Managers need to know what creates a motivating and positive work experience for employees. Primarily, it’s the meaning and purpose that employees find in the work they do. If organizations want to improve this experience, then they need to include all departments in a holistic solution.
Today, more companies are starting to invest in tech that improves the modern workplace. While there’s plenty that companies can do to enhance the balance of employee’s work and personal lives, the critical factor to focus on is the work experience itself.
By making work more meaningful to your employees, you develop better relationships and build superior levels of belonging in the organization, and trust.
Companies need to move beyond the traditional incentives of the workplace, such as perks and rewards. Instead, organizations need to take priority on improving job fulfillment, job fit, and job design for all employees across all departments.
Unpacking the Problem
Over the last 5-years, employers are noticing more issues rising related to productivity, burnout, and employee well-being. The transition into the digital age is taking its toll on many people, and organizations are starting to worry.
Research shows that these issues also contribute to significant on-the-job dissatisfaction as well. Less than 50% of organizations believe that employees have on-the-job satisfaction.
Many employees state that they perceive worker satisfaction to have a weak relationship with the key aspects of their work. That’s not the response that employers want to see from team members.
How Companies Can Bring Meaning to Work
Job meaning is one of the key aspirational drivers of support when making a difference in moments that matter for employees.
Meaning also motivates your employees as well. Your employee experience needs to be more than creating a mission statement. It goes beyond the company’s corporate social responsibility, as well.
Finding meaning in job descriptions requires HR and managers to ask employees about their aspirations.
Meaning connects work back to an understanding of all of the participants involved with the experience and the impact the solutions will have on enhancing the opportunity to achieve personal and professional aspirations at work.
Employees want a workplace that caters to their strengths and competencies, so they feel they are adding value to the company. Failing to deliver a workplace that meets employee expectations results in lower engagement and lost productivity.
Meaning as a Motivator
Company’s that understand and drive meaning in the organization find that it’s a key motivator that provides sustained effort over the long-term.
If the company can clearly articulate purpose across stakeholders, it gets an impact from its efforts. However, if the company can tap into the same meaning and purpose for its employee experience, connecting it to what matters most for the customer, they amplify the effect.
The catch is that meaning is hard to push, and the employee holds the final decision on whether an initiative is meaningful or not. Business leaders need to carefully consider what meaning they can derive from employees based on the design of platforms, workflows, and other technologies in the workplace.
