Don’t Let Your Corporate Purpose Get Lost in the Daily Grind

When leaders establish a clear line connecting individual jobs to an organizational purpose, it enables everyone to see their part in the larger whole. In their work on purpose activation with more than 150 firms, the authors have developed three strategies to help employees maintain that connection. The first is articulating the ripple effect of people’s work. Encourage employees to reflect on questions like: What happens as a result of my work? The second strategy is to reframe your measures of success. Think about the difference between “number of accounts added” and “number of people we are helping to improve their finances.” Finally, celebrate external impact in addition to internal achievement. Make the connection between why an internal “win” mattered to a stakeholder outside the organization.