It is difficult to run a business when your employees do not like being there. Employees who love what they do, who they work for, and who they work with will produce much better than those that do not.
“A business needs a purpose and each employee needs to be inspired by and contributing to that purpose,” said Paul Ratoff, president of newly formed non-prophet Strategy Development Group Inc. and author of “Thriving in a Stakeholder World: Purpose as the New Competitive Advantage.”
The current philosophy of many businesses around the country focus strongly on shareholder value. Ratoff is a firm believer in pushing less for shareholder value but, rather, for stakeholder value. Stakeholders include everyone who impacts the company or is impacted by it, from customers to suppliers to communities. This is what it takes for a business to survive and thrive in today’s economy.
“If everyone in an organization feels good about the work they do and is committed to the organization’s purpose, then you’re likely to see good results,” said Ratoff. “But if workers aren’t engaged, their productivity can suffer, and the company as a whole may pay the price. Imagine if you could get employees to look at their jobs as something with a purpose that goes beyond just earning a paycheck. That could result in a more engaged workforce, better productivity and perhaps less turnover.”
Having purpose in a job gives an employee a reason to stay at a job and a reason to perform well. Studies show that millennials in particular seek purpose in the jobs they take and are much quicker to switch jobs if they do not find it.
So, inspiration is critical to success in the workplace, and employers are crucial to inspiring their employees. How does an employer inspire his or her employees?
Here are a few tips Ratoff suggests for inspiring employees:
• It starts at the top. It’s not enough that employees find the purpose inspiring. “The leader of the company has to be inspired because the leader will cause others to be inspired.” Ratoff says. Ultimately, it’s important that the entire management team be on board and enthusiastic.
• Make sure the purpose is clear and meaningful. Company leaders must find a common purpose that’s broad enough to be meaningful and important to employees. In the absence of a clear organizational purpose, people focus on their individual goals and may perceive different purposes for the same organization.
• Discard what doesn’t fit. Identify company activities that aren’t aligned with the purpose and remove or transform them.
“Purpose isn’t an idea that only lives in a strategic plan or on a website,” Ratoff says. “It lives in the daily operation of a business and in the ongoing communications with stakeholders. And it lives as the internal compass for keeping a complicated organization with many competing interests on course.”
So choose a purpose that adequately describes the ideals and goals you wish to set, and stick with it.
