Why Your Workers Should Work With Purpose

We all know the saying, “If it ain’t broke why fix it?” Many of today’s workers probably view the work world in this way. The current office environment and job is functioning, so why would we try to alter it?

But really? When so many people express a dislike of their jobs (Gallup puts the number at 85%) and employee engagement levels shrinking we need to stop and think to ourselves what we can do to put ourselves on the right path.

This right path, by the way, would not only improve our relationships with our jobs but help make the world a better place. You see, purposeful work is the ideal way to improve employee engagement and in turn increase productivity levels.

Let’s look at why this is true.

The fact of the matter is that any business is reliant on the skills and output of its workers.

Employee engagement, in fact, may be the element standing between you and a successful company. According to Gallup low levels of employee engagement results in 16% lower profitability, 18% lower productivity, 37% lower job growth and 65% lower share price.

This, of course, means that a successful company needs a thriving workforce.

The bad news is employee engagement currently stands at a dismal 34% in the US and 13% worldwide. Companies are not operating in a way that is creating good workers.

So what can be done?

Here’s the truth: people work harder and more efficiently when they like and believe in what they’re doing.

This is why it’s so important to push purposeful work. In fact a solid purpose may be the greatest key to retaining the best talent.

According to Mercer, 80% of top-performing employees believe their company and work have a purpose.

Meanwhile, a BetterUp report found that 90% of workers value purpose over profit and would take a pay cut to pursue a career with greater meaning.

There are ways to introduce purpose into your company without tearing down the entire system and rebuilding from the bottom.

Service projects or corporate volunteering are an ideal way to bring purpose to your workforce.

In this case employees of a company give their time and energy to a worthy cause—say a soup kitchen or an orphanage—and work to ensure this cause gets the attention and support it needs to continue operating.

This is actually a great way to not only introduce purpose into your company but foster teambuilding as well.

If setting this up is out of your wheelhouse there are organizations who are ready to help.

HeartPress PR, the United Way and Right Hand Events are just a few examples of middlemen you can use to set up your corporate volunteering initiative and help make your workplace a more purposeful environment.

You help your workplace, you help your community and you help the world. What could be better?

Imagine being excited to wake up and go to work. Imagine going about your day knowing what you were doing was making the world a better place.

This is the work world we should be creating. Purposeful work benefits everyone. Let’s do what needs to be done to give it a stronger presence in our economy and world at large.