In the modern workplace, the traditional incentives of pay and perks are no longer enough to keep employees engaged and motivated. Increasingly, research has shown that a sense of purpose, alongside autonomy and mastery, is a primary driver of employee satisfaction and productivity. Understanding the ‘why’ behind their work can lead employees to perform better, feel more connected to their company and stay satisfied in their roles for longer.
This understanding has profound implications for businesses aiming to build strong, motivated teams. Purpose isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a proven concept backed by extensive HR research. In fact, according to a Harvard Business Review study, employees who find their work meaningful report being three times more engaged than their peers. Another report from McKinsey & Company found that 82 per cent of employees believe a company’s purpose should be a factor in deciding where to work. The takeaway is clear: companies need to know what they stand for (and preferably that is something bigger than just making profits) if they want to attract and retain the best talent.
Once you’ve onboarded your team, and even after you’ve managed to keep hold of them for an extended period of time, there are still significant positives in finding a way to get them to buy into the purpose of the company fully. Imagine an employee who is happy in their job, but not enthused by the work the business is doing. Now imagine a happy employee who is passionate about achieving the same goals as the business. Who is more likely to go the extra mile in researching an idea, or think outside the box on a pitch? Or be reading around the subject in their spare time? It’s easy when you think about it that way, but can be hard to see when you don’t take the time to step back and reflect.
Take The Electric Car Scheme’s purpose, for example. A common belief is that the majority of people want to make choices to work toward and achieve a net-zero future. At the moment, they are limited by information, access, price and complexity – and this is slowing down progress in the UK and globally. Our purpose then, is that we exist to make net zero the obvious choice. It is the purpose that guides everything we do.
Purpose is what motivates both your customers and your team. People don’t just want products; they want to be part of something meaningful. Your employees want to know that their work is making a real difference in the world, and this sense of purpose is what should drive businesses to constantly innovate and improve.
Engaging with employees as an HR manager, and getting them on board with the company’s purpose, is a 360 job. It involves impressing it upon them from the word go, which often is before they even start working for you – in their first interview. It is not, however, one-way traffic. Discussing purpose with employees should also feed into how it evolves over time. Employees can see what works, what needs to change and which areas others genuinely care about. Listening to this feedback and, crucially, implementing it – where it makes sense – is a sure-fire way to ensure your employees buy into it on a wider scale.
One of the challenges for businesses with a purpose-driven mission is ensuring that the mission is credible and not just a veneer for profit-driven goals. Consumers and employees alike are increasingly sceptical of companies that claim to stand for something without backing it up. Greenwashing is becoming more and more common unfortunately and, while it’s sometimes easy to spot, it can be tricky. That’s why proof points are so essential. One of the most important proof points of our commitment to sustainability and ethical business practices is our B Corp certification.
This certification serves as a strong proof point that a business is practising what it preaches when it comes to a commitment to helping people and businesses achieve net zero, or whatever their purpose is. For our team, being part of a B Corp gives them the confidence that they are working for an organisation that is genuinely committed to doing good, further reinforcing their sense of purpose.
This validation not only makes it easy for employees to believe in what they are doing, it also reinforces trust that what you say you do, is what you will do. Company culture is a complicated thing to create and define, and is one of the most overused buzzwords there is. At the heart of culture is a belief that your business is a good place to work. This depends on a range of factors, of course, but with trust in purpose you also offer a reassurance that promised career progression, training and development, support and hiring decisions are being taken seriously.
Purpose is by no means a silver bullet. You won’t magically double sales, receive twice as many job applications or halve costs by saying you want to do good in the world. But a purpose, a genuine goal that you and your employees can buy into easily, can be far more valuable than you think.
Thom Groot is CEO of The Electric Car Scheme
This post was originally published on here
