I’ve written about purpose before, in fact my book, What’s Your Catalyst?, is an essential guide to uncovering and leveraging our purpose to drive change. I’ve been re-exploring the role of purpose in today’s context and joining the dots between individual employees and the overall organizational purpose is proving to pay dividends.
A recent Harvard Business Review piece by Maryam Kouchaki, a professor of management and organizations at Kellogg, and Isaac H. Smith of Brigham Young University, found the real magic happens when employee and organizational purpose are distinct but aligned. This state, which they call “purpose congruence,” allows both workers and firms to thrive.
Purpose congruence refers to the alignment between an individual employee’s sense of purpose and meaning with the organization’s purpose, mission and values. When there is strong purpose congruence, it allows both employees and the organization to thrive in several key ways:
For Employees:
- Increases engagement – Employees feel connected to work that matches their passions and provides a sense of meaning.
- Fuels motivation – A sense of purpose is a major driver of intrinsic motivation to contribute and fulfill one’s own potential.
- Reduces stress – Work aligns with personal values so employees don’t feel internal conflict or have to compromise their ethics.
- Enhances wellbeing – Purposeful work is associated with a range of wellbeing boosts like life satisfaction and self-actualization.
For Organizations:
- Stronger talent retention – Employees are more loyal and committed when their personal purpose aligns with organizational purpose.
- Increased productivity – A passionate, purpose-driven workforce brings far higher levels of drive and quality output.
- Greater innovation – Employees ideate fresh solutions and think creatively when working on mission-aligned initiatives.
- Enhanced brand loyalty – Shared sense of purpose internally extends to customer perception externally.
In essence, purpose congruence offers a win-win for workers and companies alike to do great work and thrive together. It unleashes human potential.
For myself, purpose congruence was profoundly personal. My job at the time had sent me on a business trip to Africa, but my faith had sent me on a journey of self-discovery that would ultimately unveil my purpose. I had to confront myself and refocus my life. I’ve been empowered by purpose ever since.
Purpose is powerful but it is not a panacea. Be careful not to create unrealistic expectations, to place the personal above all else or to defer to purpose rather than seeking the source of employee discontent. In essence, purpose should energize, not burden employees, so leaders need to find reasonable ways for people to derive meaning without demanding moral fulfillment from every single task.
Be mindful of purpose congruence from the recruitment stage (with purpose-focused questions) through to leadership development that provides the skills for purpose-focused check-ins and feedback. Employee stories around purpose can also be highly motivating. Offering initiatives like these at various talent stages allows employers to continuously nurture and reinforce purpose alignment, fostering an engaged, motivated workforce.
There is a growing body of research highlighting the performance benefits when organizational and employee purpose are well-aligned:
- One global survey of over 500 companies found that those leading with purpose had 30% higher levels of innovation and 40% higher levels of talent retention year over year compared to non purpose-led organizations. The performance gains were tangible.
- A Harvard Business Review analytic services study showed that only one third of executives felt they had mastery over harnessing employees’ sense of purpose—yet those that were successful saw 38% higher revenue growth. This highlights the competitive advantage of getting purpose initiatives right.
- Qualtrics research found that 96% of employees that viewed their company’s purpose as authentic planned to stay at least another year compared to 27% of those that felt purpose was inauthentic. Retention and engagement outcomes were significantly higher when purpose resonates as genuine for staff.
- An Oxford research review across 200 companies concluded that organizations exhibiting purpose-driven leadership had more satisfied workforces and stronger market reputations. This in turn translated to happier customers and shareholders.
The conclusion across studies is that authentic, ethical purpose consistently unlocks higher performance through sustaining intrinsically motivated employees proud to generate solutions and value for customers. We can expect purpose to evolve into a strategic necessity, not just an ideal.