Rethinking the Purpose of Work: From Mission Statement on the Wall to Authentic Connection with Values and Ideas

Every company spends time and effort developing their mission, vision, values, and purpose. The problem is that most believe it’s sufficient to place those on the wall and move on.

I recall spending time with a company where their mission was to make it simple for their customers to do business with them. Signs stating that goal were posted all over the offices. But their actual performance was anything but. It turned out, they found that making it difficult for customers to work with them was more profitable. Yes. Believe it or not, they made money from customers’ misery.

What employees are demanding today is a simple reality check. Move the purpose and values from the wall to the soul. Move the values from a forgotten PowerPoint presentation to the actual way you make decisions and create tradeoffs. Employees are simply calling BS on this charade. They want an authentic commitment to purpose that is translated into day-to-day decisions, behaviors, and performance. In the absence of those, they feel a clash between their personal values and those of the organization and refuse to accept living this way. The old employee–employer contract places financial compensation as the primary vehicle of the relationship. Today, employees are willing to trade that financial compensation for purpose fulfillment. (Money is still important but no longer the absolute.)

We all work. It’s a big part of our life, so we need to incorporate it and not separate it. It’s not about work-life balance—it’s all life. We need to incorporate our job as part of our story, not just think of it as a way to pay the bills.

Rethinking Purpose at Work 

If you have been to a museum, you know that there are different types of visitors.

• Type 1 Visitors: “Passive”—the visitors who show up to buy tickets, walk around quietly, and hope to be entertained by the exhibit. They are passive, occasionally take pictures, and move rather quickly from one painting to the other.
• Type 2 Visitors: “Interested”—the visitors who rent the audio guide and stop to listen to the story behind each painting.
• Type 3 Visitors: “Dialogue”—the groups. They show up with a guide who not only explains the narrative but is open to questions and conducts a dialogue that includes the group members’ reflections and feelings.
• Type 4 Visitors: “Invested”—they came prepared. These visitors have researched the exhibit, and they know what they are looking for. Sometimes they may stay and draw one of the images or participate in a special workshop. They take professional pictures, and they are excited.

These types, which I recently observed during visits to several museums are an illustration of how we connect ideas and values. Passive visitors approach the museum with an attitude of “Entertain me. Show me the money.” They have little invested and hardly engage, yet they expect magic to happen to them. Invested guests, on the other hand, understand that nothing will happen unless they act. There is no experience unless you are invested and engaged. They make the experience interesting. Their attitude is “It is on me.”

I would like to propose that the same is true with values and purpose in the workplace. Except for organizations that are deliberately hurting customers (which I believe the vast majority are not), most organizations attempt to conduct business in a way that creates value for their customers and brings their purpose to life. But there is no way to bring purpose in a vague, centralized way from the top down. The purpose comes to life from people’s decisions and actions. Every employee’s decision matters. Every customer interaction matters. The sum total of employees’ choices creates the organization’s story (and ultimately, success).

The expectation of “make the purpose work for me or I leave” is the passive visitor’s attitude and will not work. If you approach purpose at the workplace as something that will happen to you, but not with you and by you, you are likely to be disappointed fast. (The same is true for life as well.) According to studies, as many as 80 percent of those who quit their job during the Great Resignation regretted their decision.3 It didn’t live up to their expectations. One of the reasons, among others, was that they treated purpose as a passive exercise that needs to be done for them.

You want to live a purposeful life in the workplace? Make it happen. Participate. Get invested.

You might be thinking, “But I am not the CEO.” Think again. For every action you make, there is a customer on the other side. A customer who has dreams, hopes, fears, and aspirations. A customer who will live with the consequences of your work. For that customer, YOU are the CEO.

You must now decide to deliver an exceptional, infused-with-purpose performance or just deliver the basics. Your choice is between delivering an awesome product or a mediocre one. Living with purpose in the workplace is not waiting for the annual volunteering day arranged by the head of ESG or human resources. Living with purpose is weaving it into everything you do. It is choosing to act as an invested visitor and not a passive one. Choose to be an impact creator, not just a process follower.

Purpose in the workplace will happen when thousands of employees make millions of purposeful decisions that will be infused with values and passion. This is how purpose moves from the wall to the soul. The CEO can’t be there for every decision you make. She can have a vision and a path, but the rest is on you.

The personal purpose and corporate purpose may seem in conflict to you. But I would like you to reflect: What have you done to bring the purpose to life? What power do you have to make purpose a reality in your scope of work? If you start, it will be contagious, and others will follow.

In short, if you want purpose in the workplace, make it happen. Look at the eyes of your customers (physically or metaphorically) and start realizing how much power you have to make their lives better, more exciting, or less painful.

Written by Lior Arussy.

Have you read?
World’s Best Countries For Retirement.
World’s Best Countries For Women.
World’s Best Countries To Visit In Your Lifetime.
US States With the Largest Gender Pay Gaps.
CEOs who have secured the most funding during their tenure in companies in each US state.