What makes work fulfilling?
It’s often assumed that good salaries are what keep employees from leaving their jobs, but a large body of evidence suggests that wages play a much smaller role in retention than we might think.
In fact, research by MIT Sloan Review found that compensation actually ranked 16th in the list of factors predicting employee turnover – below culture, innovation, recognition, and several others. According to McKinsey research, for surveyed Americans, meaningful work is considered the most important aspect of a job.
70% of employees say their personal sense of purpose is defined by their work, per McKinsey, and when work feels meaningful, they perform better, are much more committed, and are about half as likely to look for a new job. Unfortunately, despite its clear value and importance, only half of employees find meaning in their work today.
So, how can you, as a manager, help make work feel meaningful for your employees?
Consider multiple avenues
While we often think of meaningful work as professions that directly better the lives of others, in reality, meaning comes in many other forms. For some employees, work can feel meaningful when it lets them utilize their unique skill sets and flex their creative muscles or when it feels like their presence matters – both to business goals and to their teammates. For others, that sense of meaning comes from real opportunities to grow and develop their expertise, feeling like their input is taken seriously and that their voices are heard, or from receiving authentic recognition for their impact and contributions.
And sometimes, what makes jobs feel meaningful is the life they let employees live outside of work. For example, the solid paycheck or the flexibility they receive allows them to enjoy the things in life that make them happy – from traveling and exercising to spending time with family. So, take some time to consider the different ways that you, as a leader, can make work feel meaningful in order to identify all of the opportunities to increase your team members’ sense of fulfillment in their roles.
Empower cross-team connections
Relationships are the most important determinant of meaningfulness at work, according to a working paper by Brookings, and when employees feel they belong, they are 3.5x more likely to contribute to their full potential, per Harvard Business Review research. The good news is that as the leader, you have the power to build a team environment in which people feel excited about creating meaningful relationships with one another. So, go out of your way to help facilitate connections. Try to leave a few minutes at the beginning of meetings for friendly chit-chat or funny ice breakers, organize a recurring team lunch or group coffee time, schedule intentional meetings to celebrate achievements altogether, or consider other intentional outlets that can empower your team members to develop a sense of connectedness and familiarity with one another.
Identify opportunities for skills development
Work can feel meaningful when your team members believe they are continuing to learn, develop, and advance. And while some employees are definitely seeking career promotions, a study in the MIT Sloan Review found that many aren’t actually focused on getting more power or additional responsibilities. Rather, they’re looking for ways to feel challenged and develop new skills. So, take the time to understand what excites each of your team members, find out how they want to grow in their careers, and then seek out exciting opportunities to take them out of their comfort zones and master their desired skills.
Convey tangible impact
Try to help your team members find meaning in the work they do by showing them the value of their day-to-day work. Acknowledge the ways in which their contributions both support company goals and impact customers. At least once a quarter, it can be nice to allot some time in team-wide meetings to walk through the company’s big-picture business priorities and define how your employees’ work contributes. When possible, share real numbers, metrics, and testimonials to help them understand how their work is making a difference and make the work they do feel more fulfilling.
Ask for input
When employees feel heard, it can profoundly impact their productivity, engagement, and turnover, with highly engaged employees more than 3x as likely to say they feel heard at their workplace, and 74% of employees reporting they are more effective at their job when they feel heard, per recent research by the Workforce Institute. So, do your best to help your team members feel like their ideas and input matter. Regularly ask for employee feedback – and make real changes when possible, give them the chance to weigh in on brainstorms, and make sure to give credit when an idea comes from a specific team member.
Provide authentic recognition
A key way to make your team members’ work feel meaningful? Giving them personal and timely recognition. Reach out when they achieve something great and find opportunities for them to showcase their impact in larger forums. Whether that means offering them the chance to present their achievements to the rest of the team and inviting other leaders to sit in, or shouting them out in a group chat for visibility, give them the sense that their impact is acknowledged and celebrated. And of course, when the time comes, be sure to give relevant promotions to convey that consistently meaningful and valuable work is both recognized and rewarded.
