The Importance of Purpose at Work
“My partner tells me he’s able to assess my level of interest in a work project or meeting task based on my volume level on a Zoom call. I smile at this because I know– in our shared home office space– that even with my headphones on and attempts to maintain a low volume level, he is absolutely correct! The louder I am, the more I’m loving what I’m doing and tapping into all those wonderful PERMA elements we talk about at Connection Labs.”
- Amy Newcomb, Connection Labs Facilitator
During the pandemic, businesses were subject to a prominent shift in employer-employee relationships that brought about a “Great Resignation.” An increase in unemployment benefits along with a nationwide worker shortage led to higher rates of voluntary resignations. In 2023, the “Great Resignation” is still ongoing, with 61% of American employees considering leaving their current jobs and a striking 95% reporting feeling confident about their future career prospects. With a greater sense of agency in their careers, prospective employees have advocated for higher wages, better working conditions, and other critical improvements to their professional lives. However, this push for added benefits in the workplace extends beyond material change. Employees are also seeking more meaningful work—places where they feel a connection to their employer’s mission, where they truly believe in what they are choosing to do. With its potential to benefit employees and employers alike, intentionally creating purpose in the workplace has become an increasing priority.
Did you know?
Ranjay Gulati, a professor at Harvard Business School, explores this need for a sense of meaning in his new book, Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies. He describes a few of the benefits of feeling a sense of purpose at work in an interview with the New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin, explaining, “Connecting with a deep purpose is motivational and drives productivity. It’s good for reputation because customers trust companies and products that stand for something. It provides clarity of direction for businesses and workers and it improves relationships with stakeholders.” Purpose not only makes for a more enriching workplace for employees, it bolsters a company’s desirability and success.
We can use Martin Seligman’s acronym PERMA to better understand why such a purpose is so essential to a productive, engaged workforce. As you will recall from our workshop, Seligman teaches us that flourishing encompasses Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. Finding purpose in your work likewise bolsters one’s larger sense of Meaning—and leads to a more fulfilling life. Finding people with a similar sense of purpose at work provides common ground and a key opportunity for community-building through strong Relationships.
As Wendy Ulrich, co-author of The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win, tells us, “Leaders are in a great position to articulate the values a company is trying to enact and to shape the story of how today’s work connects with those values.” Now is the time to take advantage of the transforming labor landscape to better incorporate the “why” into the workplace.
Awareness, Context, Intention
Building Awareness: Do you feel a sense of purpose at work? What needs to be true for you to find your work meaningful?
Considering Context: How, if at all, does your definition of purpose differ in your personal vs professional life? Does the work itself or the people with whom you work bring you more meaning?
Setting Intention: The next time you’re feeling unenthused about your work, consider why you’re doing it. Is it something that just needs to get done, regardless of the why, or can you connect it to some greater purpose or meaning?
Tap into your strengths
Tap into your strengths to better connect to the meaning in your life.
Use curiosity to consider your relationship to purpose in the workplace
Use honesty to reflect on whether you find purpose in your work
Use leadership to share your purpose with those around you—find people that believe in the same things you do!
Use perspective to consider why other people do the things they do.