The Difference Between Purpose & Meaning and How to Create Both

If you're a Chief Human Resources or Chief People Officer, then you can request to join a brand new community I put together called Future Of Work Leaders which focuses on the future of work and employee experience. Join leaders from Tractor Supply, Johnson & Johnson, Lego, Dow, Northrop Grumman and many others. We come together virtually each month and once a year in-person to tackle big themes that go beyond traditional HR.

Attracting the best talent used to just take perks and a nice paycheck. But that’s no longer the case. Today’s employees care about a sense of purpose and meaning in their work--and are often willing to take a pay cut to get them.

But how can leaders and organizations create more purpose and meaning for their employees? 

Creating meaningful work is a process. Your job is what you do, and your purpose is the intention of the job. Your purpose creates an impact or outcome, which drives meaning, or why you do what you do. 

Job

You got hired to do this, whether it is writing code, handling customer service issues, or selling. 

Purpose

Purpose bridges your work and its impact on customers, employees, or the world. Many employees struggle with their purpose because organizations are so focused on completing tasks and projects that employees don’t see what happens because of their work. 

Impact

Impact is what happens from your purpose. Your purpose in customer service is to resolve issues and improve customers’ lives. But is that the actual impact that you are having? Your purpose is about the potential, but the impact is about reality. You want your impact to be greater than or equal to your purpose. But unfortunately, many employees don’t know the impact of their work. 

Meaning

Meaning is subjective and unique to each of us. It’s about why we do something and the feeling we get from doing it. If you write code, you might get meaning from working on complex problems or challenges. If you’re in sales, you might get meaning from building relationships.

Creating Purpose and Meaning

The balance of power has shifted towards employees, and organizations are now focusing more on employee experience and creating an environment where employees want to show up to work. Leaders and organizations aren’t just there to make money or drive profits. They can’t be isolated; they must work towards something bigger and more meaningful. 

Where to begin:

• Leaders must first understand their purpose and meaning and the difference between them.
• Help employees see how their work impacts the business, employees, or the world. 
• Get to know employees as human beings, not just as workers. What do they value and why?
• Make purpose and meaning a core part of your messaging with your people. 
• Align the organization's values with the purpose and the meaning of the people who work there.

Every employee deserves to understand how the work they do makes an impact. We all need to look inwards to get a better sense of who we are and why we are doing the work we do.

Leaders can’t just focus on the bottom line--they have to deliver purpose and meaning to employees.