In the post-pandemic business landscape, companies face many critical challenges, such as embracing a new remote/hybrid work landscape, the need to maximize Human Capital in a high-demand work atmosphere, attending to rising customer experience needs, addressing cybersecurity threats, navigating rising costs and inflation, and attracting and retaining top talent
Consider that addressing employee engagement, productivity, and retention might not hinge on where employees work or the quantity of their workload, but rather on a sense of purpose and a vision for the future of the organization.
Research has shown that when employees have a sense of purpose in their day-to-day work, it has a direct connection to engagement, driving them to give their best, especially when working in a remote and/or hybrid environment. When the purpose and future are clearly articulated, work transcends from merely being a means to a paycheck, to becoming a meaningful pursuit aligned with personal values and aspirations.
As indicated in the article CEO Priorities in 2023: 3 Critical Talent Trends, written by Stephanie Neil, “…when leaders feel a strong sense of purpose, they are 9X more likely to feel engaged in their role and 2.4X more likely to plan to stay at their companies than their peers who do not feel the same strength of purpose.”
Embracing an aligned-on purpose fuels engagement, sparking an inner drive to surpass expectations and contribute to the business’s future. Employees will be more productive, innovative, committed, and ultimately, more likely to stay with the company for a longer duration. This is when employees move from just being a contributor to becoming a leader driving the company’s success.
As illustrated in the MIT Sloan paper Your Organization Is a Network of Conversations by Vanto Group’s Founder, Steve Zaffron, and Arison Professor of Values and Leadership at George Mason University, Gregory Unruh, “…The challenge for leaders is to identify and co-create an inspiring future that informs the conversations taking place at all levels of the organization. Creating a future is different from 'getting buy-in' on a corporate vision statement. In our experience, buy-in often extracts little more than compliance from workers, whereas a future that employees feel a part of and find compelling unleashes commitment and enthusiasm.”
The opportunity for 2024 and beyond is to foster a sense of purpose within the workforce, establishing an inspiring long-term future that transforms the current environment, paving the way for elevated employee retention, effectiveness, and breakthrough results.
