According to CNBC, 50% of employees are either looking for a new job or planning on it. 48 million people quit their job in 2021. While most of them cite higher pay, over 20% say they would leave for the same pay. With that said, purpose-driven leadership holds the keys to better retention and productivity long term.
Whether it’s a lack of pay, lack of mentorship, lack of upward mobility, or learning, all of these negative dynamics culminate into a lack of purpose. Thirty percent of surveyed workers who are actively searching for a new job say they don’t have a meaningful career, compared with 10 percent of workers who are not actively searching.
Poor people management, and culture results in a loss of connection, loss of development, loss of productivity, and ultimately a loss of good talent. Our inability to include in company growth from the ground up robs them of their purpose and ultimately plagues companies with turnover.
According to SHRM, on top of pay, culture is the other main reason contributing to turnover. More than 1 in 5 employees (22%) who rate their culture as good have actively looked for a new job in the past six months, and that number grows to 43 percent of workers who rate their culture as average and 64 percent who rate their workplace culture as poor.
There are a variety of reasons people leave their jobs, but if we had to draw one common theme between them all, it’s a lack of purpose. A lack of pay hurts our ability to feel empowered as professionals and providers. Our lack of mentorship inhibits our growth and excitement for our professional future. But all these things come back to our inherent human need for purpose.
How transparency empowers employees with a sense of purpose
One thing companies can prioritize is better transparency at every level. When an organization is more transparent, their employees are empowered in various ways. They have increased employee engagement, stronger company culture, and transparency fosters a type of comfort that allows employees to freely communicate. A transparent work environment also helps employees feel valued and encourages creativity.
Transparency creates an openness between managers and employees. Nothing breaks down hierarchical barriers like transparency. And few things can provide professionals with a better sense of connection and purpose.
Transparency was vital to the survival of countless workplaces during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. When faced with maybe the scariest moments of their existence, companies stepped up. Their transparency was key to the resilience companies needed to navigate unprecedented and come out better for it.
A transparent workplace recognizes their people’s hard work and successes, and builds trust among management and employees, which in turn, leads to happier, more engaged workers. Engaged and happy workers can only benefit your company’s bottom line.
Purpose-driven leadership provides the path to purpose
The relationship between transparency, leadership, and purpose are further evidenced as we observe trends from the pandemic. The pandemic caused a 30% increase in mentoring initiatives at organizations
Purpose-driven leadership sets the tone for an organization. Transparency can only exist within the workplace if leadership allows it. The barriers between hierarchies can’t come down if not initiated at the top. Employees cannot show vulnerability unless lead to believe they can through strong leadership.
Without the right leadership, company culture erodes. Employees lose their sense of belonging, their sense of vision, and their sense of purpose. Its easy to understand how quickly the relationship between employee and company can fall apart. Its easy to understand how much leaders make a difference in defining success and failure in employee retention.
The key to harnessing leadership, transparency, and purpose comes down to mentorship. Companies need to invest in heavily in opening and nurturing the intricate pathways that create valuable mentorship relationships at every level of the workplace.
90% of workers who have a mentor report being happy in their job. 94% of workers would stay longer and their employer offered more learning and career development opportunities. The opportunity to seize ample research and momentum over the past two years is there. Its up to companies to seize the occasion.
Purpose is an inherently intangible and nuanced concept which is also why it’s so powerful. That makes the task facing companies daunting but the reward that much more important. This entails a refocus on how companies train. The values they uphold. And the way they evaluate success.
Re-shaping the way companies foster purpose
Providing workplaces with a sense purpose will be crucial as companies work to meet the challenges of ‘the great re-shuffle’. This undertaking will be as much a structural overhaul for companies as it will be cultural. Any strategies will require both scale, efficiency, and a depth of understanding. Technology matches these needs and unique challenges in ways that were not possible before. Technology can adapt to organizational structure shifts, nuanced cultural needs.
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