People who find their work meaningful and connected to a higher purpose work harder and stay more highly engaged. Our colleagues deliver their best effort when they feel they are part of something larger than themselves.
Despite good intentions, many leaders fail to make a strong connection between their organization’s strategy and the kind of higher purpose that makes work meaningful. The key is to help people grasp the impact of their work on others. The best way to do that is to show them.
Instead of giving team members more data about customers, the best leaders give them the customers! Inviting customers or clients to address the team and discuss the impact of their work connects the dots like nothing else can. Asking team members to see for themselves how end-users are implementing the company’s services or products through on-site visits is equally powerful. Capturing customers on video discussing the significance they experience from the services or products creates a permanent record for team members to review with new colleagues.
Bringing customers or clients to your team gives them the gift of meaning. That’s a gift that fuels work and keeps everyone engaged.
