{"id":12096,"date":"2021-12-06T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-06T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/using-purpose-to-measure-drive-engagement\/"},"modified":"2022-11-02T06:07:07","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T10:07:07","slug":"using-purpose-to-measure-drive-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wellable.co\/blog\/using-purpose-to-measure-drive-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Purpose To Measure And Drive Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Employers often use productivity as a proxy for engagement. They assume that if an employee completes their tasks in a timely and accurate manner, they are tuned in and committed to their organizations.<\/p>\n

While engaged employees are productive, engagement isn\u2019t the same thing as productivity. In addition to getting a lot done, engaged employees enjoy the tasks they are working on, feel good about their roles and the organizations they work for, and tend to think about how they can go above and beyond what is strictly required of them.<\/p>\n

Because engagement is a complex, multi-dimensional phenomenon, it isn\u2019t well-captured by employee output alone. As a result, if employers want to know whether their workers are engaged in a meaningful sense of the word, they must use an alternative measure that taps into engagement\u2019s cognitive and affective components<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Importance Of Purpose<\/h2>\n

As a foundational best practice, organizations should articulate their purpose or mission (i.e., an ultimate non-monetary end for which everything else is done). For instance, Google\u2019s purpose is \u201cto organize the world\u2019s information and make it universally accessible and useful.\u201d<\/p>\n

When this messaging is powerful enough to resonate with employees, a company\u2019s purpose is well-suited to activate all aspects of engagement. For instance, if an employee cares about \u201cenriching people\u2019s lives with programs and services that inform, educate and entertain\u201d (BBC\u2019s purpose), then they can focus on how their tasks relate to that end and feel good about their jobs. Moreover, they will be more inclined to go above and beyond than if they were just thinking about the company\u2019s bottom line.<\/p>\n

Employees seem to understand the value of working for a company with a purpose they connect with. According to a recent MIT report<\/a>, 72% of employees believe that working in an organization with a goal they believe in is very important to them. As Michael Schrage, one of the main contributors to the report states, employers must \u201cthink about purposeful well-being. [\u2026] People want more than a fair day\u2019s pay for a fair day\u2019s work; they want to find alignment with purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How To Cultivate High Net-Purpose Scores<\/h2>\n

Despite the importance and desirability of organizational purpose, Schrage found that many employees have low \u201cnet-purpose scores.\u201d For example, though 72% of respondents stated they assign a high degree of importance to working in a company with a purpose they believe in, only 49% said they believe in their organization\u2019s purpose. Additionally, only 36% claimed they believe in their company\u2019s ability to advance it, and 25% said their organization is as purpose-driven as its leaders believe it to be.<\/p>\n

\"Using<\/p>\n

Below are some tips companies can follow to eliminate this discrepancy:<\/p>\n