Why Purpose at Work is More Important Than Ever

 

The radical changes happening in the United States workforce are impacting organizations. If organizations don’t plan to make changes now, they are at risk of losing relevance in tomorrow’s workforce, which will look and function differently than today’s workforce.

In particular, leaders are watching as every 8.5 seconds another Baby Boomer turns 50, leading to the reality that 75 million Baby Boomers will retire in the next 10-15 years. Losing 45% of the workforce is alarming. Who is going to take their place? Now that the Millennial generation has superseded the Baby Boomers as the largest living generation, leaders must look to them in order to fill the many job vacancies created when Boomers finally hang up their hats.

But Millennial workers don’t fit neatly into the roles Boomers left behind. For one, 58% of them expect to leave their jobs in three years or less. In addition, 52% of Millennials think the corporate environment is outdated and that true success comes from carving one’s own path. So you can see why 54% of hiring managers say they have a difficult time finding and retaining Millennials.

Let’s add another layer to up the ante—employee engagement. The United States workforce is suffering from a lack of engagement. According to research, 45% of employees in the U.S. are not engaged, and 26% are actively disengaged. Disinterested employees are more than disgruntled; they also directly affect the bottom line. $11 billion is lost annually due to employee turnover; companies with engaged employees outperform those without by up to 202%.

So what’s the bottom line? A huge swath of the workforce starting to head out the door into some version of retirement, a generation with different needs pouring in to fill the vacancies in companies they may not believe in, and a whole lot of employees with far away looks in their eyes, feeling uninterested and unfulfilled. Can we agree that something needs to be done?

Start at the Core: Purpose

If you’re going to make the internal shifts needed to survive and thrive in the next decade, you might as well start at the core: purpose at work.

What sets a company with purpose apart from one without? Imperative says there are three core elements for experiencing purpose: positive impact on others, personal development, and delivery of work through strong relationships. A purpose-driven company fosters these experiences for its employees, and has a stated and measured reason and mission for being. This mission should be something that every employee knows.

You may be thinking that “purpose” at work sounds like one of the many buzzwords that have no practical application. That’s not true. Purpose does make a difference, and it’s an actionable concept. Integrating purpose into the workplace will increase employee engagement, performance, and profit. This is shown clearly by the results of LinkedIn and Imperative’s global survey*, Purpose at Work, of 26,151 LinkedIn members in 40 different countries. Let’s take a look at some of the results.

In virtually every country and industry studied, the correlation of satisfaction at work and purpose orientation was consistent. 73% of purpose-oriented workers are satisfied in their jobs, and 37% of LinkedIn members globally (40% in the U.S.) are purpose-oriented. What does it mean to be purpose-oriented? It means that you prioritize work that matters to you, your company, and the world.

A purpose-oriented professional doesn’t need to be caring for orphan orangutans to find purpose in their work. In fact, purpose can be found in every job and industry.

Of course some job functions naturally attract more purpose-oriented people. The top five most purpose-oriented job functions are community and social services, entrepreneurship, education, healthcare services and research. On the low end we have operations, support, finance, purchasing and accounting.

Purpose + Performance

One of the key issues with disengagement is how it impacts performance at work. To show the correlation between purpose and performance, Imperative worked with New York University to conduct research on purpose-oriented talent in the U.S. The results show that purpose-oriented employees score higher than non purpose-oriented employees on every measure. For example, they were 50% more likely to be in leadership positions and 47% more likely to be promoters of their employers. 64% of those surveyed reported higher levels of fulfillment in their work as well.

The study also found that 39% of the purpose-oriented people were likely to stay at their company for 3+ years. In fact, 73% reported being satisfied with their jobs. That’s no small number!

There’s no shortage of information on how to make the Millennial worker happy, but when it comes to purpose, they aren’t the only ones who need it. The truth is, they are the least purpose-oriented generation at only 30%, as opposed to the 47% of Baby Boomers and the 38% of Gen X’ers who are purpose-oriented.

This is likely a “stage not age” scenario, where young adults are focused on different things due to their stage in life. German psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, identified a shift in identity between the ages of 18-35 and 35-36. The young adults (Millennials) are more focused on relationships at that stage, and the older adults shift to associating their identity with their contribution to society.

Purpose + Profit

Let’s not forget the correlation between purpose and profit. Research from the E.Y. Beacon Institute and Harvard Business School shows purpose-driven companies are more likely to be profitable. From 2013 to now, 58% of companies with clearly articulated and defined purpose experienced growth of 10%, while only 42% of companies not prioritizing purpose experienced growth. Further, 42% of non-purpose led companies showed a drop in revenue, while 85% of companies led by purpose showed positive growth.

All of these statistics point to one thing: purpose is integral to success in the future of work. Here are three tips to get you started in your effort to become a purpose-driven organization that attracts purpose-oriented candidates.

Ready to be Purpose-Driven? Three Tips to Get You Started

1.     Find Purpose-Oriented Employees By Seeking Passive Candidates

If you want to foster a purpose-oriented organization, you’d be wise to seek candidates who are themselves purpose-oriented. These people are still the minority however, which means recruiting passive candidates (candidates not actively looking for work.) Actually, as 69% of purpose-oriented employees report—they are more likely to be passive, probably because they are invested in their current positions. To grab their interest, focus on your mission, vision, products and services more than perks and benefits. Also, check out Red 5 Studios innovative strategy for recruiting passive candidates here; it’s one of our favorites.

2.     Brand with Purpose

From a more macro view, incorporate your purpose directly into your branding efforts. Do the images on your website, recruiting materials and social media channels reflect an organization that values a positive impact on others, personal development and strong relationships? One common misstep is organizations that value diversity yet publish materials with pictures that don’t represent diverse populations. Look at your visual images, evaluate the language used, and align all your branding and communications with your purpose.

3.     Don’t be Afraid to Start From Square One

If your organization doesn’t have its purpose clearly defined, you’ve got some serious, and very rewarding, work to do. Where can you get started? On a basic level, leaders can first define their personal values, then, move on to clarifying the values and purpose of their organization, and finally look at the organization as a whole through this lens of attracting, hiring and retaining their talent. Leaders must make purpose a fundamental piece of each step of their own, and their team’s, talent life cycle.

The massive shifts happening in the U.S. workforce are forcing organizations to take a closer look at what matters most: their talent. This closer look leads to the importance of purpose, for both their own survival as a company, and for the engagement, productivity and fulfillment of their employees. A massive shift towards purpose will benefit the economy, and the people who fuel it.

I’d love to hear your experiences with organizations with clearly defined purposes and ones without any purpose at all. What was it like to work with them?

 

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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A Quick and Creative Way to Solve Problems at Work

Most of us have seen this image before. Some swear it’s a duck, while others swear it is a rabbit. Both are correct! But this exercise gives us a clear example of how individuals naturally see the world differently. And in the work environment, this different way of seeing things, if leveraged, presents a huge advantage.

Seeing the world, and situations, in only one way can interfere with our ability to problem solve. We look at situations in a way that comes naturally and are blind to other perspectives that may increase our ability to solve problems or innovate. Each of us benefits greatly from the perspectives of others at the workplace.

Yet it doesn’t always feel that way. Often times sharing an idea in a meeting is like morphing into a dartboard. You share your idea, and then everyone throws darts at it. You may even try to get the buy-in from coworkers in advance of the meeting to mitigate getting shot down, frustrated—even embarrassed—so quickly.

What if I told you there was an easy and fun way to prevent this kind of meeting? What if you were able to use a simple methodology that instigates participation and positive outcomes to problem solving?

Enter the “Six Thinking Hats,” developed by Edward de Bono. As Freddi Donner explains, the Six Thinking Hats is “a tool for group discussion and individual thinking that involves six colored hats. “Six Thinking Hats”, and the associated idea parallel thinking, provide a means for groups to execute a thinking process in a detailed and cohesive way, which allows them to think together more effectively.”

What Are The Six Thinking Hats?

Here’s a great video explaining what the Six Hats are, and how the method works.

De Bono writes, “Each thinking role is identified with a colored symbolic ‘thinking hat.’ By mentally wearing and switching ‘hats,’ you can easily focus or redirect thoughts, the conversation, or the meeting.”

To understand each hat and the associated roles, take a look at the table below.

As a basic example, if you were “wearing” the green hat, you would approach an issue or conversation as creatively as possible. You’d look for possibilities, alternatives, and new ideas.

Yet if you were “wearing” the black hat, you’d look at the same issue or conversation with a keen eye for danger. You’d attempt to ferret-out anything that could go wrong.

Now, you must be prepared to be a little uncomfortable. It’s common to feel uneasy approaching an issue in a way you’re not used to. For example, if you’re someone who informs your own decisions based solely on facts, you may feel awkward or resistant to approaching an issue by expressing your fears, likes, dislikes, loves or hates. After all, you’re a facts person, not an emotions person. But forcing yourself to think from that perspective might surprise you with innovative ideas.

A Basic Example of Using the Six Thinking Hats

Let’s take a look at basic example and run through each of the six hats in action. Let’s say you are the leader at a software development company, which has been steadily growing. While you still feel like a startup, the fact is, you’ve outgrown your office. Employees are sharing desks, the space is crowded and cluttered, and two of the three meeting rooms have had to be converted into offices. This leads to unnecessary tension in the office, and people are starting to complain. You haven’t made the move yet because you know it will significantly increase operational costs.

Let’s approach this problem using the six thinking hats as a guide:

White Hat: What are the facts about this problem?

The basic facts are there are 50 employees (and growing) in an office space that comfortably accommodates 30.

Yellow Hat: What is good about having this problem?

It’s great to be growing! We’ve added amazing talent to the team and we will now be able to accomplish even more as a company. We can expand our current offerings and add new products to grow the business even more.

Black Hat: What is the worst that could happen if we don’t fix this problem?

If we stay in this office, the worst that can happen is expensive attrition. We will lose the great talent that it took us months to find. That will lead to low employee engagement, which leads to poor productivity and even more attrition. We won’t be able to move forward as a business without our talent.

Red Hat: What do I feel about this problem?

I feel conflicted. On one hand, my employees and their needs are the most important thing to me, so seeing them crammed in together makes me feel like I’m disappointing them. On the other hand, I’m hesitant to increase expenses in what feels like a pivotal time in the business. That makes me very nervous.

Green Hat: What are some creative ways to address this situation?

One idea is to have some of our team work from home to free up space in the office. Another possibility would be moving into a shared office space with another startup. This would cut the costs of a larger office space. Also, we could leave this area of town and move to the new burgeoning warehouse district, where rent is cheaper.

Blue Hat: How do you know you are following the six hats method?

I’ve written all of these questions down and written my answers under the designated color for each hat. I can share these notes with my VP and get her feedback.

In the end, this leader decided to create a small task force to investigate the new warehouse district, and possible shared office spaces with the other startups around town. They have a three-week discovery period, after which the team will meet with the heads of each department to vote on the best course of action. They will use the six hats again!

As you can see, this exercise enabled the head of our hypothetical software development company to think through the situation from several perspectives. And by forcing the consideration of different perspectives she may not naturally be drawn to, she achieved “parallel thinking,” which is a more dynamic way to work through a problem.

Let’s move beyond the individual and discuss how to incorporate the Six Thinking Hats method into our workplace. Here is a step-by-step guide.

A Step-By-Step Guide to Incorporating the Six Thinking Hats at Work

1.    To prepare, choose a work challenge and form a small team of 4 or 5 people.

2.    Make sure that your attendees are aware that you will be using this method and that your goal is to fully investigate the situation at hand and develop an execution plan based on the meeting. Therefore, all attendees who can contribute to the facts should plan to bring them to the meeting.

3.    Before the meeting, create an agenda, including a video link from the first lesson in this course, and ask your team to watch this video before the meeting. Ask your participants to be prepared to use this methodology when coming to the meeting.

4.    Make sure it is a safe environment and that no one is “wrong” for adding to the content of the meeting. Even if you do not agree, say, “That’s interesting” or “Let’s note that point of view”.

5.    Be sure to ask one of the participants to record all the points of view.

6.    Be sure to ask one of the participants to record all the points of view.

White Hat: The facts. What do you already know?

Note: Facts often get disguised as opinions. If someone states a “fact” that appears to be an opinion, ask the participant (without judgment): “What specific behaviors cause you to think that?” Or “How do you know that?” Listen for the fine line between opinions and fact.

Red Hat: What is your gut feeling about the situation? How do you feel about the situation? (Happy, angry, etc.; all emotions are to be recorded.)

Black Hat: What do we need to look out for?

Yellow Hat: What are the reasons to say yes? What are the benefits and upsides of this situation?

Green Hat: What are other ideas that can be a part of this thinking?

Blue Hat: Make sure all the participants are maintaining the parallel thinking.

These questions should really get the team thinking and spur an active discussion. For fun, if you can access paper (or hats) in the six colors, bring them to the meeting to reinforce the colored thinking. Bandanas would work as well.

If you’ve never tried the Six Thinking Hats method, we are excited for you to do so. As De Bono says, The Six Thinking Hats is “A powerful tool set, which once learned can be applied immediately!” We’d love to hear about your experiences with this method.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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Beyond The Covid19 Crisis – The Future Of Work

 

There are many articles discussing the impact of Covid-19 on the workplace, ranging from how to go back to work, when to go back to work and what is the new normal.

I understand these concerns. And, I think leaders need to shift their focus and look past this crisis to the future. Let me explain.

There are three phases of Covid-19’s impact on the workplace:

• Phase One: Work from Home (WFH)
• Phase Two: Return to Work (RTW)
• Phase Three: Future of Work (FOW)

Phase One

Phase one was about “How to WFH?”. Every organization asked, “How the heck do we all work from home full-time?” Video calls replaced face to face meetings while home and work merged in to one. There was personal stress and employee stress as the world navigated change, market uncertainty, business continuity, job security, child and elder care and reduced revenue. Organizations used tools to work from home as well as innovative ideas to manage the new norm. Basic organizational practices such as onboarding a new employee had to be recreated into a new virtual system. New communication strategies were subject to constant iteration.

Phase Two

The near future is Phase Two as people consider returning to work and questions such as “Which job category must be done in an office and which does not? What office re-design is needed to meet the mandated guidelines? What are the liability issues to consider? Why do we even need to work in the same physical space?”

Most organizations still wrestle with the needed decisions for this phase, including managing employee mental health, driving innovation while socially isolated, and maintaining strong organizational culture and employee engagement.

According to Deborah Tannen, a Georgetown University linguistics professor, in “Corona virus will Change the World Permanently. Here’s How”, “the comfort of being in the presence of others might be replaced by a greater comfort with absence, especially with those we don’t know intimately. Instead of asking, ‘Is there a reason to do this online?’ we’ll be asking, ‘Is there any good reason to do this in person?’

Organizational leaders will have an enormous challenge re-acclimatizing their employees, both those who return to the physical building as well as those who continue to work from home. By understanding the employee challenges, organizations will be able to identify the potential problems with their RTW plans. Effective two-way communication between the organizational leaders and the workforce can turn this crisis into an opportunity to bolster the organizational culture, increase engagement levels and improve productivity over a long run.

Finally, in addition to the safety issues in this phase, we need to consider a name change. We constantly see the phrase ‘Return to Work’, yet that assumes we are not working when we work from home, which is incorrect. Many people are now working longer hours at home than before the pandemic struck. So, Phase Two is not returning to work; it is returning to the physical office building. I often say that words matter, so what do we call this phase that describes the benefits of collaborating in the same physical, bricks and mortar space? I suggest ‘Collaborate in Person’.

Regardless of what you name this phrase, be sure to communicate clearly and often in this phase. Double down on your communications so your teams understand what to expect.

Phase Three

Focusing on Phase Three is vital to a leader’s success. Why? Because Phase Three is the strategic reshaping of the future of work. I do not mean office redesign; I mean business redesign. There are three sets of questions to ask now in preparation for this phase.

1. Products and Services

The key phrase to remember here is enduring change. What current changes will endure so a product shift is needed? And what current changes will not endure in the future? Where will the organization be in 4-6 months? What products or services need to sunset because they are no longer relevant or in demand? What new products or services can be created thanks to the Corona disruption?

2. Talent

Once the products and services are determined, think about your staff. If some of your staff were hired for a product you will no longer offer, how will those people be retrained for future work? And if you create a new product or client solution, what are the skills and abilities your staff need to innovate and sell that new product? How will you hire and develop those new staff when hiring is no longer restricted to your geographic region and you can literally hire anyone in the world because of WFH? Finally, once they are hired, what are the new team charters and norms that will create a wildly successful team?

3. Organization and Culture Shift

After determining the staffing needs for the future, it is time to codify those changes with a new organizational structure. That’s the easy part. The harder part will be managing the organizational culture shift that will occur with the new product solutions, teams, and organizational design. In times of crisis, you find out what type of culture you have. What pieces of your culture do you want to leverage and what cultural artifacts may need to shift to meet the future of your work? How can you communicate the organizational purpose in ways that excites and engages your employees?

Phase Three demands meaty questions that need to be discussed now. I know organizations are in crisis mode and it’s hard to find the white space to hold these conversations. Yet the organizations that think strategically now will jump ahead of the crisis. So set your future vision, communicate it, and commit to it now. There is no time to waste.

We would love to hear from you. How is your organization managing Phase One (Work from Home)? How do you plan to cope with challenging in by Phase Two (Return to Work)? What plans do you have for the Future of Work (Phase Three) in your organization? Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

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A Quick and Creative Way to Solve Problems at Work

Most of us have seen this image before. Some swear it’s a duck, while others swear it is a rabbit. Both are correct! But this exercise gives us a clear example of how individuals naturally see the world differently. And in the work environment, this different way of seeing things, if leveraged, presents a huge advantage.

Seeing the world, and situations, in only one way can interfere with our ability to problem solve. We look at situations in a way that comes naturally, and are blind to other perspectives that may increase our ability to solve problems or innovate. Each of us benefits greatly from the perspectives of others at the workplace.

Yet it doesn’t always feel that way. Often times sharing an idea in a meeting is like morphing into a dartboard. You share your idea, and then everyone throws darts at it. You may even try to get the buy-in from coworkers in advance of the meeting to mitigate getting shot down, frustrated—even embarrassed—so quickly.

What if I told you there was an easy and fun way to prevent this kind of meeting? What if you were able to use a simple methodology that instigates participation and positive outcomes to problem solving?

Enter the “Six Thinking Hats,” developed by Edward de Bono. As Freddi Donner explains, the Six Thinking Hats is “a tool for group discussion and individual thinking that involves six colored hats. “Six Thinking Hats”, and the associated idea parallel thinking, provide a means for groups to execute a thinking process in a detailed and cohesive way, which allows them to think together more effectively.”

What Are The Six Thinking Hats?

Here’s a great video explaining what the Six Hats are, and how the method works.

De Bono writes, “Each thinking role is identified with a colored symbolic ‘thinking hat.’ By mentally wearing and switching ‘hats,’ you can easily focus or redirect thoughts, the conversation, or the meeting.”

To understand each hat and the associated roles, take a look at the table below.

As a basic example, if you were “wearing” the green hat, you would approach an issue or conversation as creatively as possible. You’d look for possibilities, alternatives, and new ideas.

Yet if you were “wearing” the black hat, you’d look at the same issue or conversation with a keen eye for danger. You’d attempt to ferret-out anything that could go wrong.

Now, you must be prepared to be a little uncomfortable. It’s common to feel uneasy approaching an issue in a way you’re not used to. For example, if you’re someone who informs your own decisions based solely on facts, you may feel awkward or resistant to approaching an issue by expressing your fears, likes, dislikes, loves or hates. After all, you’re a facts person, not an emotions person. But forcing yourself to think from that perspective might surprise you with innovative ideas.

A Basic Example of Using the Six Thinking Hats

Let’s take a look at basic example and run through each of the six hats in action. Let’s say you are the leader at a software development company, which has been steadily growing. While you still feel like a startup, the fact is, you’ve outgrown your office. Employees are sharing desks, the space is crowded and cluttered, and two of the three meeting rooms have had to be converted into offices. This leads to unnecessary tension in the office, and people are starting to complain. You haven’t made the move yet because you know it will significantly increase operational costs.

Let’s approach this problem using the six thinking hats as a guide:

White Hat: What are the facts about this problem?

The basic facts are there are 50 employees (and growing) in an office space that comfortably accommodates 30.

Yellow Hat: What is good about having this problem?

It’s great to be growing! We’ve added amazing talent to the team and we will now be able to accomplish even more as a company. We can expand our current offerings and add new products to grow the business even more.

Black Hat: What is the worst that could happen if we don’t fix this problem?

If we stay in this office, the worst that can happen is expensive attrition. We will lose the great talent that it took us months to find. That will lead to low employee engagement, which leads to poor productivity and even more attrition. We won’t be able to move forward as a business without our talent.

Red Hat: What do I feel about this problem?

I feel conflicted. On one hand, my employees and their needs are the most important thing to me, so seeing them crammed in together makes me feel like I’m disappointing them. On the other hand, I’m hesitant to increase expenses in what feels like a pivotal time in the business. That makes me very nervous.

Green Hat: What are some creative ways to address this situation?

One idea is to have some of our team work from home to free up space in the office. Another possibility would be moving into a shared office space with another startup. This would cut the costs of a larger office space. Also, we could leave this area of town and move to the new burgeoning warehouse district, where rent is cheaper.

Blue Hat: How do you know you are following the six hats method?

I’ve written all of these questions down and written my answers under the designated color for each hat. I can share these notes with my VP and get her feedback.

In the end, this leader decided to create a small task force to investigate the new warehouse district, and possible shared office spaces with the other startups around town. They have a three-week discovery period, after which the team will meet with the heads of each department to vote on the best course of action. They will use the six hats again!

As you can see, this exercise enabled the head of our hypothetical software development company to think through the situation from several perspectives. And by forcing the consideration of different perspectives she may not naturally be drawn to, she achieved “parallel thinking,” which is a more dynamic way to work through a problem.

Let’s move beyond the individual and discuss how to incorporate the Six Thinking Hats method into our workplace. Here is a step-by-step guide.

A Step-By-Step Guide to Incorporating the Six Thinking Hats at Work

 

1.    To prepare, choose a work challenge and form a small team of 4 or 5 people.

2.    Make sure that your attendees are aware that you will be using this method and that your goal is to fully investigate the situation at hand and develop an execution plan based on the meeting. Therefore, all attendees who can contribute to the facts should plan to bring them to the meeting.

3.    Before the meeting, create an agenda, including a video link from the first lesson in this course, and ask your team to watch this video before the meeting. Ask your participants to be prepared to use this methodology when coming to the meeting.

4.    Make sure it is a safe environment and that no one is “wrong” for adding to the content of the meeting. Even if you do not agree, say, “That’s interesting” or “Let’s note that point of view”.

5.    Be sure to ask one of the participants to record all the points of view.

6.    Be sure to ask one of the participants to record all the points of view.

White Hat: The facts. What do you already know?

Note: Facts often get disguised as opinions. If someone states a “fact” that appears to be an opinion, ask the participant (without judgment): “What specific behaviors cause you to think that?” Or “How do you know that?” Listen for the fine line between opinions and fact.

Red Hat: What is your gut feeling about the situation? How do you feel about the situation? (Happy, angry, etc.; all emotions are to be recorded.)

Black Hat: What do we need to look out for?

Yellow Hat: What are the reasons to say yes? What are the benefits and upsides of this situation?

Green Hat: What are other ideas that can be a part of this thinking?

Blue Hat: Make sure all the participants are maintaining the parallel thinking.

These questions should really get the team thinking and spur an active discussion. For fun, if you can access paper (or hats) in the six colors, bring them to the meeting to reinforce the colored thinking. Bandanas would work as well.

If you’ve never tried the Six Thinking Hats method, we are excited for you to do so. As De Bono says, The Six Thinking Hats is “A powerful tool set, which once learned can be applied immediately!” We’d love to hear about your experiences with this method.

Let’s share experiences. Leave a comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter.

Subscribe To Our Newsletter