunity to learn and grow. But to accelerate purpose in the workplace, be sure you’re coaching your team toward vision-centric success.
As I noted in the first point, the team will experience purpose when they see how their role contributes to the vision. However, they’ll feel even greater purpose when they receive coaching to excel in their role, thus making an even greater contribution to the vision. This coaching will them and the organization better. It’s a double win.
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3. Communicate Appreciation for Their Efforts
As team members carry out their responsibilities, learn to express appreciation for what they do, how they do it, their efforts to live out the organization’s values, and their commitment to the team.
As Gary Chapman and Paul White have observed, every team member has a language of appreciation. The more you speak their language, the more they’ll feel a sense of purpose and value in the workplace.
4. Connect with the Person
There’s nothing more powerful in a work environment—or in much of life—than healthy relationships. People find purpose at work not only in what they do, but also who they work alongside.
By taking time to cultivate connection between team members, you increase meaning in the workplace. You help them see that they’re part of something bigger than themselves. You make the work transformational rather than transactional.
Every team member wants to feel like what they’re doing matters. These four practices will help you infuse purpose into your teams and the culture you’re creating.
