How leaders are giving employees a sense of purpose

When it comes to employee retention strategies, purpose must come first. People need to feel as though their work is making a difference in achieving business goals. In fact, millennials have been named the ‘Purpose Generation’, with many surveys suggesting they value making a difference to society, instead of simply increasing profits. 

Many companies believe they have a sense of purpose and think they understand how to inspire purpose amongst employees. Yet, in November 2021, more than 4.5 million people left their job in the UK, which became a new record high level since 2009. 📊

With the rise of the ‘Great Resignation’ much more needs to be done if businesses are to improve employee retention strategies and fuel a sense of purpose in their teams. ⛽️

Why we all need a sense of purpose at work 💻

A sense of purpose for every employee is vital to retention and engagement. Believe it or not, it is also better for our health and wellbeing. When we have a sense of purpose in life and work, we are better equipped to deal with stress, anxiety and think more rationally. 

In the workplace, the benefits of heightened purpose mean an improvement in employee productivity and performance. And with both work and our personal lives growing ever more entangled, the search for purpose through work has become popular. 

Great leaders should welcome this and empower people to be the best versions of themselves in the workplace to improve employee retention and reduce turnover. 📉

Step by step guide to building a sense of purpose for employees

Building new employee retention strategies can sometimes be difficult, but that’s exactly why we’re here to walk you through the steps HR professionals are using to bring about a sense of purpose for their employees. 🙌

Empower employees with career development opportunities 🎓

If you asked each of your employees about their future aspirations, career goals and what success looks like to them, you’re likely to receive a lot of varying answers. Yet, it’s in these answers that you can establish how to drive purpose in your employees, which is the fuel for employee engagement and retention. 

For some, they want to develop leadership qualities and move above and beyond. For other employees, they may want to explore various functions of the business instead. Regardless of direction and progression, great leaders look at how purpose can contribute to business growth while bringing about employee motivation.

Through online courses, evening classes or some form of internal mentorship, consider how your business can support career development opportunities tailored to each employee. 

Measure personal and professional employee growth 📈

As mentioned above, our personal and professional lives continue to entwine in the modern workplace. For this reason, it’s important to show employees you care, not only for their working lives but that of their personal development too. 🚴‍♀️

It’s your duty as a great leader to understand the bigger picture of employees and what they truly want out of life - this will give you the most insightful idea of what purpose means to employees. With this information, you should look for ways to incorporate their ideas of purpose in life into the workplace. 🔎

Help establish metrics so employees can monitor their own personal development growth, while you keep track of their professional development. Even the initial support in setting up goals and actions for personal development will see employees respect leaders tenfold. 

Does your employee feel it’s their duty to support a cause much more than they currently do? Consider how you can offer volunteering opportunities throughout the year. 🤲

Remember that people are the driving force of a business, and an engaged, happy workforce often produces higher profitability - 21% more to be precise. 👀

Make employee collaboration a common practice 🎨

There are many benefits of collaborative working, including improved employee engagement, morale and of course, purpose. Being part of a project, idea or process much bigger than a single employee fuels purpose and the drive to build something great. 🧠

It’s important leaders make collaboration as accessible as possible, this is especially true for remote working teams, as it’s much more difficult to inspire spontaneous collaborative work when there’s dependence on communication tools. 

What’s also interesting is the importance of purpose collaborative work highlights; if everyone isn’t on the same page and recognises the purpose in the work they are doing, it’s likely to fail. Ultimately, collaborative work incites purpose - look at the various mechanics of your teams and find ways to weave in purpose-driven collaboration. 

The end result will be improved employee engagement, motivation in the workplace and better employee retention strategies to future-proof purpose in your team. 🗓

Employee recognition is a must to boost a sense of purpose 👏

Employee recognition and employee retention go hand-in-hand. And if purpose is the essence of retaining top talent in your team, it must be given the acknowledgement it deserves! According to Apollotechnical, an employee who is recognised is 63% more likely to stick around at their current job for the next three to six months. 

This short timeframe highlights how ongoing employee recognition must be to keep employees happy, drive purpose in the workplace and retain talent. Ultimately, we’re motivated by how our work impacts those around us, and our overall contribution to an end goal.🎯

Hearing that our daily grind isn’t all for nothing inspires purpose in our work and increases motivation in the workplace. 💪

Great leaders understand the close relationship between employee retention and employee recognition. When you are considering new employee retention strategies, do not overlook the power of praise, reward and recognition. 🥇

How can Heka help improve employee engagement for my team? 

Looking for an employee benefits platform that supports healthier, happier employees? 👀

Heka is an employee wellbeing platform with 1000s of wellbeing experiences, products and services. 

Across more than 50 wellbeing categories, your employees have the option to choose life coaching, nutritionist consultations, access to virtual personal trainers, on-site acupuncture, yoga, meditation and gong bathing session, and so much more. 💚

Whether it’s on-site, on-demand, virtual or delivered straight to your door, Heka is the only employee benefits platform your team needs. 🏆

If you’d like to discuss the benefits of Heka with our wellbeing experts, book a demo today! ✅