Why You Need to Align Company Purpose with Employee Purpose—and What Happens When You Don’t

Employees get purpose from engaging with, and making progress on, work activities that give them energy and meaning.

Almost three-quarters of employees feel that work defines their personal sense of purpose, but 63% want more opportunities for purpose in their daily work. That doesn’t include programs that support purpose in the community or work, but their everyday work-related tasks.

Benefits like fresh food or a foosball table in the office are nice-to-haves that don’t matter if your employees aren’t on board with your company’s purpose. Or worse, don’t know what it is.

Company purpose matters. 89% of milennials and 86% of Gen Z say that purpose contributes to their job satisfaction and well-being. They’ll even turn down employers that don’t align with their values.

Many businesses don’t get the basics right, which has led to a huge disconnect between employers and their employees, with only half of employees trusting their organization.

Hybrid work has driven productivity paranoia and a surge in activity tracking apps, despite how it can benefit productivity levels for most employees and the improvements it makes to DE&I initiatives.

Then there’s the recent increase in AI usage, which has led to uncertainty and created the need to reskill millions of workers who may not have been ready for such upheaval.

There’s so much focus on profitability and efficiency that it’s reduced the attention on human outcomes during these significant periods of change and the very real impact this can have on employee mental health, motivation, and morale.

The strongest way to mitigate this at work is to make employees feel like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves.

They need to feel like they’re doing something worthwhile and that their employer values their contributions to the business. Otherwise, they won’t enjoy what they do and they’re not going to stay.

What is a purpose-driven organization?

A purpose-led organization identifies and prioritizes its purpose. Purpose is the guiding principle of its existence, informing the culture and influencing how employees act every day. It uses why it does something to influence how it does something.

Once a business has a purpose, it needs to think about the journey it must go on to get its company culture aligned with the new (or re-focused) purpose.

The first step is to ensure employees know and understand the company purpose. It should be lived through company values and the way an organization communicates, internally and externally.

Of course, purpose is personal. No two employees will have identical purposes.

So the only way you can ensure everyone aligns is to first communicate the company purpose.

Then, it’s to ensure that every employee, at every level, feels psychologically safe. That way, they can bring their true selves to work and perform at their best without wasting energy hiding who they are.

When they understand the company purpose, they’re more able to do that because the focus is on achieving that goal, not on presenteeism or productivity at all costs.

A strong purpose shows people that you believe profits and social responsibility can work together to positively impact the world.

When employees and business purposes are aligned, it increases employee engagement, improves customer experience, and gives your employer brand a competitive advantage.

Having an organizational purpose that includes social responsibility differentiates the company in the eyes of potential customers and candidates, attracting the types of people who want to help it achieve its goal.

What is purpose congruence and why does it matter?

Purpose congruence is when a company’s purpose aligns with its employees’ purposes. They don’t have to be identical, merely complementary.

When an employee’s purpose aligns with their employer’s, they feel more connected to their roles and a part of something bigger. This means their job becomes more than just a way to pay the bills. It gives their lives a sense of purpose.

It motivates them to get up in the morning and greet people with a smile, as opposed to when purposes don’t align and that employee has to drag themselves out of bed and can barely muster up a “good morning” to their colleagues because they don’t want to be there.

Employees want more from work than just a way to pay the bills. Money is, and always will be, important. But it’s no longer the be-all and end-all.

In fact, employees will accept lower pay if they feel their work is worthwhile. That’s not to say you should pay them less—they should be paid what they’re worth—but it shows the difference that aligned purposes can make to the very core of your business.

A disconnect between company purpose and employees risks disengagement, lower productivity, and, ultimately, people leaving.

Millennials and Gen Z now make up over half of the workforce. And they want purpose.

A recent study showed that 65% of Gen Z won’t apply for a role that doesn’t align with their values or purpose.

Given how much they now contribute to the workforce, and how their presence and contributions will continue to grow, you need to find a way to align people to your company purpose or you’ll miss out on attracting the biggest percentage of the workforce and retaining your existing millennial and Gen Z talent.

Mission vs values vs purpose

Mission and values often define everything a company does. Purpose should, too.

Your vision is where you want to get to. Your purpose is why you want to get there.

For example, two clothing companies might both target Gen Z females. But if one uses natural, sustainable fabrics, and the other uses synthetic fabrics and has new designs every few hours, they’re targeting very different kinds of consumers and have different missions, values, and purposes.

The purpose of one is to create comfortable, eco-friendly clothing. The other is to help consumers stay on top of fashion trends as quickly (and likely cheaply) as possible.

Those two different purposes don’t just impact the types of customers who buy from them, but also the types of employees who want to work for those companies.

Your purpose—and how you communicate it with the outside world—plays a huge role in what people think of your brand. Not communicating an obvious business purpose speaks just as loudly as shouting about it on your LinkedIn.

How to communicate company purpose to stakeholders

Back in the day, we could sit down and have a cuppa with a colleague. The modern age has changed that, with many employees working remotely, and remote work being key to forming an accessible, diverse workplace. Some people simply can’t work in an office, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be a great employee for your business.

Businesses need to be proactive and go to individuals. If you wait for them to come to you, you’ll be waiting a long time. Most simply won’t speak up for a variety of reasons.

It needs to be a two-way conversation where both sides are heard, informed by empathy and human connection. This unblocks the problems and unlocks the magic.

It also helps to have more connection points to independent experts inside and outside the organization.

Companies often assume that people will find them if they have an amazing purpose. But if you don’t communicate that purpose, how will anyone know what your business stands for?

In a world where we’re constantly bombarded with information, it’s important to be clear, open, and direct.

Assuming people know what you mean leaves things open to interpretation, rather than if you communicate your company’s purpose clearly. That’s how you find the right people to work with your organization and get existing employees on board with your direction.

The first step is to ensure employees know what your company’s purpose is. It’s not just about showing it in a nice post on the company website, it’s also about living it through the way an organization operates and communicates.

Do your employees understand your company purpose? When was it communicated to them?

When everyone understands the business purpose, it underpins everything they do in the workplace, from how they talk to colleagues, to how they start their day, to how they approach a problem they need to solve.

Your purpose is your north star. It’s what differentiates you from companies in the same market with a similar target audience.

You should therefore incorporate it into every step of the employee journey, from when someone first applies for a role, right through to when they leave (hopefully on good terms). 

It’s also likely to be why people choose to stay, making your company purpose vital to employee retention and even company profit margins. 

Your profits won’t be as high if you have a high churn rate, with it costing up to double someone’s salary to replace them, and that cost increasing as their seniority increases.

If you’re not already using company purpose as a way to attract and retain employees, you’re missing out.

How to give employees purpose at work

Purpose doesn’t happen at work by accident, or by default, just because you know what it is. It requires work from everyone within an organization to make it a cornerstone of the business.

Sometimes, the alignment between company purpose and employee purpose will come naturally, particularly when people are already clear on their own values.

When they’re unsure, coaching and mentorship can help them get to know themselves and determine their needs, helping them understand where purposes align.

The Sanctus Group approach

Employees won’t always get what you’re trying to do, either because they need it explained in a different way, or they’re unsure of what their own purpose in life is. That’s where the Sanctus Group can help. 

We give you the tools to listen to and support your employees so that you can see what your employees really think and drive the changes that matter to everyone within the business. 

We also give you the tools to help your employees grow and maybe even find their own purpose alongside the company’s, giving them more purpose in life.

Depending on your needs, you can choose between Sanctus Coaching, Listening, or Mentoring, or use all three to fully communicate your purpose and help employees understand theirs.

Get in touch today to discuss how we could help your business.